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Read the press release here.

Raccoon Takes Shelter at Queens Library During Hurricane Sandy

By Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska | November 8, 2012 3:18pm

QUEENS — A raccoon looking for shelter during Hurricane Sandy has been holing up at a Queens library.

Children coming to the Queens Library at Baisley Park in South Jamaica named the animal "Mr. Rocky Books" after the raccoon found its way into the library's atrium last week during the worst of devastating storm.

The kids built the animal a carboard-box home and have been keeping him company by reading him books through a window separating the children’s section from the atrium, which is a small garden in the middle of the library building.

Neighborhood volunteers discovered the animal hiding under a shrub when they came to clean up after the storm.

“The kids love him,” said Joanne King, communications director for the Queens Library system. “For now, everyone is happy to have him as a guest, but he can’t stay. It’s a wild animal.”

King noted no one knows how the racoon got into the atrium, which is accessible to staff members who have been refilling his food and water.

King said that if the racoon is unable to find his way out on his own, the library will consult with wild animal experts for help.