125-year-old Queens Public Library honors 104-year-old Hollis patron

Hollis resident Kenneth Nielson (left) was honored Wednesday by his son Larry Neilson (center) and QPL President Dennis Walcott (right). Photos courtesy of QPL

By David Brand

The Queens Public Library recently celebrated 125 years serving borough bookworms, including one Hollis centenarian who has devoted decades to his beloved branch.

The 104-year-old Kenneth Nielson has lived at his home in Hollis since 1953 and has remained a avid QPL patron for just as long. Over the years, Neilson has written several books that now line library bookshelves, including The World of Walt Whitman Music in 1963, The Littlest Giant in 1979  and Langston Hughes in 2009.

On Wednesday — the 104th day of the year — QPL President Dennis Walcott paid a visit to Nielson’s home to honor the centenarian. 

“Throughout his life, Kenneth Nielson has shown how one person can make an enormous difference in their community,” Walcott said. “His devotion to QPL continues to amaze me. He not only is one of our most dedicated patrons, but also is committed to fostering a love of community, of reading, of writing, and of learning.”

Kenneth Nielson.

Nielson was born in Brooklyn in 1917, back when President Woodrow Wilson was beginning his second term in the White House, the U.S. was preparing to enter World War I and Babe Ruth was throwing fastballs for the Red Sox. 

He graduated from Brooklyn College and New York University and went on to become a public school teacher. As a community leader, he spearheaded the effort to rename P.S. 134 in Hollis The Langston Hughes School and organized a neighborhood block association that forced the city to clean up an abandoned public space. He and the organization turned that patch of land into a garden

The QPL Mobile Library

During the celebration Wednesday, Nielson took time to recognize the dedicated librarians staffing QPL’s 66 branches.

 “It's the librarians that make the building, remember. The library is a building, but the librarians are the people who make it run,” he said.