The Central Library is the main branch of the

Brooklyn Public Library The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) is the public library system of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is the sixteenth largest public library system in the United States by holding and the seventh by number of visitors. Like the two othe ...

, located at Flatbush Avenue and Eastern Parkway on Grand Army Plaza in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It contains over a million cataloged books, magazines, and multimedia materials. Each year, over one million people visit the library. The building is a designated

New York City landmark The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...

Facility

The 352,000 square foot building contains the S. Stevan Dweck Center for Contemporary Culture, a 189-seat auditorium that opened in 2007 and hosts lectures, readings, musical performances, and other events for people of all ages. The library's plaza, renovated during the construction of the Dweck Center, hosts concerts throughout the summer and has become a favorite outdoor destination for free wireless internet access. The Shelby White and Leon Levy Information Commons opened in January 2013. The space is used for individual work, public classes, private events, and meetings. The Central Library's local history division, The Brooklyn Collection, holds over a million individual items including photographs, maps, manuscripts,

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

memorabilia and other ephemeral items.

History

Groundbreaking Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod, or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such ceremonies are o ...

for a Brooklyn central library on Prospect Park Plaza (now Grand Army Plaza) occurred in 1912. The original architect Raymond Almirall had designed a domed, four-story Beaux-Arts building, similar in style to the adjacent

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...

. Escalating costs and political infighting slowed construction throughout the decade. Because of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, Almirall's building was never completed except for the Flatbush Avenue wing, which was finished in 1929. In the 1930s, architects Githens and Keally were commissioned to redesign the building in the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

style, eliminating the expensive ornamentation and the fourth floor. Construction recommenced in 1938, and Almirall's building on Flatbush Avenue was largely demolished except for the frame, but some of the original facade along the library's parking lot is still visible. Completed by late 1940, the Central Library opened to the public on February 1, 1941. It was publicly and critically acclaimed at the time. The second floor of the Central Library opened in 1955, nearly doubling the amount of space available to the public. Occupying over and employing 300 full-time staff members, the building serves as the administrative headquarters for the Brooklyn Public Library system. Prior to 1941 the Library's administrative offices were located in the

Williamsburgh Savings Bank The Williamsburgh Savings Bank was a financial institution in Brooklyn, New York from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries. The bank was incorporated in 1851 under legislation passed by the New York State Assembly. The bank continued to ope ...

on Flatbush Avenue. ''See also:'' The Central Library was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2002.

References

Notes

External links

Brooklyn Public Library – Central Library
{{Authority control 1940 establishments in New York City Art Deco architecture in Brooklyn Brooklyn Public Library Carnegie libraries in New York City Federal depository libraries Grand Army Plaza Libraries in Brooklyn Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City Library buildings completed in 1940 National Register of Historic Places in Brooklyn New York City Designated Landmarks in Brooklyn Park Slope Prospect Heights, Brooklyn Prospect Park (Brooklyn)