The Brooklyn Public Library intends to move from its existing branch on Pacific Street and Fourth Avenue to a new site now being developed by Two Trees Management, and plans to sell the 99-year-old building. City Councilmember Steve Levin, State Assemblymember Joan Millman, and State Senator Velmanette Montgomery are hosting a community strategy and planning meeting regarding the future of this historic structure and local resource.
The session is set for Tuesday, March 5, 6:30 p.m., at the YWCA Community Room, 30 Third Ave. (corner of Atlantic Avenue).
The Pacific Branch was the first Carnegie Branch to open to the public in Brooklyn, on Oct. 8th, 1904. It was followed by 20 other branches around the borough, built from funds donated by steel baron Andrew Carnegie. (The recently reopened Park Slope Library is another.) Raymond F. Almirall, a noted architect, designed the Pacific Branch and three other Brooklyn branches, as well as two other buildings on Fourth Avenue: the Brooklyn Lyceum (formerly Public Bath No . 7 and now a New York City landmark) and St. Michael’s Church in Sunset Park, the church that once was the second tallest building in Brooklyn.
While the branch’s move is not happening immediately, the elected officials believe that now is the time to start organizing as a community.
UPDATED March 5: Among the items on the agenda for the meeting: Officials from the Brooklyn Public Library will give a brief presentation of their plans for the library. Following that, there will be a conversation about the positions various local organizations are taking with respect to the library, as well as discussions about future strategies.
Feel free to bring friends or neighbors who are interested in this issue. More information about this issue is available on the Atlantic Yards Report website.
To RSVP or for more details, contact Ashley Thompson, Councilmember Levin’s chief of staff, at athompson@council.nyc.gov or 212.788.7368.
Note: Post updated on March 3 to include more details on the library’s history; our thanks to John Casson.
Images from John Casson (top) and the BPL website