Brooklyn Central Library

The Central Library is the main branch of Brooklyn's Public Library. Located on the southeast side of Grand Army Plaza, the building was built in several phases beginning in 1912 and ending in 1955. The building houses The Brooklyn Collection and features a bronze entryway sculpted by Thomas Hudson Jones and C. Paul Jennewein, leading to a grand lobby. The Brooklyn Public Library's Central Library building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2002 for its architectural significance. The Central Library is the most-visited branch in Brooklyn and is in the midst of a multi-million-dollar, multi-phase renovation begun in 2018.

Planning for the Brooklyn Public Library's Central Branch began in 1889, when site selection was assigned to the Brooklyn Park Commission. Ground wasn't broken for the library until 1912 on the Beaux Arts design by architect Raymond F. Almirall (1869-1939). The overly ambitious project was slowed by economic conditions brought on by World War I and the Great Depression, and only one vacant, unfinished wing bordered Flatbush Avenue. The design was revamped to a more modern style in 1935 by architects Alfred M. Githens and Francis Keally, and work began again on the library building. Finally, the library branch opened on February 1, 1941, in a limestone-clad Modern Classical structure with Art Deco details.

When viewing the library building from above, the shape resembles an open book with the spine facing Grand Army Plaza and the wings along Eastern Parkway and Flatbush Ave. as the pages. The dramatic main entrance (facing Grand Army Plaza) is 50 feet tall and set into a concave facade that echoes the curve of the oval outline of Grand Army Plaza. The entrance features 15 gilded figures taken from American literature. The columns lining the doorway are filled with gold-leaf etchings representing the evolution of art and science over time. There are inscriptions on all three main sides of the library's exterior. Above the main doorway is this quote by Roscoe Brown, President of the Brooklyn Public Library Board in 1941: "While men have wit to read and will to know, the door to learning is the open book." One of the Flatbush Ave. inscriptions is by Alexander Smith and begins: "I go into my library, and history rolls before me...." (see the link below for other inscriptions).

A multi-million-dollar renovation of the Central Library began in 2018 with work on the entry plaza. The first phase of renovation was complete in May 2021, with a new or revamped welcome center, business and career center, grand lobby, and more. The next phases, scheduled for 2022 to 2023, will renovate the adult learning and teen spaces and refurbish the collections. In the future, there may be construction of an elevated outdoor garden to connect the library to Mount Prospect Park.

Brooklyn Public Library. Central Library - History, Brooklyn Public Library. Accessed February 4th 2022. https://www.bklynlibrary.org/locations/central/history.

Brooklyn Public Library. Central Library Renovation, Brooklyn Public Library. Accessed February 4th 2022. https://www.bklynlibrary.org/locations/central/renovation.

Brooklyn Public Library. Central Library Inscriptions, Brooklyn Public Library. Accessed February 4th 2022. https://www.bklynlibrary.org/locations/central/inscriptions

NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission. Postal, Matthew A. Designation Report LP-1963, Brooklyn Public Library, Central Building. New York, NY. New York City Government, 1997.