Brooklyn Public Library

For Brooklyn PL, Planned Sale of Branches Promises Opportunity, Provokes Concern

By Norman Oder on April 22, 2013 3 Comments

BPL, one of three systems in New York City and the country’s fifth-largest library (by population served), has suffered consistent underfunding of capital needs, with its 59 locations facing a $230 million backlog of deferred maintenance, barely dented by the $15 million annual allotment of capital funding.

Their solution: sell two aging libraries that occupy valuable land, and work with real estate developers to include libraries in residential towers. It’s not uncommon for urban libraries to consider mixed-use buildings, though few face the real estate froth characteristic in Brooklyn.

Filed Under: Architecture and Buildings, Budgets & Funding Tagged With: BPL, Brooklyn Public Library, real estate

NYPL, Queens Libraries Comment on Simon & Schuster Ebook Lending Deal

By Matt Enis on April 16, 2013

Simon & Schuster (S&S) on Monday announced a one-year pilot program in which the publisher’s complete catalog of ebooks will be available for sale and lending at the New York Public Library (NYPL), the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL, and the Queens Library beginning April 30.

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: Brooklyn Public Library, ebooks, LJ, New York Public Library, publishing, Queens Library, Simon & Schuster, TDS

Urban Librarians Unite Plants Mini Libraries, Plans Conference

By Meredith Schwartz on February 13, 2013 Leave a Comment

ULU mini library at Brooklyn Public Library's closed Red Hook branch

Urban Librarians Unite (ULU) collected more than 20,000 children’s books to help replace library collections damaged by Hurricane Sandy. The library advocacy and support group, founded by 2012 LJ Mover & Shaker Christian Zabriskie, also placed Mini Libraries in front of libraries that were closed by storm damage. Locations include Queens Library branches in [...]

Filed Under: Advocacy, Organizations & Consortia, Shows & Events Tagged With: Brooklyn Public Library, Hurricane Sandy, mini libraries, nypl, Queens Library, Urban Librarians Unite

InfoCommons Offers Vision of Brooklyn’s Future

By Matt Enis on January 15, 2013

The Brooklyn Public Library on Tuesday unveiled its Central Library’s Shelby White and Leon Levy Information Commons area—a new public space designed to complement the building’s history while pointing toward the library’s future. The 5,500 square foot area “is really what I consider the nucleus around which our future service delivery strategies will revolve,” Richard Reyes-Gavilan, BPL’s Chief Librarian, told a group of librarians gathered from throughout the region to preview the space last week.

Filed Under: Featured, Technology Tagged With: Brooklyn Public Library, central library, interior design, LJ, TDS, user experience

In Sandy’s Wake, Library Systems Help City Keep Students Connected

By SLJ on December 3, 2012

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the New York, Queens, and Brooklyn Public Library have partnered with the city to provide online courses to students displaced from their homes.

Filed Under: Youth Services Tagged With: Brooklyn Public Library, LJ, New York Public Library, public libraries, Queens Public Library

NYPL, BPL, 3M Officially Launch Penguin Ebook Pilot Test

By Matt Enis on October 1, 2012

The 3M Cloud Library, the New York Public Library (NYPL), the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL), and publisher Penguin Books have officially launched a pilot program that will allow patrons of the two systems to check out a selection of Penguin ebook titles six months after initial publication. NYPL will also offer additional titles from the 3M cloud library, the company said in an announcement today.

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: Brooklyn Public Library, ebooks, LJ, New York Public Library, penguin, TDS

Update: NYC Budget Restores Most Library Funding

By Meredith Schwartz on June 26, 2012 1 Comment

This article has been updated to include information on the final vote. The New York City budget restored nearly $90 million of a threatened $96 million cut to public libraries in an agreement announced June 25. The City Council approved the fiscal year 2013 budget agreement on June 28. The budget also includes more than [...]

Filed Under: Budgets & Funding Tagged With: Brooklyn Public Library, nypl, Queens Public Library

NYC Libraries Consider Common Card

By Bob Warburton on June 26, 2012 Leave a Comment

Distribution of new “common” library cards to more than a million school children in New York City this summer is viewed as tangible progress toward the more far-reaching goal of creating the first unified, seamless library experience for residents in all five boroughs.

Filed Under: Library Services, Managing Libraries Tagged With: Brooklyn Public Library, integration, library card, nypl, Queens Public Library

Two New York Libraries in Public Competition for Preservation Grants

By LJ on May 10, 2012

The Brooklyn Public Library's Central Branch (left) and the New York Public Library's Jefferson Market Branch (right)

The Brooklyn Public Library’s Central Branch and the Jefferson Market Library in Manhattan’s West Village are among forty historic places in New York City competing for $3 million in grants through Partners in Preservation, a collaboration between American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Filed Under: Architecture and Buildings, Budgets & Funding Tagged With: Brooklyn Public Library, grants, historic libraries, New York Public Library

Judge Gives Brooklyn Public Library a Tongue Lashing

By Michael Kelley on December 28, 2011

A Brooklyn Supreme Court justice recently drew inspiration from Mel Brooks in order to better skewer the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) and its top administrators. A man named David Rodriguez had filed suit (Rodriguez v. Brooklyn Public Library) in March 2010 against the library, alleging that he had been injured in an April 2009 car [...]

Filed Under: LJ Insider Tagged With: Brooklyn Public Library