Library services continue despite closings by Brian Abate

Both the Red Hook Library and Carroll Gardens Library are closed long-term for renovations. The closest open libraries to Red Hook are in Park Slope and Brooklyn Heights, which is not ideal for locals.

In the meantime, there are a few options for those who miss the library. On Tuesdays from 11- 4 pm, there will either be a bookmobile or techmobile in Coffey Park.  In addition to the services in Red Hook, there will be a techmobile at Carroll Park on Monday, September 11 from 11 am to 4 pm as well as on September 25, at the same time and location.

The techmobile features computers with internet access. The bookmobile, serves as a small, mobile library. Both Gretchen Alexander and Labreisha Gamble were there when I stopped by at Coffey Park on August 22. I went inside the vehicle and there was plenty of room to read and use the internet.

I did not see anyone using the techmobile in the hour I spent there. That made me wonder how upset people actually are about the libraries closing, so I asked people from the neighborhood for their thoughts.

“I’m not someone who relies on the library but I know there are people who go there almost every day,” said Sarah Gonzalez from Red Hook. “For them, I wish it was open because this is bad for them.”

Others had no concerns about libraries in the neighborhoods being closed for a while, with John, a Carroll Gardens resident, saying “It doesn’t affect me at all. In the old days before everyone had laptops and iPhones, I would be concerned but in 2023, I don’t think it’s a big deal.”

About 20 people were kind enough to give me their opinions, and about half were upset.  I also asked if those who were concerned about the closures felt the renovations were necessary.

“I don’t spend much time in the library but it looked fine to me,” said Mike Jones from Red Hook. “They’ll probably make it a lot nicer but is it worth closing it down for who knows how long? I don’t know.”

One of my personal concerns was that both libraries were going to be closed at the same time. At a meeting before Red Hook closed, one woman said it just wouldn’t make sense for her kids to have to travel for an hour to get to the library, and that they had no plans to rely on other branches while the Red Hook one was closed.

I reached out to Fritzi Bodenheimer, press officer for the Brooklyn Public Library and she responded with the following statement:

“For the past several years, Brooklyn Public Library has invested in closing a significant capital needs gap and updating aging infrastructure system-wide. The result of that work is that we are now in a period of aggressive rebuilding and repair, ensuring our libraries can serve the borough for generations to come.

“While work is underway, the bookmobile is providing service at Carroll Park with additional programs at St. Paul’s Church and Books are Magic. The techmobile is providing service at Coffey Park with programs at the Red Hook Initiative and Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition [BWAC.] Additional points of service will be added. Patrons can always access a wealth of resources online and are welcome at more than 60 branches throughout the borough.”

Some of the programs include: Toddler Time at Red Hook Initiative (767 Hicks St.,) which includes reading, singing, and puppets takes place from 11-11:30 am on Fridays. Family Story and Craft at BWAC (481 Van Brunt St. door 7A) will take place on Saturday, September 23, from 4-5 pm. The event includes a series of family storytimes with a crafting session afterward. All ages are welcome.

In Carroll Gardens, Storytime at Books are Magic (225 Smith St.) will take place on Friday, September 8, from 11-11:30 am. The event is geared towards babies and toddlers who are three years old or younger. Toddler Time at St. Paul’s Episcopal  Church (199 Carroll St.) will take place on Wednesdays starting on September 20 from 10:30-11 am.

In addition to those events, leaders from the Red Hook Civic Association including Imre Kovacs and Matias Kalwill are looking for a location for a temporary library. Red Hook Pentecostal Holiness Church at 110 Wolcott St. is a possibility.

Kovacs was able to get in contact with Joyce Kowpak, a librarian at the Red Hook branch who is now working at the Park Slope library. Right now the plan is for Kovacs to take more people from the library and the neighborhood on a tour on the morning of September 6.

The Civic Association has a draft of a one-pager (which summarizes the issue and what the Civic Association plans to do to address it.) It has not yet been revised or approved by the services committee so it is not finalized.

However, right now it includes one section that says, “When the Brooklyn Heights library was closed for reconstruction, a temporary library was provided elsewhere in the community. But this is Red Hook, isolated behind waterways on three sides. The lack of equal treatment, for whatever the reason, is unacceptable.”

The next section explains that the Civic Association is “Working in partnership with the Friends of the Red Hook Library, the Red Hook Business Association. The public services committee of the RHCA has located space for a temporary library for Red Hook, on the street level of a local church. We are asking Councilwoman Aviles to work with us to demand that the Brooklyn Public Library locate there or another temporary space in Red Hook.”

The next general Civic Association meeting will be at held at the Red Hook Recreation Center (155 Bay St.) on Sept. 6 at 6:15 pm.

Brian Abate