Red Hook Library closure will leave a huge gap, by Nathan Weiser

The Red Hook Library, which is a relied on space for many, will close for renovations on March 17.

There was a meeting at the library on February 21, at which details were announced. The construction will startthis spring and take about 18 months, which means it should reopend at the beginning of 2025.

The plan is to modernize the building, add more light with bigger windows, and make it flood proof.

The interior space will have a community room, two reservable meeting rooms, and brand new furniture and upgraded technology. This will include a laptop loan program.

The building will be designed to be a “net zero building,” which means that the total energy used on an annual basis will equal the energy that is created on site.

A book mobile and a techmoble will be outside the library location on a few days during the renovation.

Members of the library staff will be able to provide reference services and community resources.

The Bookmobile will have free WIFI through BPL’s Brooklyn Reach program.

The techmobile has five desktop computers and laptop computers and it can hold 10 people.

For the first four weeks of the libraries closure, the bookmobile and tech mobile will come every Tuesday from 11-4 pm. It will alternate between book and tech mobile on those visits.

After the first four weeks the plan is for it to come every other week. Nurys Pimentel, the library circulation specialist said there are other library closures and the bookmobile and tech mobile need to help those neighborhoods as well.

Pimentel announced at the meeting that was attended by many in the neighborhood outreach programs.

One of the librarians will read to the kids once a week at the Red Hook Initiative. The kids will see a familiar face.

There will be weekly kids craft projects class at Pioneer Works. They are hoping to have their resume help session for adults at the Justice Center.

“That is an adult program so we are trying to touch every single base,” Pimentel said. “The kids, the young adults and adults. One of us that works here that you see every single day will be there.”

Somebody in the audience said that having the tech and book mobile at the library just once a week for five hours was not enough for an area with almost 8,000 residents in the Red Hook Houses alone. It was pointed out that library access is needed on weekends.

There was a request to have a brick and mortar replacement for the current library like has happened in two other locations.

David Woloch, representing the Brooklyn Public Library, responded.

“In Brooklyn Heights, where we had an interim library, the developer who was building that building paid for it,” Woloch said. “We don’t have that here and we don’t have that in all other locations where we have closed libraries. We have a library closed in Williamsburg, in Bed Stuy and South Brooklyn with no brick and mortar replacement.”

He added that their outreach plan is more ambitious and aggressive than in other neighborhoods.

Tiffiney Davis from Red Hook Art Project mentioned an art gallery in Red Hook that has a huge space that’s underused. She thought that could be a space for library activities.

Davis, who has 130 students in her program, pointed out that the laptop situation is a huge issue with the tech mobile coming just once a week and suggested city funding. She is willing to provide her space as a makeshift library.

“I know how important the library is for a lot of parents I work with,” Davis said. “My space is definitely open to use and we can figure out timing. They can check out books.”

Pimentel defensively pointed out that they gave out 129 laptops for the community as well as the same amount of hotspots. Those laptops were checked out in January and they don’t need to be checked back in until September.

“We are going to reach out to more places and keep on emailing and see what we can do going forward,” Pimentel said. “As of now, this is all we can lock down. We are hoping to have another meeting the week before we close to update with anything else we have to offer.”

Carolina Salguero from Portside NY said that during the pandemic they had a free community library with outdoor WIFI in a parking lot. She said the EDC evicted the community library abusively on short notice, which upset people.

She suggested putting classroom trailers in that parking lot if Ports America is okay with that. There is a large space available next to the cultural and educational non-profit at Portside.