Red Hook Library plan shelved, by George Fiala

According to today’s Daily News, the plan to split the Red Hook Library into a library and a rehearsal space has squashed. Library spokesperson Emma Woods is quoted as saying “We heard the community’s concerns and are going to have a robust dialogue with Red Hook residents, community leaders adn elected officials before moving forward with any project.”

At the recent meeting where the plan, two years in planning, was finally unleashed to the general public, library representatives used the words “robust” and “dialogue,” many times.

The article states that the library estimates that nearly $2 million is needed to upgrade the library’s air conditioning system. They also would like to install modern automatic checkout stations and create a new children’s space.

At the same time that the library executives and others claim that the library is greatly underutilized, so much so that almost half the space could be taken up by a rehearsal studio for performing artists, they seem to feel that automatic checkout stations are necessary.

It remains to the community to continue to focus on the library. Potential users of the library told the Star-Revue that they do not use the library much because there is a very limited selection of books. Barnes and Noble provides a much richer selection and those that can go to Park Slope or Brooklyn Heights do so.  Others have said they go to the library and order books which the library will then have shipped from other branches, but with a time lag. This latter service is very useful, and can be utilized by all residents of Red Hook.

UPDATE:  We have been contacted by the public relations representative of the Brooklyn Public Library, who seem to take issue with the substance of the Daily News story, from which the above was based. Their statement to us is: “We heard the community’s concerns, and are going to have a robust dialogue with Red Hook residents, community leaders, and elected officials before moving forward with any project. Our goal is, and has been, to create a dynamic and vibrant library that serves the needs of the Red Hook community.”

Which is of course different from shelving, or squashing the project.

We also received communication from Spaceworks, the company that is supposedly contracted to create and manage the potential rehearsal space:

“We heard the concerns of the community expressed at the Community Board 6 meeting in July. We are committed to continuing this process, cooperating with the library, and hearing more from the Red Hook community.

Our core mission is to provide affordable space to artists and cultural organizations. We believe this strengthens the cultural landscape of the city, and complements vibrant neighborhoods.”

We interpret the above to mean that the library/Spaceworks team hasn’t given up and will try to convince the Red Hook community that they have a good idea. The next step then will be to appear at the next Land Use meeting, probably in September, armed with actual figures and a clearer report on the proposed renovations, as demanded by Community Board 6.

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