pacific-branch-library-brooklyn
As we reported yesterday, the City has agreed not to sell the Pacific branch of the Brooklyn Public Library to developers and move the branch into the BAM South apartment building Two Trees is putting up in Fort Greene. The New York Times took a closer look at the fate of that library and the Brooklyn Heights branch that is also threatened with a sale to developers. “It has become clear that the neighborhood highly values that branch and its historic building,” a spokesman for the library told the Times in a statement. “B.P.L. is committed to working with elected officials and community stakeholders to develop an appropriate plan for the Pacific Street building through an open community process. The plan will acknowledge the needs of the library and the community. This plan could include maintaining some or all of the Pacific Street building and continuing to provide library service and programming for children in the community.” It is still possible that in the future the library could be sold and demolished, but thanks to the new agreement, the City Council would have to approve it. Another possibility is that the library could be gutted while leaving the facade intact. The building is the first Carnegie library built in Brooklyn. Meanwhile, over in Brooklyn Heights, the library still plans to sell its Cadman Plaza branch, which is only 52 years old, to a private developer. The plan calls for the developer to include a library in any residential tower.
A Deal Spares a Brooklyn Library, for Now [NY Times]
City Council Gives Thumbs up to BAM South [Brownstoner]
Brooklyn Library Testing Ground for New Funding Model [Brownstoner]


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  1. Actually, rather than the present situation, I think I would prefer if librarians were the one negotiating with the developers. Librarians care about books and libraries and have something they believe in to defend. Instead, it is newly anointed “library” strategy staff that has come over from the Mayor’s EDC. . . in other words the developers are negotiating with their own hand-picked representatives working in collusion to make sweet real estate deals. The new “library” officials are really just running what is becoming essentially a real estate company.