Center for Brooklyn History Set to Open to the Public This Week in Brooklyn Heights
The former Brooklyn Historical Society and its landmarked Othmer Library, now part of the Brooklyn Public Library, will open to the public Thursday.
A new banner and exhibit outside the building this week. Photo by Susan De Vries
A new blue banner has been unfurled in front of the historic Pierrepont Street facade and now, for the first time since the pandemic, history lovers without appointments will be able to return to the former Brooklyn Historical Society — newly reborn as the Center for Brooklyn History.
Now part of the Brooklyn Public Library, the historic Brooklyn Heights building will be accessible to patrons during regular public hours following a reopening ceremony this Thursday, September 14. Visitors will find a renovated first floor that has been outfitted for reading and working, according to a press release. There will still be exhibit space.
A new exhibit starts on the building’s exterior fence and continues inside. The display highlights items from the collection as well as photos and stories submitted by Brooklynites.
The Othmer Library, a rare interior landmark, remains in all its bookish glory. While researchers will still need to make an appointment to use the vast collection of books, maps, and archival materials, the general public will be able to read in the atmospheric space.
The merging of the Brooklyn Historical Society with the Brooklyn Public Library was announced in February of 2020, and the new Center for Brooklyn History name launched that fall. The vast Brooklyn history-focused collections once held by each organization will now be accessible to researchers at one location.
New hours for the 128 Pierrepont Street building have not yet been listed online, but public hours will begin after Thursday’s 11 a.m. ceremony.
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