A Look Back at Brooklyn's Central Library

Recently the Central Library of the Brooklyn Public Library had a ribbon cutting ceremony for the completion of Phase One of a multi-phase renovation project. This phase returns space formerly used for administrative needs back to the public and creates five grand spaces: the Major Owens Welcome Center, New and Noteworthy, Civic Commons, Business and Career Center, and the restored Grand Lobby.  While we celebrate this new era of Central Library, we can also look back to the original construction of the Central Library.

The possibility of a Central library was first proposed in 1888. It designated an odd triangle shaped lot at the top of Prospect Park as a good location but this plan was not approved until 1905 and ground breaking did not start until 1912. Construction was hampered by the war and seventeen years later only one third of the library was constructed - the above pictured Flatbush Avenue Wing. When funding went dry, Mayor Hylan was far from supportive, telling trustee David Boody that the city was "not responsible for that hole in the ground."

Needless to say, the nickname stuck, and the new library was often referred to as a "hole in the ground" by local press.

In 1936 the "open book" design was proposed. This is the library we know - made to mimic a book, with the spine curving into Grand Army Plaza and the "covers" represented by the wings running down Flatbush Avenue and Eastern Parkway. This design was approved in 1937. The Central Library with the bronze entrance scupltures finally opened its doors in 1941.

Interested in seeing more photos from CBH’s collections? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images, or the digital collections portal at Brooklyn Public Library. We look forward to inviting you to CBH in the future to research in our entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections. In the meantime, please visit our resources page to search our collections. Questions? Our reference staff is available to help with your research! You can reach us at [email protected].