SEE: Brooklyn Library Gives First Look At New Dumbo Branch

DUMBO, BROOKLYN — Construction on the Brooklyn Public Library's new branch in Dumbo might not be starting until next year, but officials are already hard at work planning out the new space.

The library, the Brooklyn first new branch since 1983, will be built in an old factory building at 135 Plymouth Street and is the 60th public library location for the borough.

Library officials and architecture firm WorkAC gave the first peek into what they have planned for the 6,565-square-foot space during an event Tuesday night. The preliminary designs come after months of learning what residents both young and old want for the new library, a spokeswoman said.

"Community feedback was significant," press officer Fritzi Bodenheimer said. "We have presented the plans and asked for feedback at large and small events and collected nearly 700 surveys from the public."

Those events, along with the surveys, revealed six themes that the community wanted to include in the new library, including a unique branch identity, a focus on youth and senior programming and a way to bridge the socioeconomic divide, officials said at the Tuesday meeting.

Bodenheimer said that all of the feedback as shared with the architects and incorporated into their designs.

(Brooklyn Public Library, feedback given at the "First Look" event this week.)

The preliminary layout of the library shows that it will include a teen area in the front, a reception lounge, kids area and multipurpose room in its center and an adult reading and meeting area towards the back.

The library will take up the section of the large Plymouth Street building closest to the waterfront and will have its entrance on Adams Street.

They also offered a look into what these different areas might look like.

The entrance, renderings show, maintains the buildings high windows and has the reception and lounge area in a well lit spot off to the left of the door.

(Brooklyn Public Library, view from entrance)

The view from the teens area shows a sectioned-off spot for tables and chairs, including space along the wall for computer use.

The kid's area is elevated and sectioned off from both of these spaces by the entrance, but has a window looking inside.

(Brooklyn Public Library, view from teens area)

Inside, the kid's section offers an open space separate from most of the rest of the library, though the large windows offer a look into the other areas.

Finally, an adult reading and meeting space can be found on the far end of the library from the entrance. This is where stacks of books, along with tables and chairs, are set up.

Officials also gave an overview of what they will need to do to put the plan in place when construction on the space starts early next year.

The building is a solid wood structure that will require heavy timber construction and has windows with high sills, officials said.

Once it's done, the library will have views of the Manhattan Bridge and the East River and give patrons direct access to nearby Brooklyn Bridge Park and the waterfront. The noise from the bridge will be blocked using insulated windows.

The designs will be finalized in the next six months, officials said.

The new library branch is being paid for with city money and, in part, by profits from the Brooklyn Heights library redevelopment. The new branch was part of the deal the library made with developers who took over the Brooklyn Heights branch and rebuilt it, along with a condo building.