Brower Park Library Moving To Brooklyn Children's Museum, BPL Says

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) will move the Brower Park Library to a new space in the Brooklyn Children's Museum, the BPL announced Tuesday, creating a facility known as the Brower Park Family Library. In a Tuesday press release, the BPL said aims to open the new space by early 2019. Brower Park will stay open until the new branch is ready.

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According to a BPL press release, the new library space will combine its lending items with materials from the Children's Museum's "30,000-piece collection, offering an invaluable resource to parents and educators in the community, who will be able to borrow authentic cultural and natural science objects to enhance learning."

According to the BPL, the Brower Park Library, located at 725 St. Marks Ave., dates from 1963, and is in need of $5.6 million in repairs, "including a new roof, HVAC system and boiler."

Additionally, unlike most BPL branches, the library sits on privately owned land, according to the BPL.

"Purchasing the property to avoid the uncertainty of staying in a leased space would cost the City an estimated additional $3 million, and the process would take several years, compounding the amount needed to fix the branch," the BPL said in a statement.

Under the new arrangement, the BPL will rent its space from the Children's Museum, paying an "equivalent" amount to what it currently pays for Brower Park's space.

The design and construction of the new branch will cost $3 million, according to the BPL. The Children's Museum "is working to raise that amount in public funding" this year, the BPL said.

Additional information on the project can be found on the BPL's website.

Pictured at top: the Brower Park Library. Image via Google Maps.