Brower Park Library Relocation: New Details Released

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — The president of the Brooklyn Children's Museum and a top staffer with the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) shared new information Thursday about plans to roll the Brower Park Library into a space the museum says it currently has available.

News of the proposal was released by the BPL this week, when the institution said it wants to close Brower Park, a 1963 branch in need of $5.6 million in repairs, and open the "Brower Park Family Library," a facility oriented toward parents and children, inside the museum by 2020.

The Brower Park branch would remain open until the new library is ready to welcome guests, according to the BPL.

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Speaking before a meeting of Community Board 8, Stephanie Hill Wilchfort, who leads the museum, said the BPL approached Brooklyn Children's with the merger concept about a year ago.

To make it work, the museum would move its administrative offices to 5,000 square feet of unused space, Wilchfort said, turning over more than 6,000 square feet it's currently using for that purpose to the BPL.

Wilchfort said the proposal would allow for Brooklyn Children's to make new use of its lending collection of 30,000 items available to families. Those items could be integrated into library programming, she said — for example, a teacher who has brought her class to the library for a lesson on sea life would be able to check out samples of aquatic organisms that the museum has on hand.

She also said that since Brooklyn Children's is situated on city-owned land, any library built there "will be with us forever. The City of New York does not close libraries in city-owned buildings."

David Woloch, the BPL's executive vice president for external affairs, explained the financial rationale behind the proposed move. The BPL does not own the property where the Brower Park Library sits, and it would cost $3 million to buy it, he said. That, combined with the $5.6 million in capital improvements needed by the branch, means the BPL would have to spend $8.6 million just to get the library on stable ground and in good condition.

By contrast, outfitting a new library space at the museum would cost $3 million, money that the BPL and Brooklyn Children's are looking to raise in this year's city budget, Woloch said.

The new library would face Brooklyn Avenue, and would have slightly more usable space than the current one, Woloch said. Additionally, the plan offers the "chance to build a brand new 21st century library from the ground up, and to do so with community input."

As part of the arrangement, Woloch confirmed that the BPL would pay Brooklyn Children's about $230,000 per year in rent, a bit less than the Brower Park Library currently costs. That rental price tag would be slightly lower than market rate, currently at $37 per square foot for comparable property in the neighborhood, he and Wilchfort said.

One CB 8 community member asked if the plan would constrain the museum's future growth plans, to which Wilchfort answered that would not.

"I feel very confident that the museum could grow," she said, explaining that it's looking to build an auditorium, will be re-opening an outdoor garden space in the near future, and could potentially build new programming space on the building's roof.

Another community member who declined to provide her name said she's used the Brower Park Library for decades, and expressed concern that the BPL's plan to build a library oriented toward children would mean adults would be excluded.

Woloch said that while the new library would have "a large children's focus," it would still have computers and materials for adults, as well as newer versions of books and library items that older patrons would benefit from.

Speaking with Patch after the presentation, the community member noted that she feels the Children's Museum is often filled with newer neighborhood arrivals, while the library is used by long-standing community residents.

"This needs to be a library for everybody," the woman said of the proposed new space, "all economic backgrounds, all colors — not just new people coming in."

Michael White, an activist with Citizens Defending Libraries — which has vehemently opposed the BPL's plans to sell off properties in Sunset Park, Brooklyn Heights, and other locations — said Thursday that while a 6,000 square foot library is small in his estimation, he wasn't "categorically against" the proposal.

He said, however, that a price tag of $3 million to outfit such a small space sounded high. And he noted that "the devil is always in the details" of such plans, which "are only being forced out now."

Wilchfort and Woloch both said that while their institutions are moving forward with the proposal, it has yet to be finalized. Woloch said the BPL will host comment sessions at Brower Park and the Children's Museum, as well as other public presentations.

Wilchfort said she'll also be making the rounds in the community, and added that anyone who wishes to send her thoughts on the proposal can email her directly by writing to swilchfort@brooklynkids.org.

"We're coming to the community first," Wilchfort said to CB 8. "You are taxpayers who pay to have this library in your neighborhood."

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