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the carnegie libraries
Brooklyn
The Brooklyn Public Library was established in 1892 and began
operation 5 years later, made up of the former collections of
the private Brooklyn Library and small, independent public libraries.
The Library asked for money for a central library from the Carnegie
grant, but the request was denied as funds were only available
for branch libraries. Instead 21 branches were built. (The central
library eventually opened on Grand Army Plaza in 1941.) All 18
of Brooklyn’s remaining Carnegies still operate as libraries,
and one, Park Slope, is a New York City Individual Landmark. Walker
& Morris, Lord & Hewlett, Raymond F. Almiral, William
B. Tubby, R.L. Daus and Edward L. Tilton designed the branches.
While they are typically in the Classical Revival style popular
at the time, the Stone Avenue and Washington Irving Branches stand
out in their Jacobethan and Tudor Revival styles. The Williamsburgh
Branch was the first planned under the Carnegie grant to begin
construction, but the 1903 Pacific Branch was the first to open.
Local Brooklyn branch links:
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Libraries Main. |
