Council Member Brad Lander Announces Online Room Reservation Program At Kensington Library

City Council Member Brad Lander stopped by the Kensington Library, 4207 18th Avenue, on Monday to promote a new online room reservation system for the community room at the branch.

The community room, located in the basement of the library, received funding from the first round of Participatory Budgeting in 2011 to equip the room with lights, a sound system, and other technology so that the room could be used by the community for cultural events. The library regularly shows films in the room and a local theater troupe has been using it as rehearsal space.

To make it easier for community members to reserve and use the space, the library is now implementing the online reservation system it first piloted with the InfoCommons space at the Central Library.

“We’re making it simple for patrons, entrepreneurs and community organizations to access professional spaces for their meetings and events,” said Brooklyn Public Library president and CEO Linda Johnson. “This room and reservation system speak to what the 21st century library is.”

“Thanks to the participatory budgeting delegates who worked hard to outfit the Kensington Branch as a space for meetings, rehearsals, and performances, we’ve got some truly fantastic space available for anyone to use,” said Lander.

“Everyone was adamant about creating new community spaces and cultural facilities,” said Caron Atlas, who was one of the co-facilitators of Participatory Budgeting when the space was funded.

To use the new online reservation system, library patrons can reserve spaces by logging in with their library cards at bklynlibrary.org/rooms.