Fort Greene And Clinton Hill Families Team Up To Be Friends Of Walt Whitman Library

Saturday, October 24 marked the return of Saturday service to Walt Whitman Library (93 Saint Edwards) and generations of library patrons celebrated it as a victory, not just for the library, but for the entire community.

“We look at this place as a safe haven. It’s a different vibe for my daughter to do her homework there, using the computer to do book reports,” said Darcelle Williamson, who grew up visiting the library branch on Saturdays with her mother and brother. “It didn’t feel the same, closed Saturdays for so long. It’ll be nice to get technology upgrades. There’s all these upgrades in the area with condos; they can at least bring upgrades here, too.”

Williamson is one of several neighbors who have banded together to form an informal Friends of Walt Whitman Library group. to advocate on behalf of the library, pushing for — and bringing on their own — more programs, services, amenities, and other improvements to the nearly century-old library. Thus far, these parents, alongside parents of PS 67 students from next door, have successfully lobbied for a children’s librarian, Friday movie nights, and making the children’s bathroom the one on the ground floor instead of the basement (for ease of access and safety reasons).

Friends groups are common ways for library branches to have direct outreach with the communities they serve, and for residents to have a direct impact on the services that they want to see available for their families. Clinton Hill Library has a friends group. So does Park Slope library and numerous others in the Brooklyn Public Library system.

“I’ve wanted a Friends group for a while, but I didn’t know there was such a thing,” said Williamson. So we automatically became one. Our children don’t have enough places and activities in the area, so I’m glad we exist. We’re more community-based than others. But now we need more of the community to come and participate.”

So far, the Friends group consists of Williamson, fellow neighbors Stacey Williams, Erica Mackey, Dee Harris, and Michael Randazzo, and a couple of others.

“I wanted to be a part of this because it’s positive for the neighborhood,” said Harris, who used to attend PS 67 next door. “The library is a place that focuses on kids learning. It’s a building block. A library means a foundation. It feels like a family.”

Growing up in Fort Greene, Harris considered his favorite library item to be the picture books because they “helped me appreciate art” — something he has taken with him into adulthood as an artist. “Through books, no matter what is going on outside, you go on a journey. It puts you in a bubble outside the bubble. My goal is to help kids achieve success by going back to reading and writing. Hopefully some kids will write books to inspire others.”

Nine-year-old Sade is one of the next generation of Whitman patrons and she agrees that the library is a fun place to be. “I like the computers and there are books they will order for you,” she explained. “I like diaries, Junie B. Jones, and the robotics class was cool.”