Mapleton Library Reading Garden Getting Closer To Becoming Reality

MAPLETON/BOROUGH PARK – Mapleton Branch Library reading garden will look quite different come next spring. Naila Rosario from Brooklyn Public Library presented the latest designs at the Community Board 12 April meeting and they were approved without objections.

Here is what the site looks like:

and here what it will look like:

The project, initiated under former Councilmember David Greenfield, will completely overhaul the grassy side yard.

The smart design will use permiable pavers to create a space that is accessible to all, and also environmentally friendly. Approach from 17th Avenue will be made easier through wider gates, and there will be a new entrance to the library immediately to the left, while a seating area with tables will welcome visitors on the right. The new space aims to provide plenty of seating areas as well as a small play space with some rocks for the little ones to clim on, surrounded by rubber safety surface at the far end of the garden.

New benches will be either poured of concrete at the location and topped with bluestone, or made of composite wood. The entire space will be compliant with Americans with Disabilities Act, including the water fountain. The two existing fruit trees will be relocated within the garden, and the design suggests adding flowering dog wood, a heritage birch and lots of rhododendrons, as well as grasses and spring flowers.

Mapleton Library opened at the corner of 17th Avenue and 60th Street in 1955, four blocks from the Gravesend Park (which also received substantial investment during Councilmember Greenfield’s tenure, including $2 million for public restrooms).

(All images and drawings courtesy of Brooklyn Public Library and NYC DDS. Full size design drawings are here: Mapleton-Library-Garden-Drawings)