Marcy Library Reopens With Storytime in Bed-Stuy
BED-STUY – After an 18-month closure, the Marcy Library reopened today, with students from the nearby P.S. 54 in attendance for the inaugural storytime in the newly renovated facility.
With new paint, shelves, computers and plenty of space for schoolchildren, the library is a beautiful and inviting space. Gleaming rows of computers are available for patrons, including learning computers specifically for younger children. Rows of books, DVDs and more are available. A soft glow of tinted light shines through stained glass panels at the front of the building.
“We’re delighted to be back in the Marcy Library,” said Linda E. Johnson, President of the Brooklyn Public Library, thanking the staff and local Councilmember Robert Cornegy for their efforts in upgrading the library, which has served the community for more than 120 years.
Most importantly, the $1.5 million upgrade included a 20-ton rooftop HVAC unit that would provide A/C to the building—an announcement that elicited audible whoops of joy from the assembled staff, excited not to face another sweltering summer.
Speaking at the event, Councilmember Robert Cornegy said the reopening ran counter “to the narrative, to the popular belief that education isn’t a priority in Bedford-Stuyvesant—this is a testament to that not being true.”
During the closure for renovation, Cornegy said constituents flooded his office with calls looking for updates on when the library would reopen. He said the public engagement showed the Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights community’s dedicated to both learning and safe space for children in the area.
As proof of their commitment, it was local residents that “resoundingly voted” to put $350,000 toward the renovation through participatory budgeting.
Before the P.S. 54 schoolkids started to grow restless, the strikingly tall politician got a bit more on their level, sitting with the kindergarten and first graders to read to them from one of his favorite books: “City Shapes,” by New York author Diana Murray.
It is the latest renovated branch to reopen, after the Mill Basin Library last week. The Brooklyn Public Library is in the process of updating aging infrastructure system-wide, and over a third of the libraries in the system are either undergoing or about to undergo revitalization projects, officials said.
Previously, BKLYNER covered plans for the children’s library at Midwood Library and the failing air conditioning at the Flatbush branch. Libraries are used by the city as cooling centers during the hot summer months, sp these investments cannot come soon enough.
The Marcy branch, at 617 DeKalb Ave near Nostrand, will be open Monday through Saturday, starting at 10:00 am.