CANARSIE, Brooklyn(PIX11) — A Brooklyn neighborhood is celebrating the start of a new chapter for its local library. Crews broke ground Friday in Canarsie, marking the start of construction on a brand-new, state-of-the-art Brooklyn Public Library branch that will replace the neighborhood’s aging facility.
The two-story, 11,000-square-foot Canarsie Library will rise on the same site as the previous branch, doubling the public space and offering new amenities designed to serve the growing community.
“We are on what was the site of the Canarsie Library, but what will be the site of a brand new, spectacularly beautiful, environmentally sensitive branch that this neighborhood will be using for generations to come,” said Brooklyn Public Library President and CEO Linda Johnson.
Johnson said the old building was too outdated to meet modern demands. “We decided it made more sense to start from scratch than to throw a lot of money into a building that was not really architecturally significant in any way,” she said.
Once completed, the new library will feature a children’s reading area with stroller parking, a teen space, a maker lab equipped with cutting-edge technology, and a fully outfitted recording studio. A flexible community room will seat up to 50 people for meetings and events.
Architect Wendy Evans Joseph of Studio Joseph said the design came to life through extensive neighborhood collaboration. “The project began with listening to the community, and we did multiple sessions of community engagement before we put any pen to paper,” Joseph said.
The building will be constructed using mass timber, making it one of New York City’s first public structures of its kind, and will include solar panels, new heating and cooling systems, and a terrace dedicated to community art projects.
Johnson said working closely with the architects has been one of the project’s highlights. “I’ve been deeply involved in the design, working with the architect to make sure that we really take advantage of what is an unusual opportunity, which is to build a new library from ground up,” she said.
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For Johnson, though, the true value of the new Canarsie Library goes beyond its architecture. “The design is beautiful, but what’s really beautiful is what happens inside,” she said.
The new Canarsie library is expected to open next year.
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