This library is turning over a new page.
City bigwigs gathered on May 15 to open the interim library branch that will take over Sunset Park Library’s operations during its two-year renovation — a makeover that one pol said will modernize and improve one of Brooklyn’s busiest book lenders.
“Sunset Park is one big step closer to getting the modern and more useful library our community envisioned,” said Councilman Carlos Menchaca. “The newly opened interim space at Sunset Park’s historic courthouse gives us everything we wanted.”
The temporary branch, at 4201 Fourth Ave. between 42nd and 43rd streets in the same courthouse that houses Community Board 7, features a lot more than just books. Public computers, classrooms, and a self-service laptop dispenser are also on hand. The additional services are important assets that should continue to be offered to the community even during the library’s redevelopment, according to the chairman of Community Board 7.
“Our community depends not only on the traditional offerings of a library, like books, but also the essential services and resources,” said Cesar Zuniga.
Sunset Park Library’s redevelopment is already underway — it is expected to re-open its doors in 2020. The renovations will nearly double the reading room’s size from the cramped space of 12,000 square feet to an accommodating 21,000 square feet — about the size of one and a half hockey rinks — and is a much-needed expansion that Zuniga said the community has been waiting for.
“We look forward to a new and vastly improved permanent library,” Zuniga said.
