Talk about overdue books!
The long-shuttered Brighton Beach Library is finally re-opening on Feb. 13 after it closed for renovations more than a year ago.
Officials expected to be lending out books again by last fall, but work took longer than expected and bookworms had to choose from a limited selection of paperbacks from a bookmobile outside the locked library just two days a week — so the news couldn’t be more exciting, said one local writer.
“Yay, good news, good news. I cannot believe it. I will be there,” said Joseph Ben-Po, best known for his 1990 play predicting that Donald Trump would become president. “I am writing two plays.”
The Brooklyn Public Library closed its Brighton First Road stack house last winter so contractors could upgrade its heating and cooling system, bring in new furniture and computers, and install energy-efficient lighting — a roughly $1.5-million renovation — according to a system spokeswoman.
But installing the climate-control system took longer than anticipated, prolonging the opening date from early December to mid-February, she said.
And one lifelong Brighton Beacher who grew up going to that library said she can’t wait for its grand opening so she can bring her family again.
“Absolutely — all the time as a kid, as an adult, bring my niece and my nephew,” said Vivien Diaz.
The Brighton Beach Library isn’t the only one to experience long-overdue openings — the Park Slope branch was delayed because of construction setbacks, and a termite infestation is slowed the Fort Hamilton branch’s re-opening in the mid-aughts.
