Kensington bookworms still have to wait over a year before their long-anticipated new library is open for business, but the new building is now showing its face.
In the spring of 2012, the state-of-the-art branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, which is rising up on 18th Avenue, near E. Third Street, will replace a leased facility on Ditmas Avenue near E. Fourth Street that has been unable to keep up with the demand of local readers.
And some of those readers can’t wait to make the move from a former catering hall to a state-of-the-art facility.
“This is a pretty tiny space,” said Kensington resident Nash Moon. “That one is going to be spacious. It will have a lot more rooms and maybe a lot more books.”
More computers — which are lacking in the present library, are something others are looking forward to.
“They only have four computers,” said Frank Klimek, who had to wait a half-hour to get a 30-minute turn surfing the Web at the old branch, “so there’s a long wait.”
Especially after school, when the current library really gets crowded, added Shea Josephs, a student at nearby Nesivos Chaim Yeshiva, who goes to the library to read.
“Some additional space would be pretty nice,” he said.
The new $14.9 million library — which the Brooklyn Public Library claims will be its first “green” building — is about half complete, according to library Spokeswoman Malika Granville. When it is finished, she said, it will have 26 computers, and separate toddler, teen and adult reading areas. In addition, it will be handicapped-accessible, and have self-checkout machines.
The new library’s hours of operation have not been determined, said Granville. The current Kensington library lost a day to budget cuts in September, when its schedule went from six days a week to five.
“Across the board we have had to strategize with the budget to make sure we are able to provide our customers with the best service,” she added.
Of the library’s 61 facilities, 37 are open five days, 19 are open six, two are closed for renovation, and three (the central library at Grand Army Plaza, the Kings Highway branch and the McKinley Park branch) are open seven.
Construction on the new Kensington library began in October, 2009.
