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Mckinley Park Library gets makeover, new funding for youth programs

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Library officials join Assemblymember Peter Abbate in cutting the ribbon on McKinley Park Library renovations on June 15.
Photo by Jack Cavicchi

Officials cut the ribbon on a slate of renovations and other improvements made to the McKinley Park Library on June 15.

The McKinley Park branch, located near the corner of 68th Street and Fort Hamilton Parkway in Dyker Heights, is now equipped with updated computers, an area reserved for teens, a new floor layout and new wired furniture throughout. The renovation also tripled the amount of public computers in the library, and added an abundance of new electrical outlets for visitors to charge personal devices on.

The renovations were funded by Assemblymember Peter Abbate, who allocated $200,000 in state funding for McKinley Park Library’s makeover. 

The pol, who represents a swath of southern Brooklyn including Dyker Heights, also set aside $100,000 to fund youth programming across all of the borough’s library branches. This funding will support literacy programs, Library Lab STEM programs, teen games, book clubs, and more.

Funding from Assemblymember Peter Abbate helped make the upgrades — which include upgraded tech and a new section for teens — possible, library officials said.Photo by Jack Cavicchi

“It was a great honor for me to cut the ceremonial ribbon to commemorate the improvements made to the McKinley Park Library, supported with state-allocated funding,” Abbate said in a statement.

The branch holds a particularly special place in his heart, he said.

“I was proud to be able to give back to the library that gave me my first library card in the mid 50’s, previously located a few blocks away in a small storefront,” said Abbate. “The growth of the McKinley Park Library from that time is a testament to the beautiful growth in our community. I look forward to the learning and advancements these improvements in the library will provide to our neighborhood.”

The McKinley Park Library on Fort Hamilton Parkway.Photo by Jack Cavicchi

Mckinley Park Library has served the Dyker Heights and Bay Ridge communities for over a century, starting out as a deposit station in 1911. The current building opened in January 1959 after two decades of lobbying by a community group.

Today, the Mckinley Park Library has one of the highest circulation numbers in the Brooklyn Public Library system, according to library officials.

“Thank you to Assemblyman Abbate for both his generous support of library programs throughout the borough and the funding to update McKinley Park Library,” said Linda Johnson, president and CEO of the Brooklyn Public Library system, in a statement. “With a new layout, teen space and computers, we know patrons will enjoy this space for years to come.”