This reopening is long overdue!
The Brooklyn Public Library’s Mill Basin Library is finally reopening on Jan. 29 after more than a year of renovations — and six months after originally scheduled — to the relief of book-loving locals.
“I’m delighted,” said councilman Alan Maisel (D–Mill Basin). “It was a long time and a significant loss for my constituents who use the library on a regular basis.”
The Mill Basin branch closed in late 2016 so it could undergo significant renovations. The library replaced the branch’s heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems, and gave the inside new reading tables and chairs, computer tables, signage, a paint job, and energy-efficient lighting. It also added a new children’s area, according to a Brooklyn Public Library spokeswoman.
The branch provided a mobile site at the location two days a week during the renovations and encouraged patrons to go to the Brooklyn Public Library’s other nearby branches, such as the Flatlands Library, in the meantime. The project did come in on budget, despite being six months late, the spokeswoman said.
The Brooklyn Public Library told Community Board 18, which includes Mill Basin, that the branch would reopen in October, according to a board official. Maisel also said the library told him that it would reopen in the fall, and that Mill Basinites bombarded his office with calls about when it would reopen, until news of the reopening broke. Now everybody is just happy to see it reopening.
“At this point, we’re happy it’s finished,” he said.
The branch will officially reopen with a ceremony on Jan. 29 that Brooklyn Public Library president Linda Johnson and Maisel will attend.
The Mill Basin Library first opened back in 1940 on Avenue T. It moved to its current location on Ralph Avenue in 1974, according to its website.
The Mill Basin Library [2385 Ralph Ave., near Veterans Avenue, (718) 241-3973, www.bklyn
