After a four-year closure the newly-renovated Bedford Library reopened last week, finally welcoming Bed-Stuy residents back to the stacks.
Though the library looks largely the same, it has been retrofitted with a new high-efficiency HVAC system and other energy-conserving measures — making it a “model for energy efficiency,” according to BPL.
“As the first public library in the borough, Bedford Library has provided Brooklynites space to explore their interests, read great books and connect with one another for over 125 years,” said Linda E. Johnson, BPL’s president and CEO, in a statement. “We are thrilled to be back on Franklin Avenue — in a newly modernized and energy efficient building — helping a new generation discover all the Library has to offer from story time to career classes and so much more.”
The Bedford Library is BPL’s founding location, and first opened in the old P.S. 3 building on Jefferson Avenue in 1897. It moved into its current building — funded by Andrew Carnegie — in 1905.
Like many other branches, the Bedford Library closed temporarily due to COVID in 2020, and, after a brief reopening, closed for renovations the following year. Though the historic building was beautiful, it was old, and its HVAC system was in need of an upgrade.
The new system will not only keep the building cool in the summer and warm in the winter, according to BPL, but will “dramatically” improve air quality inside the old building and save enough energy to charge 3.2 million smart phones every year.
The library’s fire safety system was also improved, as part of the $2.4 million renovation, according to Thomas Foley, commissioner of the city’s Department of Design and Construction.
“This will better serve the library-goers who use this 120-year-old building, keeping them safer and more comfortable as the effects of climate change become more severe,” Foley said in a statement. “Thank you to BPL for letting us work on this library, the first branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. The historic significance of the building guided our work as we made sure renovations were done properly and with care.”
BPL also installed new floors, swapped fluorescent lights out for LEDs, modernized the elevator cab, and replaced all 77 of the branch’s old windows with new ones that provide better insulation and UV protection.
Experts carefully removed all of the historic window frames, refinished them by hand, and reinstalled them along with the new windows in order to preserve the library’s original architecture.
The Bedford Library is open six days a week, Monday through Saturday, and offers regular events including kids’ storytimes and activities, “teen time,” and various classes for adults through the Bedford Library Learning Center. On May 17, the library will celebrate its return with live music, crafts, and more at the “Welcome Back Block Party.”
“The Bedford branch of the Brooklyn Public Library is a neighborhood institution that was sorely missed,” said Council Member Chi Ossé. “We are so excited for its doors to open again and for our neighbors to experience the benefits of the brand-new renovations. Thank you to the good folks of the library system who made this possible.”
Eight of BPL’s other branches are still closed for renovations — the Carroll Gardens Library, Gerritsen Beach Library, Gravesend Library, Leonard Library, Mapleton Library, Red Hook Library, Ryder Library, and Walt Whitman Library. Most are expected to reopen in 2025 or 2026, and some have been supplemented with mobile or pop-up libraries around the borough.
