Since the Walt Whitman Library closed for renovations in March, librarians have been keeping its services alive elsewhere, hosting computer classes at the Igersoll Community Center, book discussions at the Willoughby Older Adult Club, and welcoming regular visits from the Bookmobile.
On May 6, the library brought everything back together under one roof at the Walt Whitman Pop-Up Library at 240 Nassau St.
‘We’re just so excited to have people back’
The space, owned by Alloy Development, is best known as the home of the Madison Square Boys and Girls Club. But several other orgs make use of the space, and the developer offered to let BPL use 3,000 square feet free of charge through June.
“We’re just so excited to have people back, and so grateful to our partners at Alloy for providing the space to us for free,” said BPL press officer Fritzi Bodenheimer. “It won’t be exactly the same as the previous full-service library, but it’ll be a great way to stay connected to the community … we’re delighted to be able to do that.”
The pop-up library doesn’t quite have the space for the 40,000 books housed at the Walt Whitman branch, said librarian Alex Mouyios, but it does have a good selection of material from all genres and in multiple languages.
It also has plenty of room for the library’s usual programs — like school visits, a “very successful” resume and cover letter assistance program, backgammon and crochet sessions, and chess games.
Six BPL branches, including Walt Whitman, are currently closed for renovations. But only two — Walt Whitman and the Red Hook Library — have dedicated temporary digs.
“Brooklyn Public Library’s budget has essentially remained flat since before the pandemic,” said Mike Fieni, BPL’s director of community engagement. “So it’s very hard to offer new programs or new initiatives without either some sort of outside funding or the perfect partner. And in this case, we had the perfect partner willing to provide a space for free and work with us on this.”
The Red Hook Interim Library, similarly, is being funded by Amazon and received furniture donations from the local IKEA store.
Mouyios and his co-librarian Margaret Day have been planning for the closure and trying to find alternative spaces for at least three years. Their partnership with Alloy came about by chance, when they met Elizabeth Graham, Alloy’s community liaison, at a meeting of the Myrtle Avenue BID last fall.
“I was hearing about the construction and I said, ‘Hey, we do have available space, you guys should come check it out,’” Graham said. “And the rest is history.”
Alloy bought 240 Nassau St. in 2023 after the Boys and Girls Club filed for bankruptcy. While the developer does intend to rezone the property and build a mixed-use development with a permanent community space, that project is still quite a ways away, said David McCarty, Alloy’s vice president.
In the meantime, the company opted to give the Boys and Girls Club a large donation so it could keep operating there and found some other local groups who needed space — like the Brooklyn Diamonds cheerleading team, who train at 240 Nassau St., and Heal Through Art.
Now, BPL has joined the mix.
“I used to be a library kid, I was always in the library,” Graham said. “It’s kind of like a full circle moment, like, now I actually get to help the library that’s helped me so much. I am super excited.”
The Walt Whitman Pop-Up Library is open Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-1:45 p.m., through June.
Renovations are underway at Walt Whitman
Meanwhile, the $14.75 million renovation of the permanent Walt Whitman Library on St. Edwards Street is well underway.
The building — which was funded by Andrew Carnegie, as so many of the city’s libraries were — opened in 1908.
“This is a very old library,” Bodenheimer said. “It deserves a little love and updating for sure.”
Its aging HVAC system will be replaced, a new elevator and staircases will be constructed, and new bathrooms built. ADA upgrades will make the three-story building more accessible, and all three levels are being “reconfigured” to include more public space — including a new teen area.
“One of the things that I’m most excited about is, as part of the project, the layout is going to be changed around a little bit, and the public space inside the library is going to increase by 40%,” Fieni said. “It’s so exciting to think about the different age groups and uses we’ll be able to serve.”
Outside, architects are building a new sitting area, adding a new entrance ramp, and building a new outdoor reading garden. The library is expected to reopen in late 2026.
