Carroll Gardens to Get Temporary Library as Reno Enters Third Year

By Kirstyn Brendlen, Brooklyn Paper

With an extra year tacked onto the ongoing renovation of the Carroll Gardens Library, Community Board 6 has offered its “underutilized” office space to serve as a temporary library until next summer.

The temporary library is set to open at 250 Baltic Street in July, according to CB6 and the Brooklyn Public Library, though an exact date has yet to be announced. It will operate four days a week with limited hours: Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays from 1 to 5 p.m. and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“I’m thrilled that the Carroll Gardens Library will continue serving the community during renovations through this interim location at 250 Baltic Street, which is also home to Brooklyn Community Board 6,” said Mike Racioppo, CB6 district manager, in a statement. “After speaking with fellow CB6 members and the Cobble Hill Association, I suggested this idea and contacted the Brooklyn Public Library and our elected officials. I’m proud to see this becoming a reality and a reminder that government can do good things.”

The permanent library, which is more than a century old and is considered one of Brooklyn’s “most beautiful” Carnegie libraries, according to BPL, closed for renovations in 2023. Additional funding allocated by state Senator Andrew Gounardes last fall ensured all the required work would be done at once, and officials said the library would be finished in summer 2025. But crews from the city’s Department of Design and Construction recently determined that the building would need additional structural enforcements to support the weight of new high-energy HVAC units.

Now, according to BPL, DDC plans to wrap up in November 2025, at which point BPL will take over for some additional sprucing up — pushing the reopening date to summer 2026.

Though BPL had been providing regular Bookmobile visits and other off-site programming, the neighborhood was sorely missing its local branch, officials said, especially since the nearby P.S. 58 doesn’t have a functioning library. In March, Racioppo and several local politicians wrote a letter to BPL president and CEO Linda Johnson, urging her to consider utilizing 250 Baltic Street as an interim library.

Johnson agreed, and local Council Member Shahana Hanif and state Senator Andrew Gounardes each allocated $8,300 for the temporary library, while Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon allocated $10,000. The local Ikea store will donate furnishings and supplies.

At the temporary branch, locals will be able to browse for and borrow books, pick up holds, sign up for library cards, and consult librarians on reference questions. Each Wednesday, library staff will offer programs like story times, book clubs, and more around the neighborhood. More details about that programming will be available on the Carroll Gardens Library website.

“When libraries close, we lose more than books,” Hanif said in a statement. “We lose a culture of reading, joyful discovery, and lifelong learning … As we await the reopening of this beloved and historic branch, the pop-up library will ensure that the community can continue to benefit from the invaluable resources, programs, and connections that our libraries provide.”

The temporary library is expected to operate until next summer, and will close about a month before the permanent branch reopens.

When renovations are complete, the permanent Carroll Gardens Library will have a new HVAC system and lighting, updated elevators and bathrooms, and a brand-new teen space.

“The closure of the Carroll Gardens Library has left a deep hole in our community,” said Ginger Gaines, president of Friends of Carroll Gardens Library, in a statement. “We thank our elected officials for arranging for this interim location while the much-needed renovations of the building are being completed.”

At least three BPL branches will operate out of temporary locations this summer. The Walt Whitman pop-up library opened in Fort Greene last week, and the Red Hook branch has been operating out of an interim space since last July. Five other branches are closed for renovations as well.

Editor’s note: A version of this story originally ran in Brooklyn Paper. Click here to see the original story.

[Photos by Susan De Vries unless noted otherwise]

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