List of libraries in New York City endowed by the Carnegie Corporation
The following list of Carnegie libraries in New York City provides detailed information on United StatesCarnegie libraries in New York City, where 67 libraries were built with funds from one grant totaling $5,202,261 (worth some $190 million today), awarded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York on December 8, 1899. Although the original grant was negotiated in 1899, most of the grant money was awarded as the libraries were built between 1901 and 1923. Carnegie libraries were built in all 5 boroughs.
Key
Building still operating as a library Building standing, but now serving another purpose Building no longer standing Building listed on the National Register of Historic Places (including buildings that are also New York City designated landmarks) Building is a New York City designated landmark but not on the National Register of Historic Places
Carnegie libraries in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island
Designed by Carrère & Hastings and opened May 10, 1907. It was demolished and replaced by a new branch in two floors of an office tower at 127 East 58th Street, which opened in 1969.
Designed by Babb, Cook & Willard in the style of the Yorkville branch and opened in 1905, this building has undergone two extensive renovations in the 1950s and 2005.
Designed by Herts & Tallant, this building opened as a branch of The New York Public Library in November 1905. "This library is apparently not an entirely new building but is rather an extensive renovation of the earlier [1899] Aguilar Library building on the same site."[3]
Designed by Cook & Welch and opened in April 1914.
12
Hamilton Fish
388-92 East Houston Street
Designed by Carrère & Hastings and opened in 1909, the building was razed during the widening of Houston Street. A public housing project now stands at its original site. A new Hamilton Fish Park Branch opened at 415 East Houston Street in 1960.
Designed by Carrère & Hastings and opened in 1905, this building stood until 1969, when it was replaced by a new one on the same 69th St site. That branch was replaced by another in 1992, at 127 Amsterdam Ave & 65th St.
Designed by Cook & Welch, the structure was a Classical Revival limestone building that first opened in 1915. It became part of the Covenant House complex. Covenant House is now redeveloping the site into affordable housing and a new international headquarters. The building was demolished in 2020. Covenant House is pursuing the option of storage, and re-installation of the first-floor and basement facade of the Carnegie Library.[4]
Designed by McKim, Mead & White and opened in 1923, this building was the Fordham Library Center, The New York Public Library's central branch in the Bronx, through 2005, when it closed and was replaced by the newly built Bronx Library Center.
Designed by McKim, Mead & White and opened May 19, 1905. This branch outgrew its original building and closed in 1958. It is now the Spuyten Duyvil Preschool.
Brooklyn received $1.6 million ($58.6 million today) of the entire grant to construct 21 libraries for the Brooklyn Public Library.
Library
Image
Location
Notes
1
Arlington
203 Arlington Ave. at Warwick St. 40°40'50.4"N 73°53'14.0"W
Originally known as the East Branch and officially opened on November 7, 1906; renovated from 1950 to 1952 and in 1980.
2
Bedford
496 Franklin Avenue
This Library plan was recognized as an excellent example of library planning and design in the March 1903 issue of Library Journal. It was built using Carnegie funds. In 2000, an interior renovation and exterior restoration by Sen Architects was completed.
3
Brownsville
61 Glenmore Avenue
The first Brownsville Branch opened in 1905 on the second floor of the Alliance Building after the Hebrew Educational Society donated its books. The Carnegie-built branch, which opened at 61 Glenmore Avenue on December 19, 1908, continues to operate today.[5]
4
Bushwick
340 Bushwick Avenue
Bushwick Library opened in the rented first floor of a church at Montrose Avenue and Humboldt Street in 1903 before moving to its present location on Bushwick Avenue in 1908.
5
Carroll Park [now Carroll Gardens]
396 Clinton Street at Union Street
Designed by William B. Tubby, this location opened at 396 Clinton Street on March 3, 1905, and was originally called the Carroll Park Branch, until the name was changed to Carroll Gardens in 1973. A predecessor library operated out of a rented space at Smith Street and Carroll Streets from 1901 until completion of this building, which still serves the community today.[5]
6
DeKalb
790 Bushwick Avenue
Located on bustling Bushwick Avenue in the neighborhood of the same name, DeKalb Library originally opened its doors on February 11, 1905. One of Brooklyn's most beautiful Carnegie branches, the building was designed by the Brooklyn architect William Tubby in the Classical Revival style. Many of the original features in this three-bay brick and limestone building remain today, including its spacious, high-ceilinged reading rooms. The library was rehabilitated in 1950.[6]
7
Eastern Parkway
1044 Eastern Parkway
This medium-sized library, built with funds donated by Andrew Carnegie, was designed with a classical limestone facade with large arched windows and entrance portal.
8
Flatbush
22 Linden Blvd. at Flatbush Ave.
Flatbush Library has served patrons in its present location on Linden Boulevard since 1905; it was the sixth library built in Brooklyn with funds from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.[7] The building was designed by Rudolphe L. Daus, but an extensive renovation in 1934 has rendered the building almost unrecognizable.[8]
9
Fort Hamilton
9424 Fourth Ave.
This library started out as an independent free library and was absorbed into Brooklyn Public Library in 1901. The building was designed by the Lord & Hewlett architecture firm and formally opened at 9424 Fourth Avenue on October 16, 1907.[5]
10
Greenpoint
The original Greenpoint Library opened in 1906 and was one of Brooklyn's first Carnegie libraries, but the building's deterioration necessitated its replacement in the early 1970s.
11
Leonard
81 Devoe St. at Leonard St., Williamsburg
The Leonard Branch was officially opened on December 1, 1908, at its current site at Devoe and Leonard Streets. The one-story classically styled building, designed by William B. Tubby, has an elegantly designed interior of 10,000 square feet that originally featured molded skylights, wood paneling and wood-trimmed windows.[5]
The 11th Carnegie Brooklyn library, beautiful, historic Macon Library is one of the best preserved Carnegie branches in Brooklyn. Opened in 1907, the two-story, Classical Revival-style building retains its original fireplaces, oak paneling, alcoves and wooden benches, along with the warm charm that has welcomed patrons for more than 100 years.[9]
13
Pacific
25 4th Avenue at Pacific Street
The Pacific Branch was the first of the Carnegie-funded libraries to open in Brooklyn, on October 8, 1904. Architect Raymond F. Almirall designed the building, at 25 Fourth Avenue, and was hired again as architect after the building suffered structural damages due to BMT subway construction in 1914. Upon its opening, New York Tribune praised the branch for its classical and dignified design.[5]
14
Prospect [now Park Slope]
431 6th Ave. at 9th St.
This library began life as a small collection of books on natural history in the Litchfield Mansion in Prospect Park. In 1906, the building, designed by Raymond Almirall was finished, using Carnegie funds.
15
Red Hook
The original Red Hook Library, opened on April 22, 1915, was the only of Brooklyn's Carnegie libraries to be built in the Mediterranean Revival style. The architect, Richard A. Walker, accented the original interior of the building with decorative wooden staircases, pendant light fixtures and clerestory windows. This architectural gem was forced to close in August 1946 after suffering extensive damage from a fire, and was demolished soon after.[10]
Saratoga Library is a Classical Revival-style Carnegie branch with a distinctive Spanish tile roof and a storied history. Opened in 1908, Saratoga was renovated in 1958, 1974 and 1990.[11]
17
South
51st street and 4th Avenue
South Branch opened to the public on December 9, 1905, on the same site the Sunset Park branch occupies today. The original two-story, Classical Revival-style building, designed by architects Lord & Hewlett, was demolished in 1970.[12]
18
Stone Avenue
581 Mother Gaston Boulevard
Originally constructed to relieve overcrowding at the nearby Brownsville branch, Stone Avenue Library was one of the last Carnegie libraries built in Brooklyn. Officially opened on September 24, 1914, it was originally called the Brownsville Children's Library and is believed to have been the first library in the world devoted exclusively to serving children. Designed by architect William B. Tubby in the Jacobethan style, many of the original architectural details that distinguished the branch as a place for children remain, including the Rookwood storybook fireplace tiles and the original carved wooden benches with rabbit-head finials.[13]
19
Walt Whitman
93 Saint Edwards Street, Ft Greene
Originally called the City Park Branch, this library was renamed to honor Walt Whitman (who once lived on nearby Ryerson Street) in 1943, on the 125th anniversary of his birth. The branch once boasted a naval architecture and science collection, to serve the workers of the Brooklyn Navy Yard.[5]
Although the branch didn't open until 1905, it is often considered the first of Brooklyn's Carnegie libraries. Thousands, including Mayor Seth Low, came out with much fanfare for a ceremony in November 1903, when a time capsule of documents including a copy of the Carnegie contract was laid in the cornerstone of the building at 240 Division Avenue.[5]
Carnegie libraries in Queens
Queens received $240,000 ($8.8 million today) from the grant and built seven libraries for the Queens Public Library.
Library
Image
Location
Notes
1
Astoria
14-01 Astoria Blvd.
The first Carnegie library completed in Queens.[14] In the 1930s the structure was heavily renovated. Additional renovations took place in the 1960s. $9 million in renovations are planned for 2022–2024.[15]
^ abcDierickx, Mary B. (1996). The Architecture of Literacy: The Carnegie Libraries of New York City, pp. 104-186. Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and the New York City Dept. of General Services, New York. ISBN1-56256-717-9.
Anderson, Florence (1963). Carnegie Corporation Library Program 1911–1961. New York: Carnegie Corporation. OCLC1282382.
Bobinski, George S. (1969). Carnegie Libraries: Their History and Impact on American Public Library Development. Chicago: American Library Association. ISBN0-8389-0022-4.
Jones, Theodore (1997). Carnegie Libraries Across America. New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN0-471-14422-3.
Miller, Durand R. (1943). Carnegie Grants for Library Buildings, 1890-1917. New York: Carnegie Corporation of New York. OCLC2603611.
Dierickx, Mary B. (1996). The Architecture of Literacy: The Carnegie Libraries of New York City. New York: Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and the New York City Dept. of General Services. ISBN1-56256-717-9.
Note: The above references, while all authoritative, are not entirely mutually consistent. Some details of this list may have been drawn from one of the references without support from the others.
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