City officials and community members gathered at the Central Library branch of the Brooklyn Public Library to celebrate the first Sunday opening of the branch since November, when budget cuts forced libraries to reduce weekend hours.
The city’s fiscal 2025 budget, approved in late June, includes $58.3 million for libraries, which is enough money for libraries to restore services on weekends and resume previously-cancelled programming.
Reopenings will happen gradually throughout the summer, with all Brooklyn libraries back open for Sunday service by August 4, said Linda Johnson, president and chief executive officer of Brooklyn Public Library.
Justin Brannan, chair of the City Council’s Finance Committee and a Brooklyn Council Member, described the funding restoration as a “huge win.”
“The city council really fought hard for us to be here today and we did it because libraries are not just about books,” he said. “Libraries are a neighborhood lighthouse… an egalitarian city cannot exist without sacred spaces like [libraries] that serve New Yorkers of all ages, all backgrounds, all income levels.”
Johnson credited the restoration of library funding to the “hard work” of the City Council, Mayor Eric Adams and the local community.
“Nearly 30,000 Brooklynites wrote to city officials on our behalf,” she said at the press conference. “We would not be here today without your tenacity and commitment to preserving library access for everyone.”
Sunday's celebration included a drumline performance by members of the Brooklyn United Music & Arts Program. Johnson, Brannan and City Council Member Crystal Hudson ceremonially unlocked the doors to the library at about 1pm, allowing dozens of residents to flood into the main BPL branch to begin reading, browsing the internet or simply cool off in the air conditioning.
“The community felt it very much,” when libraries were closed, said Maria McGrath, a librarian at the Macon branch in Beford Stuyvesant.
McGrath said she was on the receiving end of much disappointment when her branch was closed on Sundays, where many people asked her where they could go instead.
“We’ve been missing Sundays [at the library],” said Jennifer Halpin, a Brooklyn resident, who was at the opening with her son James, a dinosaur book enthusiast.
Kathleen Bennett, who visted the library with her son, Kingston, said weekends were the only time she could take her son to the library as she works during the week.
"Weekends are the only time we can go together," she said.
Dawn Coe, who was at the library with her two grandchildren, said she has lived in the neighborhood for decades, and brought her children to the library when they were young as well.
“It’s a perfect day to be at the library,” she said. “I’m reminiscing a bit and enjoying being around the books and with my grandchildren. My endorphins are just firing right now.”
Johnson said she felt the love from the community.
“People were saying that they were emotional [at the reopening],” Johnson said. “I get that. Me too!”
