Brooklyn Public Library

We are living in the northern end of Park Slope, and the Brooklyn Central Library is only a few blocks from us. I feel like I always dreamed of being able to walk to the library, without a car. We are lucky that the location closest to us is also the largest, so it has a pretty large selection.

Today was such a beautiful day, and I really enjoyed my walk there along Prospect Park and Grand Army Plaza. It was one of those days where it's great to be in Park Slope.

If I had to pick a gripe of the library is that building doesn't engage the street. Nevermind that Grand Army Plaza is a total urban aberration (more on that on a later post), the building has a very severe blank facade. I appreciate that it's architecture of another time, and that in fact they've done a lot putting tables and chairs on the front plaza (I hear it even has free wi-fi), but it's still not an active front. Maybe that's okay. Maybe the fact that the surrounding neighborhoods are vibrant mixed-use areas with commercial diversity means that this civic space doesn't have the responsibility of engaging the area. Maybe the plaza being tree-less gives the space the appropriate grandeur of a building of a different era. I would need to hang out there in the summer. So far, I've only discovered the Library in the winter.

I am currently reading The God Delusion by Richard Dawkings, and could not be happier with the library giving me an opportunity to read for free.