All Brooklyn Public Library locations will be closed for Memorial Day Weekend from Saturday, May 25th through Monday, May 27th.
Good news! Coney Island and Gerritsen Beach libraries will reopen this fall after extensive renovations due to Hurricane Sandy. See our Hurricane Sandy Renovations page for updates.
The Gerritsen Beach branch of the Brooklyn Public Library was opened at 305 Gerritsen Ave. with 3,000 books waiting for the eager people crowding into the room. Years of lobbying by local organizations had finally paid off when, on January 29, 1932, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reporter surveyed the scene of the Gerritsen branch opening.
The history of the Gerritsen Beach Branch demonstrates the power of active community support. Over the decades the facility evolved from a partially staffed station to a fully- fledged branch, but lack of space always limited the level of service the library was able to provide. In 1995, a ground-breaking ceremony for a new state of the art facility was attended by Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden and Representative Charles Schumer as well as representatives from the community and the library.
The new 10,000 square foot library building , designed by John Ciardullo Associates, features an arched entrance way, a clock tower, a reading garden, and a two-story picture window overlooking the Shell Bank Channel. The site also includes two large community gardens which will be cared for and used by the same active community groups that have supported the library over the last sixty-five years.
"Vollies" is the only volunteer fire department in New York City; Ancient Order of Hibernians is the only location in New York City; "She's the One" was filmed in Gerritsen Beach; Gateway National Park borders Gerritsen Beach.
