Central Library (Brooklyn Public Library)

Brooklyn Public Library–Central Building
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
New York City Landmark No. 1963
Seen in July 2021, with Black Lives Matter sign in entryway
Location	Grand Army Plaza Brooklyn, New York City
Coordinates	40°40′21″N 73°58′06″W / 40.67250°N 73.96833°W / 40.67250; -73.96833
Area	2.8 acres (1.1 ha)
Built	1911–1940
Architect	Raymond F. Almirall (1911); Alfred Morton Githens and Francis Keally (1935)
Sculptor	Thomas Hudson Jones and C. Paul Jennewein (bronze gateway)
Architectural style	Beaux-Arts and Art Moderne
NRHP reference No.	01001446[1]
NYCL No.	1963
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	January 11, 2002
Designated NYCL	June 17, 1997

The Central Library, originally the Ingersoll Memorial Library, is the main branch of the Brooklyn Public Library in Brooklyn, New York City. Located on Grand Army Plaza, at the corner of Flatbush Avenue and Eastern Parkway, it contains over 1.7 million materials in its collection and has a million annual visitors. The current structure was designed by the partnership of Alfred Morton Githens and Francis Keally in the Art Deco style, replacing a never-completed Beaux-Arts structure designed by Raymond Almirall. The building is a New York City designated landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The site of the library was selected in 1905, but groundbreaking for the Brooklyn Central Library did not begin until 1912. Escalating costs and political infighting slowed construction throughout the next two decades, and only the Flatbush Avenue wing of Almirall's building was ever completed. In 1935, Githens and Keally were commissioned to redesign the building in the Art Deco style; construction recommenced in 1938, and Almirall's building on Flatbush Avenue was largely demolished. The Central Library opened to the public on February 1, 1941, and its second floor opened in the mid-1950s. The structure was significantly renovated in the 1970s, 2000s, and 2020s.

The Central Library is a four-story building that resembles an open book as viewed from the air. The modern façade is made of limestone and contains relatively little ornamentation, except around the main entrance on Grand Army Plaza. The main entrance façade, accessed by a raised terrace, is curved and contains various inscriptions, in addition to tall, gilded columns by C. Paul Jennewein and a screen by Thomas Hudson Jones. The Flatbush Avenue wing to the southeast is longer than the Eastern Parkway wing to the east; both wings contain decorative windows and additional entrances. The library's 350,000-square-foot (33,000 m²) interior is centered around a triple-height circulation room. There are various reading rooms on the first through third stories, as well as an auditorium beneath the main entrance terrace.