Bibliophiles, rejoice! On this 4th of July week, the Brooklyn Public Library system is declaring independence from budget cuts, which means the Greenpoint Library (107 Norman Ave.) will open on Sundays once again.
At the end of last year, seven-day library service—plus spending on materials, programs, maintenance, and hiring—was on the chopping block thanks to budget cuts to New York City’s public library system enacted by Mayor Eric Adams for the 2024 fiscal year, resulting in a reduction by $23.6 million. Due to these cuts, library systems made the decision to suspend Sunday service to preserve resources. This affected the Greenpoint library, which had to close on Sundays, and has been closed since December.
The decision was unsurprisingly controversial, and many feared even more library cuts in the preliminary 2025 fiscal budget, but that luckily did not come to fruition. Yesterday, the new citywide $112.4 billion plan restoring Sunday service and $58.3 million of funding to the New York City library budget passed in a 46-3 City Council vote. Leading up to the new budget vote, Greenpoint Library offered resources for neighbors to pledge their support and have their voices heard by city officials.
The Greenpoint library was one of eight Brooklyn public libraries and eighteen citywide forced to halt Sunday service last year, and the hope is that all affected locations will be able to resume in the coming weeks. Brooklyn, Queens, and New York Public Library Presidents Linda E. Johnson, Dennis M. Walcott, and Anthony W. Marx, respectively, called the new budget decision “a resounding victory for all New Yorkers.”
Aside from offering books across genres, interests, and reading levels, the Greenpoint library also features kid-and-family-based programming, laptop loans, a tool library (which is exactly what it sounds like), rooftop demo garden, printing services, and environmental education programming, while being an invaluable third space for neighbors of all ages.