Brooklyn Public Library – Central Library

I love the library it is a beautiful place, they have made some good changes, and it does a great service to the community.
It has some serious issues to be addressed though.
1) I am conflicted about this but it seems especially of late it doubles as a homeless shelter, I do not want to mitigate the homeless. My concerns are mostly around limited seating and not really doing anything constructive like sleeping and making the bathrooms uncomfortable.
2) The staff seem to have no problem with chatting at FULL VOLUME in the quiet areas, this blows my mind.
3) Nowhere to plug in on the 3^rd floor, which is the one truly quiet space in the library.
They have upgraded the quality of the wi-​fi which is fantastic and the café is good. They have also created some new areas that are nice but none of them are quiet by any means.

This library is gorgeous and feels very traditional and elegant. There are kiosks and check out lanes that are self-​served and manually done, but if you’re in need of assistance, you could always ask someone at the customer service desk for help. The books here are well organized and checking out isn’t a hassle. The children’s books are on the first floor and are flooded with lots of children, babies, and their parents.

How can anyone not love this grandiose library, with its glorious exterior, its rotating art exhibits and a convenient café from Four and Twenty Blackbirds inside? The librarians here understand that brain fuel is pie! While some of the rooms in this library seem dated and old, with older furniture, this library does have an extensive collection of books and dvds and a newer tech center that offers computer instruction. The new self checkout counters are great too. I love coming in here, more to peruse the exhibits than to borrow books, though this location sometimes has been a good backup to get books not available in Manhattan, like popular travel books at certain times. Librarians here are helpful and friendly, and there is even a NYPD outpost here. My only minor complaint is the lines for the ladies bathroom but given the size of the place and how many people use it, the waits are understandable.

The most grand view when entering/​exiting a library in the boroughs, but not as spectacular inside as NYPL flagship.

Can’t decide which was worse — the black currant apple pie or the sh! tty service I received from the miserable cashier. He strikes me as a person who hates his job, hates that he’s working on a Sunday, hates apples and pies and life. Never. Ever. Coming to this ‘café’ ever.

The inside is beautiful and unlike any of the libraries in Brooklyn.
Three stories high. This place is more than just a library.
Despite its big size, the selection of books they offer is quite small. This library is also not as up to date as the other branches. There are still people that help you check out + return books, which I like.
If you are looking for a place to chill, there is a café on the first floor and outdoor seating.

The Brooklyn Public Central Library known to us Brooklynites as the Grand Army Plaza Library is the hub of the Brooklyn public library system. New York City incorporated and expanded itself to include Brooklyn and Queens as boroughs of its city in 1861. Yet, it never integrated it’s 3 library systems. It is located in an area where General George Washington, the first president of the United States, fought the British in an effort to unchain the colonies from its control. «No taxation without representation.» And here, you get to see what your tax dollars get to do for you. An enormous collection of books, films, talks, seminars, arts, book signings, dances, and more are held here throughout the year.

Like everyone says, the exterior, which is complemented by Grand Army Plaza itself, is gorgeous and in a distinctly different way than the well-​known New York Public Library. Once you walk in, the large atrium gives you a sense of how large the space is. The main floor houses the library’s café, information commons, computer labs, and fiction and non-​fiction books, among other things I’m sure.
My first time here, I was surprised by how contemporary the library looked (excluding the wings actually housing all the books). The computers available at the information commons include the latest models, both Windows and Macs, and the café always smells of something delicious. I haven’t attended any of their free classes or workshops but I hear they offer quite a lot.
I’m usually only here to pick up books I’ve put on hold. Given how few copies they have of each of the books they carry, it’s safer to put a hold on them online and wait to be notified via email when it’s available for you to pick up. If this branch doesn’t carry it, it can be brought over from another branch. Their online system is very efficient and simple to use, which was a pleasure to discover. And of the staff I’ve interacted with, everyone seems to be very accommodating and friendly.
Great place, and great location. Take advantage of this public gem.

They have all sorts of rare books in storage, like The Complete Poetry and Stories of Fitz-​James O’Brien. The History section is he best I’ve seen outside of the Library of Congress, with everything from recent works to obscure books on the daily lives of medieval peasants. Also, there’s pie.

I love the building, just the huge main door looks superb.
This is a beautiful library, which offers many services like: NY ID card, language, job search, resume preparation, linkedin highlights, computer skills etc… workshops.
The room with tables, chairs, computers and laptop charging dots is large and there is always a seat available. Not rented any book yet. There is also a café’ and a small lounge area. Outside, a couple of drinks and snacks carts. A few steps from here, Prospect Park. Another few steps and you reach the Botanic Garden.

I like this place. It is huge and even though I am not a hundred percent architect major I can day it looks so beautifully designed. The outside with the brick style and the gold designs looks so intricate and smooth. It wouldn’t strike you as a library at all, it just looks too inviting lol. But none the less it is cry cool to look at. Since I came on a Saturday there was a father’s market out there too with some cool flowers and turkey haha. The overall day was just mellow so thank goodness for this library to look inviting so that I don’t feel like I am running my the here.
The inside my goodness is it big and open. There is what I believe two or three floors total. There are some cool sculptures hanging on top of the door, and if you go near the check out desk there are some information about this science museum every where. They even have something downstairs, for free in assuming, where they show different things (dint know if it is an auditorium or some sort of a stage but they told everyone in the library to come). They have a café where there are lots of seats with café options. I only caught a glimpse and saw they sold pies by slice for $ 4.75 lol, kinda too expensive for my pallet currently. They have a adult learning center that I saw. There is an information common area where people are using laptops and computers, no food is allowed. They have about five meeting rooms with projectors and small tv’s for you to connect your comp. There is even a took for what looked like a place to either learn to use computers or learn a language. That was a completely different room and much bigger. They did have a meeting room that someone was teaching a language class too, and it was to a group of people that consisted of seven people I believe.

It was a couple of times I’ve been here more or so 3 years ago and decided that I would visit the library I used to gather research information for a few papers and games I was working on, I returned again today but with the addition of my girlfriend it was her first time there and when we first entered, the inside was amazing the first floor having the food courts and pieces of artwork you can view and other sections alongside them.
You can check out your book and go to an information center where the librarians help you out throughout the journey of discovery.
My girlfriend being her first time to the place was even more impressed we traversed all floors and killed about 2 hours in the place, I’ve read reviews on the place not being so quiet but I beg to differ I mean yes there is a bit of noise on the first floor, but that’s due to so many booths and stations requiring people to converse with each other so I can understand that. But when you go into the actual sections where the books are kept its completely dead in sound so much that our lowest whisper voice was still too loud.
We had an amazing experience we used the elevators to get to the third floor where you can get a nice glimpse of the whole first and second floors. They had really nice small exhibits on the side to look at, overall I had a nice time and the books, so many of them I believe the truth is that this library has the largest selection of books out of all the Brooklyn Libraries, I liked the art and music section, as it had sheet music books for piano and other instruments as well. Everyone is so into their reads they just don’t look up haha I think that’s a good thing to know. Anyways check it out!
Sorry for writing so much but there was much to say!

Great location and the building itself is beautiful. Service is rushed, curt, and short spoken. Maybe it’s the culture. The public room is a bit depressing with some people who look and smell like they are homeless.
Great collection of books, movies, and music; the reserve system is very good.

This is a very nice city library, as they go. The building is beautiful, the computer room looked nice, and there’s a cute café.
But it is also noisy, and crowded, and the book selection is jumbled, and the atmosphere is generally cold and not very welcoming. Selection doesn’t seem drastically better than a smaller neighborhood branch — for such a big building, there aren’t very many books on the shelves.
I know I’m spoiled, coming from a wonderful suburban library system outside of Chicago. I kind of forgot how the Chicago city libraries were kind of underwhelming too.
Bottom line, I live three miles from the Central Library, and I see no reason to make the trek out. (The difficulty of locating parking nearby is a factor too.)

Omg. I want to give 10 stars. Pie. Coffee. Outdoor seating. Water fountains. A library. A café? Add a curb side pickup for overdue books? Pay me for taking too long to return a cookbook? Score.
You can come here to change your name. Or gender. Or both. I am speechless. Wait. That is to get a p a s s p o r t name or gender change. So relieved.

What more can you ask for if its free, book wifi ac etc. Come out and enjoy your brooklyn

Second floor, middle room, in the back (I think it is the magazine reading room or something).
Plentiful plugs, fast wifi. Great place to get work done.
Sidenote — saw a student looking at microfishe. I was amazed, as I haven’t seen it in 15 years.

Building is beautiful huge and there is an abundance of events and programs that are AWESOME. Have been to quite a few of the things they offer at the Dweck Center and I always enjoy myself.
Downside is that this place is LOUD. When I study I really have to put my headphones in and turn up the music bc it’s always noisy and busy. Don’t even bother going on the first floor it’s a zoo.
N it is really surprising that the bathrooms are so disgusting!!! You’d see similar foulness across the street in the Porta potties in prospect park

I have only checked out books from the children’s area, but I can say that there is a good selection of books for toddlers.
When you get your library card, also make sure to set up your pin number in person. Then you can renew your books online.
There is a passport office in this library that is full service. They take the photos and all. Just remember that you must bring a check or money order for one part of the fee and the 2^nd part of the fee can be paid by credit, debit or check/​money order. They don’t take cash.

This review is for the Dr. S. Stevan Dweck Center for Contemporary Culture at the Central Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library.
For this the BPL deserves another big fat Unilocal star!
I saw the very skilled and talented BPL Chamber Players (piano, celllo, violin) featuring a tenor doing an absolutely delightful performance of Beethoven, Chopin, Reger, and Rachmaninov and English, Irish, and Scottish folk songs. The program, called «Classical Interludes», is FREE to the public. See the schedule on the BPL events calendar. The auditorium (see my pic) is small and very comfortable with great acoustics. It seats about 200 and was full for this event. There are no tickets or advance reservations. Doors open 15 minutes before showtime. Other presentations at the Dweck Center include pop, jazz, literary series, author talks, film screenings, etc.

I visit this library almost weekly– I love it. The outside of the building is gorgeous, and the inside isn’t so bad either. I love that there is an open main area with a café by the checkout desk that is for talking, snacking, computer-​ing, etc. It’s always so lively in there!
The wifi in the building has gotten significantly better lately and is actually quite decent now. Outlets can be difficult to find depending on what area of the library you’re sitting in, but they’re around. I’ve never had trouble finding a book I’m looking for– if it’s not here you can get it on an interlibrary loan. I also take out ebooks from the library and use the website to renew my checked out books. So, so convenient. You can also pay your late fees (which I always somehow manage to have) with a debit card now– yay 2016!
The only slight downsides to this place are 1) the bathrooms are always disgusting– I’ve seen some things in there I really wish I could unsee. Trek up to the 3^rd floor for the cleaner, less used bathrooms. 2) The staff rarely ever tells people to be quiet, and staff members themselves can be pretty obnoxious sometimes, talking loudly to each other while everyone around them is silent. Come on people, it’s a library.