BROOKLYN PUBLIC LIBRARY, BUSHWICK BRANCH
340 Bushwick Avenue
New York, NY 11206
Year(s) built: 1908
Year opened: 1908
Architect(s): Raymond F. Almiral
Builder(s): John W. Schaefer, Jr. & Company
Status: Library, no designation
The Bushwick Branch has several characteristics of the suburban Carnegie library type. Located mostly in the less densely populated areas of the Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island and Queens, these branches are most often freestanding structures within a larger lot (most often they are surrounded by a lawn). Frequently, the libraries feature brick walls accented with a minimum of limestone ornamentation. The buildings most often have a symmetrical layout, large windows to allow an abundance of light into the reading rooms, and a prominent, decorative entrance.
The New York City Carnegie branch libraries were designed to be distinct structures, a new concept at the turn of the Twentieth Century when most branches were simply located in other buildings. They were intended to be important fixtures in the community and centrally located in a neighborhood. The Carnegie Committee had a policy to locate branches in close proximity to public buildings such as schools, social service centers, public baths, or YM/YWCA’s. The Bushwick Branch has played this civic role in Bushwick for over a century.[i]