Libraries in Transition:
the Red Hook Public Library makes connections
RR Sigel - April 23, 2026
The Red Hook Public Library is undergoing a major renovation on the same footprint as its prior facility, which had been damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Photo: RR Sigel, April 8, 2026.
BROOKLYN
A throng of empty strollers waits by the door as toddlers and caregivers sprawl across the rug, picture books nestled between them. At tables, intergenerational adults gaze at laptops, daily papers and computers in silence. A young man leans back in his chair, the Yankees game filling his screen. Librarians at their desks await inquiries.
The Park Slope Library, one of 19th century industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie's legacy buildings, remains a place of consistent connection 120 years after construction, even as the nature of that connection evolves.
Two miles away, in neighboring Red Hook, it’s a different story. The neighborhood’s library is in transition, as it has been before. The neighborhood’s Carnegie Library burned down in 1946. Its replacement library experienced water damage in 2012’s Hurricane Sandy but remained in use until ongoing renovation began in 2024. Today, a nearby “pop up” library operates temporarily, with a couple tables, a rug and a small office nestled behind one of the two book shelf walls while the permanent space is renovated.
The Red Hook Public Library - part of the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) network - is under construction on the same footprint as its predecessor. Red Hook librarian Joyce Kowpak says the major renovation will attend to deferred maintenance from Hurricane Sandy, the 2012 storm which decimated Red Hook, left the Red Hook Houses, public housing run by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), without power for months and still serves as a local reference point for the community coming together to rebuild.
According to Kowpak, the new library is a “ground up renovation," notable for its natural light, attention to flood mitigation, and space within the building itself. It will also be “the first branch in Brooklyn to be net zero, with solar panels on the roof,” she says.
The overhaul comes at a time when libraries hold vital roles in a democratic society increasingly rooted in technologies and digital connection. Threats to these institutions are significant: libraries in the United States are coping with the dissolution of federal funding and tight budgets. Amidst those challenges, the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) system remains large in its scope, serving the sixth largest population of any U.S. public library entity in a state with more libraries than any other state.
Red Hook Public Library: Before and After (Projected) Renovation
Images sourced from THIS DESIGN PRESENTATION
“We have the ability, here in Brooklyn, where we have a library within a mile and a half of everyone’s residence, to be hyper local,” says Edwin Maxwell, chief librarian of the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) system. “[The Library] is going to be that community connector where everyone can meet, have discourse - especially in this polarizing time.”
A library in 2026 takes on many programs and forms outside of the printed page, including: post-incarceration technology reentry programs; Kindergarten prep classes; laptop loan out programs; social services connections and more. Kowpak defines the mission of the public library as “not just about reading. It’s really about literacy.”
Though in some cases the means of delivering that literacy have evolved over time, Maxwell calls the public library “one of our last truly democratic spaces. That's my hope that we continue to operate under the same philosophies that we've always had, whether or not the container changes”
Back in Red Hook, the renovations that began in June 2024 were initially scheduled to take just nine months. Now - nearly two years later - the construction is ongoing and public communications list the completion date as “the second half of this year.”
Edwin Maxwell is Chief Librarian of the Brooklyn Public Library. Photo: Gregg Richards.
Branch Manager Joyce Kowpak began at the Red Hook Public Library in early 2020. As the permanent library has undergone renovations, Kowpak has overseen satellite programs and now a temporary annex library. Photo Credit: RR Sigel, April 8, 2026.
As the construction timeline extended, a temporary physical space became more necessary - though it was not inevitable. Local Red Hook community organizer Imre Kovacs was part of the Red Hook Civic Association which campaigned for the temporary library space.
“I made a strong case that if you take a library away from kids at a formative age for two years, it can do damage,” says Kovacs. Funding for the temporary library then came in from businesses with significant corporate bases in Red Hook - Ikea and Amazon.
Maxwell’s ideal of the library as a community connector in times of polarization may be experiencing a temporary pause in Red Hook. The pop up library annex lies on the west side of Van Brunt Street - often seen as the dividing line between white and Black, “haves” and “have nots.”
Local residents of the NYCHA Red Hook Houses were the primary branch visitors when it was two blocks east in its permanent location, branch manager Joyce Kowpak recalls.
In the temporary pop-up, “I wouldn’t even say it’s even so much of a mix now,” Kowpak says. Instead, the local whiter and wealthier population is the predominant visitor to the annex. As in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, returning to the permanent space could create opportunity for neighbors from across divisions to come together, she says.
“My hope is that when we go back over, we have a new audience from lots of people over here,” Kowpak says. “And the people that have always been visitors to the library in that location come back to us. This is us as human beings interacting and trying to plan things and learning from each other.”
When it comes to planning for the future of libraries and their communities, Maxwell acknowledges, “we don’t have a crystal ball.” But he affirms the democratic principles of the institution.
“Libraries believe in your freedom to read and freedom of information,” Maxwell says. “And we have to actively fight to protect those rights.”
Imre Kovacs is a Red Hook community organizer who campaigned for a temporary home for the library while its permanent location is under construction. The temporary library was later funded by Amazon and Ikea. Photo Credit: Jessie Wayburn, April 9, 2026.
The Red Hook Interim Pop Up Library lies on the west side of Van Brunt St in Red Hook, serving as a temporary facility while the permanent library undergoes major renovations two blocks east. Photo: RR Sigel, April 8, 2026