Bronx Library Center facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Bronx Library Center |
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| View from Kingsbridge Road looking northwest | |
| Country | United States |
| Type | Circulating library |
| Established | January 17, 2006 |
| Location | 310 East Kingsbridge Road, Bronx, New York 10458 |
| Coordinates | 40°51′47″N 73°53′40″W / 40.86306°N 73.89444°W |
| Branch of | New York Public Library |
The Bronx Library Center is a super cool place to visit in the Fordham area of the Bronx in New York City. It's a branch of the famous New York Public Library. You can find it at 310 East Kingsbridge Road, not far from the Grand Concourse. This library is like the main library for the entire Bronx!
It first opened its doors in January 2006. Before that, the Fordham Branch Library served the Bronx. The Bronx Library Center is much bigger, with about 78,000 square feet of space. It was also the very first "green" library in New York City. This means it was built to be good for the environment, earning a special LEED Silver award. The building cost around $50 million. It has a unique curved roof and lots of glass walls. The library welcomes many different people, especially those from Hispanic and African-American backgrounds.
The awesome building was designed by a New York City company called Dattner Architects. Richard Dattner was the main architect.
Contents
A Look Back: History of the Library
| Fordham Library Center | |
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Former Fordham Library Center, Bainbridge Avenue
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| Etymology | Fordham, Bronx |
| General information | |
| Status | Complete |
| Type | Former library |
| Architectural style | Georgian Revival |
| Location | The Bronx |
| Address | 2556 Bainbridge Avenue |
| Town or city | New York City |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 40°51′45.76″N 73°53′34.5″W / 40.8627111°N 73.892917°W |
| Completed | 1923 |
| Relocated | 2005 (Last year as a library.) |
| Renovated | 1956 |
| Client | New York Public Library |
| Owner | New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services |
| Technical details | |
| Material | Brick |
| Floor count | 2 (above ground) |
| Floor area | 25,000 square feet (2,300 m2) |
| Lifts/elevators | 1 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architecture firm | McKim, Mead & White |
| Known for | Carnegie library building |
For over 75 years, the Fordham Library Center served the Bronx. It was located at 2556 Bainbridge Avenue. This old library was part of a big system built with money from a rich businessman named Andrew Carnegie. He believed libraries should be free and open to everyone. He especially wanted working-class Americans to have access to books.
The old library opened in 1923. It was updated many times to keep up with the growing community. Many immigrants from places like Ireland, Italy, and Jewish communities moved to the Bronx from Manhattan. They used the library to learn English and get used to American culture.
The old Bronx library was smaller than main libraries in other parts of New York City. It only had three floors, about 27,500 square feet. The last big update was in 1956. It took almost 50 years to get enough money for a new, much bigger building. The Fordham Library Center closed in November 2005. Just two months later, the new Bronx Library Center opened nearby.
The New York Public Library and the architects wanted the new library to be just as welcoming. They wanted it to be a great place for a new generation of immigrants to learn. Many new people came from the Caribbean and Latin America, so Spanish became a very important language there.
They needed a bigger piece of land for the new building. Luckily, there was an empty spot nearby. It used to have a Con Edison building that closed in 1999. Most of the old building materials were recycled or sold. This helped pay for tearing it down.
After a lot of fundraising in the late 1990s, the New York Public Library got the land in 2001. Money came from the New York State Legislature and from former mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
Where is the Library?
The library is in the Fordham Heights neighborhood of the Bronx. It looks out over the busy shopping area on Fordham Road. It also faces the old library building on Bainbridge Avenue. The new building is very big and stands out from the smaller buildings around it.
Many cool places are nearby. These include the Edgar Allan Poe Cottage, Fordham University, the New York Botanical Garden, and the Bronx Zoo. It's also easy to get to by public transport. You can take the New York City Subway's B and D train or 4 train trains to Kingsbridge Road. Several New York City Bus routes like the Bx1, Bx2, Bx12, Bx12 SBS also stop nearby.
What's Inside?
The Bronx Library Center is much larger than the old Fordham Library. It has over 300,000 books and other items. This includes the New York Public Library’s main collection of Hispanic/Latino and Puerto Rican heritage works.
The building is designed for more than just books. It has areas for digital technology and community events. You'll find reading spots, an auditorium for 150 people, computer rooms, and meeting spaces. There's also a public gallery. Here's what you can find on each floor:
- Basement: This is the concourse level. It has an auditorium and a writing center.
- Ground floor: Here you'll find the Teen center and the main desk where you can check out books.
- Second floor: This floor is just for kids!
- Third floor: This floor has books for adults to borrow.
- Fourth floor: This floor has reference materials and computers for research.
- Partial fifth floor: This smaller floor has a career services center and a conference room.
The public areas get lots of natural light from the big glass walls. Even the staff offices get daylight from skylights. The main staircase wraps around the elevator. It has a clear glass wall that lets in light. People are meant to move from the stairs, through the book shelves, and then to the comfy reading areas by the glass wall.
The library also offers helpful classes for the community. These include lessons on managing money and writing good resumes to help people find jobs.
Cool Building Design
The library building is made with a steel frame and uses different materials. It's meant to feel welcoming inside and look bold outside. The front of the library has a huge glass wall that goes up four stories. It sticks out a bit from the main building. The rest of the outside is covered in red granite panels. These panels even go inside the library on the fourth floor.
The special curved roof is covered in aluminum on the outside. Inside, it has soft maple wood. This wood makes many of the surfaces feel warmer. The curved roof also helps the building stand out. It also allows for a small fifth floor while still following building rules.
Other parts of the library are built to be strong and practical. The main stairs have a frosted glass wall, steel railings, and linoleum flooring. This type of floor is also used in other areas. It's very durable, along with terrazzo and carpeting, which can handle lots of people walking on them.
The Bronx Library Center is special because it's a "green" building. It has a LEED Silver certification. This means it has many sustainable architecture features. About 40 percent of the materials used to build it came from nearby places. Also, most of the materials from the old Con Edison building were recycled. The library itself is made of about 20 percent recycled material.
To help the environment even more, the library uses water-cooled chillers instead of releasing chemicals. The heating and cooling systems (called HVAC) are very efficient. They use 20 percent less energy than required by building codes.
The library's energy-saving lights and its use of sunlight are some of its best green features. The big glass wall has special glass that helps keep the heat in. Sometimes, there might be too much sunlight near the windows. So, there are special shades to soften the light. There are also "light shelves" that bounce strong light deeper into the rooms. Sensors on the ceilings react to how much daylight there is. They automatically change the electric lights to save energy. Because of all these features, 75 percent of the inside spaces meet the LEED rules for using daylight.
Gallery
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Portrait of a Young Reader, by Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, flanking the Concourse level stair
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Front/Kingsbridge elevation
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Main entrance off Kingsbridge Road
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Puerto Rican Heritage Collection room
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Fourth floor swooping ceiling view
