Public Libraries Reopen For Browsing Across NYC

NEW YORK CITY — The simple joy of browsing through books at the library is returning to New York City after a pandemic-long closure.

Select branches in the city's three public library systems on Monday opened their doors to patrons for browsing books and the web.

The reopening wasn't complete — patrons are only able to browse shelves for a set period of time or make appointments — but it represented the first time libraries returned to relative normal since March 2020.

“This is another one of these turning point moments to have the libraries back for everyone,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday.

Declining coronavirus rates and millions of vaccinations have allowed ever-wider swaths of New York City to reopen.

The city's three public libraries — New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library and Queens Public Library — joined the wave. They had offered in-person book pickups and library card sign-ups, but kept old-fashioned browsing off-limits.

Being able to visit libraries changed the life of novelist Min Jin Lee, who joined the mayor's briefing on Monday.

Lee said she arrived in America as a shy 7-year-old who couldn't speak English. Her refuge turned out to be Elmhurst Public Library, where she learned to read and write and everything about her new country.

"We're really back in New York because the libraries are open and libraries are where those who are new to this country can go, those who have no money can go, but also it goes across our generations," she said. "We go, it's for young people. It's for the elderly. It's for everybody."

The libraries that are reopening are:

Brooklyn Public Library

Brownsville
Canarsie
Central
Clinton Hill
Coney Island
Crown Heights
Flatbush
Ft. Hamilton
Greenpoint
Kings Highway
Midwood
Mill Basin
Red Hook

New York Public Library (covering the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island)

Bronx
Allerton
Baychester
Belmont
Edenwald
Francis Martin
High Bridge
Jerome Park
Kingsbridge
Parkchester
Van Cortlandt
West Farms
Woodstock

Manhattan
53rd Street
125th Street
Belafonte-115th Street
Countee Cullen
Epiphany
Morningside Heights
Seward Park
Washington Heights

Staten Island
Huguenot Park
New Dorp
Richmondtown
St. George Library Center
Stapleton
Todt Hill-Westerleigh

Queens Public Library
Arverne
Astoria
Auburndale
Bellerose
Cambria Heights
East Elmhurst
Elmhurst
Hillcrest
Long Island City
Peninsula
Queensboro Hill
Richmond Hill
Ridgewood
Rochdale Village