🏢 Brooklyn Public Library — Brooklyn, New York

Walt Whitman Library

A Carnegie library in the heart of Fort Greene named for the poet who set type for 'Leaves of Grass' just blocks away, now closing out its second century with a full renovation.

📖 About Walt Whitman Library

The Walt Whitman Library traces its roots to a storefront reading room that opened near Nassau and Bridge streets in 1900, and in 1908 it moved into a purpose-built Classical Revival building on St. Edwards Street funded by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. It carries the name of Walt Whitman, the poet who lived and worked in Brooklyn and famously helped set the type for the first edition of 'Leaves of Grass' in the neighborhood in 1855. For more than a century the branch has anchored Fort Greene, serving the surrounding Ingersoll and Whitman public housing communities as a free hub for reading, learning, and gathering. The library closed in 2025 for a comprehensive overhaul led by Belmont Freeman Architects that will expand its interior public space by roughly 40 percent, add accessible ADA upgrades inside and out, modernize heating, cooling, and IT systems, and create new outdoor space for reading and programs. During construction, Brooklyn Public Library kept service in the neighborhood alive through a temporary Walt Whitman Pop-Up Library at 240 Nassau Street, in space donated by a local developer. The renovated branch is tentatively slated to reopen in late 2026.

⭐ What makes this branch special

• Carnegie-funded Classical Revival building opened in 1908
• Named for Walt Whitman, who set type for 'Leaves of Grass' in Brooklyn
• Serves the Fort Greene, Ingersoll, and Whitman Houses communities
• Undergoing a major renovation (interior expanded ~40%), reopening tentatively late 2026

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