Re-Envisioning New York's Branch Libraries

Nearly two years ago, the Center for an Urban Future published "Branches of Opportunity," a report documenting that New York City's public libraries have become more vital than ever, and are serving more New Yorkers in more ways than ever before. This new report provides an exhaustive analysis of the libraries' capital needs and offers a comprehensive blueprint detailing more than 20 actionable steps that city government and the libraries themselves could take to address these needs. As detailed in the blueprint at the end of this report, a comprehensive ten-year capital plan and vision for the libraries would reform and clarify the capital funding process, strengthen the management of capital projects, and create operating efficiencies by further consolidating the libraries' book processing and delivery activities. [Additional research support for this report was provided by Stephanie Chan, Julie Tam and Barbara Wijering.]