The Brooklyn Apprentices' Library, also known as the Brooklyn Apprentices' Library Association, was the first circulating and free library established in the city of

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. Founded in 1823, it was patterned after the Apprentices' Library of Philadelphia. The library moved from its original location in

Brooklyn Heights Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south ...

to the Brooklyn Lyceum in 1841. In 1843 it merged with that organization to establish the Brooklyn Institute (now the

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

History

The Brooklyn Apprentices' Library Association began in the summer of 1823 when a group of Brooklyn citizens, including philanthropist Augustus Graham, met at Stevenson's Tavern for the purposes of establishing a library in the city of Brooklyn. The organization was founded with the purpose of aiding youths "in becoming useful and respectable members of society." They adopted a charter and began to collect books, funds, and other resources to achieve that aim. A building site for the Brooklyn Apprentices' Library was found at the intersection of Cranberry and Henry Streets in

, and the

cornerstone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...

for the library was placed by

General Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette (; 6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (), was a French military officer and politician who volunteered to join the Conti ...

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...

1825. This event was witnessed by a six year old

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman Jr. (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist; he also wrote two novels. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature and world literature. Whitman incor ...

who six decades later wrote about his memory of seeing Lafayette place the cornerstone. He also recalled that Lafayette picked him up and kissed him on that day, and was generally enthralled by the general's charismatic good-natured demeanor. Whitman would later work as a librarian at the Brooklyn Apprentices' Library. In 1841 the Brooklyn Apprentices' Library moved from its original location into the Brooklyn Lyceum. In 1843 the Brooklyn Lyceum organization and the Brooklyn Apprentices' Library merged to form the Brooklyn Institute (later known as the Brooklyn Institute of Arts). That organization later founded numerous cultural institutions in Brooklyn, including the

, the

Brooklyn Botanic Garden Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) is a botanical garden in the Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn in New York City. The botanical garden occupies in central Brooklyn, close to Mount Prospect Park, Prospect Park (Brooklyn), Prospect Park, ...

, the

Brooklyn Children's Museum The Brooklyn Children's Museum is a children's museum in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City. Founded in 1899, it is the first children's museum in the United States – and according to some, the first one worldwide. It ...

, and the

Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a multi-arts center in Brooklyn, New York City. It hosts progressive and avant-garde performances, with theater, dance, music, opera, film programming across multiple nearby venues. BAM was chartered in 18 ...

among other cultural, scientific, and education programs.

References

{{reflist Libraries in Brooklyn Brooklyn Museum Non-profit organizations based in Brooklyn 1823 establishments in New York (state) 1843 disestablishments in New York (state)