The Brooklyn Athenaeum and Reading Room was founded in 1852 by a group of prominent Brooklyn citizens as a library and respite for young men. There they could gather for instruction and that "innocent relaxation," which the wear and tear of mercantile life so imperiously demands, according to its first president, John Taylor, in his first annual report.

The three-story building, designed by William Field, had commercial storefronts on the ground floor, including a book store, the reading room, and library on the second, and the concert/lecture hall, which could hold 2,000 people, on the third.

A few years following the Atheneum, the Brooklyn Mercantile Library Association of the City of Brooklyn was formed separately. Its collections were geared toward providing access to technical works to the larger community.

In 1869, the two groups merged and they moved to a headquarters at 197 Montague Street. The differences in the collections were still somewhat distinct, the second floor being termed "the business library."

With the merger of the two collections, they became known as the Brooklyn Library. But greater powers were soon to expand the Brooklyn Library System.

Following local lobbying, the New York State Legislature approved the Brooklyn Public Library system on May 1st, 1892. This was followed by the Brooklyn Common Council passing a resolution to incorporate it in 1896. Thus with Marie E. Cragie as its director, the Brooklyn Public Library was born.

An important step in the Brooklyn Public Library's development was the support of industrialist Andrew Carnegie. He gave the burgeoning system 1.6 million dollars to build and support 21 neighborhood branches.

The Brooklyn Central Library was in fact sited before its creation in 1889 by the commissioners of Prospect Park. However, construction did not begin on the Central Library until 1912. Initially it was designed by Raymond Almirall in a beaux-art style similar to the Brooklyn Museum.

However, costs quickly escalated and the project fell victim to political infighting as macro historic events like World One and the Great Depression leached money from the project. Only one wing of Almirall's building was built.

In 1935, Githens and Keally were commissioned to redesign the building, creating the iconic art-deco design you see today. Opening on February 1st, 1941, the Central Library has been BPL's home ever since.