The Tremont Branch. Image Credit: LPC.
On October 17, 2023, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to calendar the Tremont Branch of the New York Public Library for future designation. The library, located at 1866 Washington Avenue in the Bronx, is one of the 67 circulating libraries created with funding by Andrew Carnegie.
The library was constructed in 1905 and designed by Carrère and Hastings. The Neo-Federal style building has two floors and six bays. The building features a limestone trim and limestone keystones in the arched windows on the ground floor, and other limestone details. The building was expanded by one bay between 1915 1916 and, allowing for more space for the children’s reading room and book circulation.
The library has served the Tremont community for 118 years. Librarians created one of the first girls reading clubs in the branch system in 1908. Librarians at the Tremont Branch worked with students to create reading and film clubs, taught classes for young children, taught English to immigrants, and held community meetings. In the 1950s the Tremont Branch was the foremost source in the library system for literature and programs on Jewish culture and history. In 1967, the branch participated in the South Bronx Literacy Project which funded Spanish-language books, programming, and the hiring of bilingual staff.
Landmarks voted to calendar the library for designation. A future public hearing will be held.
By: Veronica Rose (Veronica is the Editor of CityLand and a New York Law School graduate, Class of 2018.)