Port Richmond

This post is a revised and updated version of an article that originally appeared in The Staten Island Historian, Winter-Spring 2002, Volume 19, New Series 2 published by the Staten Island Historical Society.

The Port Richmond Branch of The New York Public Library is rich with stories. It stands at 75 Bennett Street on the North Shore of Staten Island, N.Y., two blocks from the Kill Van Kull. A gift from the steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, the historic red brick building faces Veterans’ Park and P.S. 20 in the Port Richmond neighborhood. The library’s history and its service to the people of Port Richmond mirror the rapidly changing community life of Staten Island.

First Attempts

The Port Richmond library was built in an area that had only received sporadic library service throughout the 19th century. Staten Island interest in a public library began as early as 1833 when the Franklin Society established a social library in Factoryville (now West New Brighton). A variety of small private library collections and literary associations sprang up on the North Shore throughout the century: The Young Men’s Free Reading Room, The Castleton Free Circulating Library (in the Unitarian Church of New Brighton), and the Young People’s Literary Association of Tompkinsville. These groups tried, with only partial success, to fill the need for library service.  read more »