Bloomingdale Branch Information

Branch History

Before the Revolutionary War, the Dutch who settled in the beautiful countryside, now known as the Upper West Side, called the area "Bloemendaal," meaning valley of flowers. Anglicized as Bloomingdale, this rural community was connected to the lower part of Manhattan by the Bloomingdale Road, its route largely echoed today by Broadway. In 1898, the community had its first library, the Bloomingdale Branch of the New York Free Circulating Library, which was consolidated in 1901 with The New York Public Library. Sixty years later, a new Bloomingdale library opened in a modern two-story building one block east of its original location. The Bloomingdale Library is bright, spacious, partially wheelchair accessible, and houses a comprehensive general reference collection and collections for adults and teenagers for borrowing on the ground floor. The children's collection shares the second floor with an auditorium used for library programs and community meetings.

Collections & Services

• Regional reference collection in English and Spanish
• Foreign language collections including Arabic, Chinese, French, French Creole, German, Hebrew, Italian, Russian, and Spanish
• Lifelong Learning collection
• Diverse collection of newspapers and periodicals in English and Spanish
• Audiocassettes and videotapes for all ages
• Large Print collection
• Community Information collection
• Internet access for free public use by appointment

Programs

• Films, story hours, and reading-aloud programs for children
• Puppet shows, crafts, music programs, and other special events for children
• Author readings, lectures, workshops, music, poetry, and theater programs for adults
• Class visits by appointment

Other Neighborhood Branches

Community Information