Uni Project and Brooklyn Public Library: Governors Island and More.
Thanks to a remarkable partnership between The Uni Project and all three of New York City’s public library systems—The Brooklyn Public Library, New York Public Library, and Queens Library—there was an outdoor reading room on Governors Island in 2013, offering books, learning activities, and children’s programs in a distinctive Uni Tower. Visitors were able to borrow books, register for library cards, sign up for summer reading, and find out about each of the three library systems. Photos of the Uni being fabricated and delivered are here and here. More photos on Flickr.
After the 2013 season, the Brooklyn Public Library took possession of the Uni Tower and benches, and began using the kit across Brooklyn in locations ranging from homeless shelters to the 2013 Brooklyn Book Festival. Innovative outreach to communities and partnering with The Uni Project is part of the BPL’s current 5-year strategic plan.
In Summer 2014, with the BPL Uni tower at work on the mainland in Brooklyn, The Uni Project stepped in and provided a second Uni Tower so that the reading room on Governors Island could return for a second year. The BPL provided the books, staff, and also hosted a series of Saturday programs that included storytelling, performances, and music workshops. See photos from 2014.
Blog Posts about our work with Brooklyn Public Library:
Brooklyn, New York, and Queens Public Libraries to launch an outdoor reading room on Governors Island with Uni Project
A new Uni outdoor reading room will launch this Saturday, Jun 1, on Governors Island in NYC harbor, jointly run by all three NYC public library systems: the Brooklyn Public Library, New York Public Library, and Queens Library. We've provided a brand new Uni structure...
Are you coming back next weekend?
The Uni is part library, part classroom, and entirely portable. We use it to transform public space and to open a new front in the effort to educate, support, and inspire urban kids. The walk home from school is cluttered with opportunities to consume—let's put some...
Uni offers library to storm-hit Red Hook, meets future librarians
The Uni spent the day in Red Hook, Brooklyn, to serve a waterfront community still struggling after the storm. We set up between FEMA and the food trucks, across the street from a mobile clinic. And we went in partnership with the Brooklyn Public Library—BPL staff did...
Uni will go to Red Hook, Brooklyn to serve community hard hit by storm
Now that the Uni office is up and running after a week-long blackout, we're ready to put the Uni into service for other New Yorkers hit by the storm. The Uni was not created primarily for disaster relief and rebuilding, but it sure was built to be ready for it. Here's...
On for this weekend, and new partner Queens Library.
The Uni will go to East NY, Brooklyn and Corona Plaza, Queens this weekend. Great neighborhoods where people are working to improve public space—this is exactly where we want to be. We're also excited that the Queens Library will join us on Sunday in Corona. The...
We’re still on for next weekend!
We were truly disappointed to postpone deployment of the Uni in Brooklyn and Queens today and tomorrow, and I'd like to offer an explanation. We're a small nonprofit, and Leslie and I do this work alongside a wonderful volunteer team that scales up when we install the...
The Uni featured in Places
The Uni has just been covered in this very thorough article in Places Journal surveying the recent wave of "little libraries" and tactical urbanism. Quoted in the article, Sam cites Project for Public Spaces' "lighter, quicker, cheaper" principle as part of our...
Bring it home
After nearly three months, I’m due to come off the road next week, and this will be my last post on tour. I’m grateful to everyone back home, especially Leslie and our partners who have been hard at work on the fabrication of the second Uni structure. Thanks also to...
Uni meets Brian Lehrer
So ends another busy week for the Uni. First, thank you to Linda Johnson, Brooklyn Public Library President, Richard Reyes-Gavilan, Central Library Director, and all the BPL staff and Uni volunteers who pulled together last Sunday's collaborative Uni/BPL reading room...
Uni + Brooklyn Public Library
On Sunday, Sep. 18, we'll collaborate with the Brooklyn Public Library to create a reading room for children on Borough Hall Plaza at the Brooklyn Book Festival. We'll be testing our rapid deployment skills once again, this time with a new form being finalized...