Brooklyn Public Library has started building a new New Lots Library in East New York, on a lot that the library and a 2023 archaeological study say covers part of a colonial-era burial ground where enslaved and free Black residents of the area were buried. The library marked the start of construction on Oct. 29 with a ground acknowledgment ceremony instead of a groundbreaking, according to a library release. The 1956 branch building is gone: the city signed off on its demolition on Oct. 9, Department of Buildings records show.

The library, Gilbane Building and the East New York African Burial Ground Collective hosted the ceremony. Participants washed their hands as a symbolic cleansing before entering the site, left flowers at an ancestral altar and heard an invocation, drumming and songs, the library said. They also signed ceremonial blocks made from the same timber that will be used to build the library. “The land on which this Library is built is deeply personal to the people of East New York, simultaneously representing both a painful history and remarkable resilience,” said Linda E. Johnson, the library’s president and CEO.

The 25,000-square-foot library was designed by Model of Architecture Serving Society (MASS) and Marble Fairbanks Architects and is being built by Gilbane. Its central feature is a mass timber “palaver,” which the library describes as a place of collective gathering in many African communities for dialogue and truth-telling, often under a tree, visible throughout the reading rooms, collection rooms and meeting spaces. Plans include separate spaces for children, teens and adults, a dedicated space for the New Lots Adult Learning Center, a music room, exhibition space and outdoor areas for programs and reflection. Building department filings describe a three-story, 48-foot building; the library’s release describes spaces “across four floors,” and neither record explains the difference. The library’s project page lists a tentative reopening in 2028.