Macon Library

The story

Some of the original bookshelves are still there. Built in 1907 for $93,481, Macon Library was the eleventh Carnegie library in Brooklyn, designed by Richard A. Walker in Classical Revival style using red brick, limestone trim, and a slate roof. Despite renovations in the 1940s, 1970s, and 2000s, the wood paneling and guardrails from opening day survived every wave of change. Today the branch anchors Bedford–Stuyvesant as home to the African American Heritage Center, making it a place where history is both preserved and actively tended.