Tremont Library
1866 Washington Avenue | Tremont | built 1904
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1905
The Tremont Branch Library opens with 10,000 books from the library across the street
The Tremont Branch opened on July 22, 1905, as the New York Public Library's 33rd circulating branch. It was the third Carnegie-funded library in the Bronx and the first one designed by Carrère & Hastings. Its first 10,000 volumes came from the Bronx Free Library, which had operated across the street and closed that year.
- 1905
The Bronx Society of Arts and Sciences is founded at the new library
Only months after the branch opened, the Bronx Society of Arts and Sciences got its start in the building on October 20, 1905. In 1908 Tremont's librarians helped local girls start the Cranford club, the first reading club for girls in the branch system. Other groups gathering there included the City History Club, a Yiddish Mother's Club and the Bronx Women's Voter League.
“Arts and Sciences was founded here on October 20, 1905. In 1908, the librarians of Tremont helped young girls form the Cranford club…”
- 1927
Librarian Esther Barag begins building Tremont's Jewish collection
Russian-born Esther Barag worked at the Tremont Branch from 1927 until about 1952 and made it a center for books on Jewish culture. She helped new immigrants get library cards, find their way around the shelves and choose books to start reading. Her 1952 report urged more foreign-language books and staff trained for adult learners, ideas later used in the South Bronx Project.
“…the Russian-born Esther Barag worked for the Tremont Branch from 1927 until about 1952. She was a critical figure in making the Tremont Branch a central location for information on Jewish culture.”
- 1957
Head librarian Polly Post Nelson's report records the Cross-Bronx Expressway's toll on Tremont
Polly Post Nelson ran the Tremont Branch from 1953 to 1970 and kept detailed reports on the neighborhood around it. Her 1956-57 report blamed the Cross-Bronx Expressway for displacing residents and causing a sudden drop in population, and also noted a steady loss in book circulation. She expected two new housing projects to turn things around by 1960.
“Polly Post Nelson, the head librarian of the Tremont Branch between 1953 and 1970 also left detailed documentation of her time at Tremont…”
- 1967
Tremont joins the library's bilingual South Bronx Project
In 1967 the Tremont Branch became one of eight New York Public Library branches in El Proyecto Del Sur Del Bronx, paid for with federal money set aside in 1966 for experimental library services. The project added bilingual staff, Spanish-language books and programs. Tremont printed brochures in English and Spanish and ran film, book and family clubs for Spanish speakers.
“In 1967, the Tremont Branch was one of eight NYPL branches to participate in El Proyecto Del Sur Del Bronx…”
- 1987
Last Poets member Abiodun Oyewole draws a large crowd to a library talk
By the 1960s Black poetry and art were a central part of Tremont's programs, and in 1968 the library held a workshop on Langston Hughes. In 1987 the poet and teacher Abiodun Oyewole, a member of the spoken-word group The Last Poets, spoke at the branch to a large audience. Black History Month became a yearly event here in the 1980s.
“In 1987 Abiodun Oyewole, noted poet, teacher, and member of the African-American music and spoken-word group The Last Poets, gave a talk that drew a large crowd.”
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