About the Van Cortlandt Library

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The Van Cortlandt branch of The New York Public Library is situated near the Jerome Park Reservoir and historic Van Cortlandt Park. Both the park and the branch owe their names to the early 18th-century New York mayor, Jacobus Van Cortlandt, whose family owned large tracts of land in the area. The branch's origins date back to the 1930s when it was housed in a small apartment. The library expanded and moved across the street in 1969, where it remained for 50 years. In 2019, the Van Cortlandt Library relocated to its current site at 3882 Cannon Place—a two-story, 5,800-square-foot building, more than twice the size of its former location—that offers a wide range of resources and services for the community. The branch has an adult reading room, separate community room, children's room, young adult room and hosts on-site programs, classes and workshops for all ages. The branch also contains a collection of Russian and Spanish language books for all ages, and features an excellent paperback collection with a selection of genre fiction, such as mystery, romance, and science fiction. In November 2021, that building that houses the Van Cortlandt Library was named for Arline Schwarzman, a proud Bronx native and longtime Van Cortlandt resident, whose lifelong love of reading and learning was sparked at the branch, and who shared that love with her children, including NYPL Trustee and generous benefactor Stephen A. Schwarzman.

Van Cortlandt is fully accessible to people who use wheelchairs.   

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