Being bored in Brooklyn? Not a chance.
With endless things to do and places to explore, there’s always something exciting happening—but did you know your Brooklyn Public Library card unlocks a world of free experiences?
If it’s been a while since you last visited the library, don’t worry—we won’t judge. But you might be missing out on some incredible perks!
Beyond borrowing books, your library card grants you free access to top NYC museums, lets you learn new languages, borrow vinyl records, and so much more. Here’s everything you can do for free with your Brooklyn Public Library card!
What’s the difference between NYC library systems?
In New York City, there are three distinct library systems: the New York Public Library (NYPL), Brooklyn Public Library (BPL), and Queens Public Library (QPL).
These systems exist separately due to their establishment before the 1898 consolidation of the five boroughs into Greater New York City.
Each library system offers unique services and collections, with NYPL generally providing broader access across the city, while BPL and QPL are more localized to their respective boroughs. When applying for a library card, it’s important to consider which system best suits your needs based on your location and the services you require.
1. Free tickets to 100+ NYC museums and attractions
A Brooklyn Public Library card grants you access to Culture Pass, a service which allows library cardholders to visit 100+ cultural institutions throughout the city for free. Imagine being able to check out some of the world’s most popular museums FOR FREE…just for signing up for a library card!
There’s over 100 museums and attractions across the boroughs to choose from, but some Brooklyn standouts you can go to for free include:
- Brooklyn Botanic Garden
- Brooklyn Children’s Museum
- Brooklyn Museum
- Center for Fiction
- New York Transit Museum
🏛️ See the full list of museums and attractions you can enter for free with a BPL card
2. Reserve a telescope
Calling all curious want-to-be astronauts! The Brooklyn Public Library allows cardholders to check out a telescope for free—for three weeks at a time.
That means you can spend all the time you want gazing into NYC’s night skies looking for the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus, double stars, Pleiades, Orion nebula, and more. You must be over 13 years old to reserve a telescope.
🔭 Learn more about reserving a BPL telescope
3. Borrow a tool
Brooklyn Public Libraries encourage the borough’s residents to borrow tools in order to work on home projects, repair their possessions, and learn new tool skills!
For free, cardholders can borrow tools like drills, hammers, saws, staple guns, and so much more! Patrons are allowed to borrow three tools at a time, including one power tool for one week.
🔨 Learn more about reserving BPL tools
4. Rent an instrument
The Brooklyn Public Library pioneered the first public musical instrument lending library in New York City.
Through a partnership with the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, patrons can borrow a variety of instruments, including percussion items like steel drums and string instruments such as violins, for a month. This innovative service allows individuals to explore playing the guitar or access a piano for composition, making music more accessible to everyone.
5. Discover a record
The Brooklyn Public Library’s Central Library offers a Vinyl Lending Library, where cardholders can access a diverse collection of nearly 400 albums across various genres.
Patrons can listen to music on-site at the library’s first floor or borrow up to three records at a time for a period of three weeks.
💿 Learn more about reserving BPL records and vinyls
6. Check out a board game
Elevate your game nights with the Brooklyn Public Library’s Board Game Library!
As a library cardholder, you can borrow board games for free, choosing from a diverse collection that includes kid-friendly classics like ‘Don’t Break the Ice’ and adult favorites such as ‘Catan’ and ‘Codenames.’
🎲 Learn more about reserving BPL board games
7. Book a meeting room
BPL cardholders can take meetings in the library’s private meeting rooms for absolutely free. Reservations for meeting rooms can be made online, with each cardholder able to make two online reservations per calendar month per location.
Bookings must be made 2 or more days in advance.
🤝 Learn more about booking a BPL meeting room
8. Secure a recording studio
The Brooklyn Public Library’s Info Commons features an amateur recording studio that cardholders can reserve for FREE!
The studio can be booked in 15-minute increments with a maximum session length for three hours. Each patron is allotted two studio sessions per month. Up to 5 people are able to use the studio at a time, with the cardholder must being present and book under their name.
🎙️ Learn more about reserving a BPL recording studio
9. Read through 925 Brooklyn high school newspapers
Browse a plethora of free high school newspapers that come from 55 public and private schools around Brooklyn. The newspapers range in year from 1853 – 1994 and are available to read digitally for free with a library card.
There’s over 900 different ones…which are a fun read and time capsule about the city as a whole.
📰 Learn more about reserving BPL’s newspapers
10. Gain access to 100+ databases and resources
Of course you’ll get free access to Brooklyn Public Library’s thousands of books, but you can also learn from more than 100 databases and resources at your disposal.
Cardholders can learn all kinds of new skills from Creativebug (arts & crafts), LinkedIn Learning (16,000 courses in seven languages about any topic), Mango (language courses), and many more for free.
📙 Learn more about BPL’s free databases and resources