Local leaders hold library fundraiser

When Carlo Scissura was a child, he used to walk to the DykerHeights Library at 8202 13th Avenue with his mother. It was a tripthat the chief of staff to Brooklyn Borough President MartyMarkowitz remembers vividly.

I always read mystery books, Scissura said. I’ve read everyHardy Boys and Nancy Drew book.

Several decades later, Scissura has been able to return thefavor, adopting the library with Hellenic Classical Charter SchoolPrincipal Christina Tettonis through the Support Our Shelvesprogram. On June 28, Scissura and Tettonis raised $6,000 at afundraiser for the Dyker Heights Library, the third they’ve heldsince the program’s inception in 2009, an effort by the BrooklynPublic Library to make up for funding cuts, which according toScissura, have made things pretty tough for local libraries.

The Brooklyn Public Library budget has been cut by 15 percentin the past few years, so it’s programs like this that supplementthe cuts that have happened, he said.