Dyker Heights, Sunset Park, Sheepshead Bay branches finalists for library award

Three Brooklyn libraries have made it to the final round of the third annual New York City Neighborhood Library Awards, a program that recognizes and rewards public libraries for being the “unsung heroes” of New York City.

Among the ten finalists are the Dyker Heights Library (8202 13th Avenue), the Sunset Park Library (5108 Fourth Avenue) and the Kings Bay Library (3650 Nostrand Avenue).

A panel of judges will pick five winning branches for the $20,000 prize with the remaining finalists slated to receive $10,000 each.

The awards – an initiative of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and the Charles H. Revson Foundation – generated approximately 19,000 nominations this year, up more than 40 percent from last year.

New this year, the Heckscher Foundation for Children will also be awarding the Heckscher Prize for Outstanding Service to Children and Youth to one outstanding branch that has proven its commitment to the city’s youth. The winner of the Heckscher award will also take home a grand prize of $20,000 to spend on the branch.

This year’s judges include Pulitzer Prize-winning author Stacy Schiff; acclaimed New Yorker writer and author Jelani Cobb; National Book Award finalist and author Angela Flournoy; Richard Reyes-Gavilan, executive director for the DC Public Library and former chief librarian for the Brooklyn Public Library; and Peter Hatch, senior advisor in the de Blasio administration.

All winners will be announced in June.

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