Bronx History and Activism Project: Norwood Community Library

The Norwood Community Library started in August 2018 with one crate of used books chained to a fence outside a deli in the Northwest Bronx, during a period of time when there was not one bookstore open to the public in the borough. Join us on Thursday, October 10 from 3 to 4 PM to learn how Brandon Montes, a tech worker by day, has been able to expand the reach of the library, what stories are centered, and what it means for the community.

About Norwood Community Library:

Brandon Montes founded the Norwood Community Library. It’s essentially a mobile library: Montes fills a crate or two with free books for passersby and sets up shop on the sidewalk—on East Gun Hill Road between Wayne and Bainbridge Avenues in the Bronx—for an afternoon every weekend. The day varies, but typically, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., anyone is welcome to stop by, chat with Montes about their reading preferences, and grab a book.

Montes started the library in 2018 as a way to combat what he sees as a systemic problem around literary access. “For a long time, we didn’t have a bookstore here—an independent bookstore—in the Bronx,” he said. “What does that say about us reading here?”

Wanting to help, Montes gathered his extra books, asked around for donations, and the Norwood Community Library was hatched. “I like to call myself the street librarian,” he said. “We could all be street librarians: Anyone can take two crates and do the same exact thing.”

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