The Van Cortlandt Branch of The New York Public Library is a cozy one-room, one-floor branch situated nearby the Jerome Park Reservoir and historic Van Cortlandt Park. Both the Park and the Branch owe their names to an early 18th-century New York Mayor, Jacobus Van Cortlandt, whose family owned large tracts of land in the area. The Branch opened in 1969, formerly operating out of a tiny apartment in the area, and is fully accessible to persons who use wheelchairs. It houses a small but varied collection of books, genre paperbacks, videos, CDs, DVDs and audio cassettes for all ages.
