Free Yoga Coming to Upper West Side Library Updated March 11, 2011 11:45am

Soon Upper West Siders will be able to practice warrior pose — shown here at Inwood's Bread and Yoga — at the library. (Courtesy of Bread and Yoga)

By Leslie Albrecht

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

UPPER WEST SIDE — Downward facing dog, meet the Dewey decimal system.

The Bloomingdale branch of the New York Public Library on West 100th Street and Columbus Avenue will offer free weekly yoga classes starting March 23.

Other branches such as Jefferson Market in Greenwich Village host yoga classes, but Bloomingdale is the first on the Upper West Side to do so, said NYPL spokeswoman Angela Montefinise.

The Bloomingdale branch of the New York Public Library on West 100th Street and Columbus Avenue will start offering free yoga classes later this month. (DNAinfo/Leslie Albrecht)

Instructor Christa Avampato, who lives near the Bloomingdale branch, will lead the 45-minute class at 6 p.m. every Wednesday. The library will make space in its second-floor auditorium for up to 40 to 50 participants, said library manager Rebecca Donsky.

Donsky said she's hoping the classes will attract people who've never visited the library, and cater to others who can't afford yoga classes or a gym membership.

Community-oriented classes help libraries fulfill a new role that goes beyond books, Donsky said.

"Libraries have become more of a community center and less of a place to sit and read a book," Donsky said. "If people are going to come here anyway, we’d be doing a disservice if we didn’t provide this."

Another reason yoga makes sense at the library? It's quiet, Donsky said.

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By Leslie Albrecht, DNAinfo.com

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