This gift and its terms were accepted by the trustees on May 16, 1884, and the same day a lease was executed. Lower 2nd Avenue at that time was the center of a community composed largely of German-speaking people. The Ottendorfer Branch — so named by the trustees in their minute accepting the gift on May 16 — was opened for circulation on December 8, 1884, with 8,819 volumes on its shelves, of which 4,035 were German and 4,784 were English.
