People seeking to help support the Secaucus Public Library can purchase a piece of immortality through a new fundraising effort offered by the Friends of the Library.
The mayor and council have joined the Friends in a fundraising effort to purchase new furniture and technology for the new library and business resource center currently under construction at 1379 Paterson Plank Road. They are offering residents, businesses and corporate supporters of the library a choice in placing their name or personalized inscription on either a commemorative brick on the library grounds or a name plate on a wall sculpture prominently placed inside the library.
Councilman Fred Constantino will represent the Town Council on the project while retired pharmacists Michael and Gerard Marra will represent the library board and friends of the library.
"So many individuals have already spent countless hours getting this project off the ground," said Library Director Katherine Steffens in expressing her gratitude for the fundraising efforts. "Now we’re inviting all resident and non-resident patrons of the library, as well as our civic clubs, local businesses and corporate neighbors, to partner with us in this community project. Each benefactor’s contribution will help provide for attractive furnishings and advanced technology resources to serve the library’s needs in the 21st Century."
Both the bricks and the nameplates can carry individual and family names or be used as memorials for deceased family members. They can also be used to carry business and civic organization’s names and logos, as well as messages. The cost for bricks ranges from $75 to $500, depending on the size and the number of printed lines. The nameplates for the wall sculpture are in gold, silver or bronze. The prices range from $100 to $2,500, depending on the size and the finish of the nameplate.
Constantino called the building of a new library "an exciting time for Secaucus." He encouraged the various parts of the community to join in this fund-raising effort.
Michael Marra noted that his brother Gerard, as well as their father, the late Gerard Marra, Sr., had served as library trustees in the past. He recalled how he and his father were instrumental in working with Albert Buchmuller in creating Buchmuller Park, where the current library is located, and said he was present for the groundbreaking of the current library.
"Our father was very involved in all aspects of improving the community," he said. "Because he was a double amputee and used a wheelchair, he would have been very supportive of this new library that will be totally accessible to all handicapped individuals."
Steffens said the library board has committed to keeping the new library open seven days a week, as well as five evenings in an effort to better accommodate the public.
"The new library will also be a business reference resource and technology training center," she said. "The building will have a conference room, quiet reading rooms and individual literacy training rooms, as well as a community/corporate meeting room and an adult reading room."
Along with workstations wired for Internet, the library will also have workstations for people with laptop computers. The library will also provide a children’s story tower and children will have their own technology and resource area.
Steffens said that surplus – originally thought to be used for furnishings – saved over the years by past and present library boards, combined with bonding issued by the Town Council, had gone towards covering the library’s construction costs.
While recent innovations by the Town Council in leasing space to the friends of the library for a billboard will bring in revenues to the library, this money won’t be available in time to provide the new library with the furnishings it needs – something the sale of bricks and nameplates is designed to provide.
"This fund-raiser, however, will serve the immediate goal of permitting the new facility to open with all new furnishings, including those designed to accommodate the handicapped and increased technology," Steffens said. "It is the goal of everyone involved in building the new library to make it the cultural hub and learning center of the community."
For more information or to receive a brochure on the program call the library at 330-2083.