The Jersey City Free Public Library has grown by leaps and bounds ever since the cornerstone of its main library was laid at Jersey Avenue and Montgomery Street in 1899.
Now the second-largest library system in the state – appropriate for the state’s second-largest city – the system consists of a main library, five large regional branches, six neighborhood branches and a Bookmobile (see sidebar for branch locations), plus more than 400,000 pieces of printed, audiovisual and electronic resources. Several branches also contain specialized resource rooms. The New Jersey Room, the Afro-American Historical Society Museum, and the Chaplain Major Charles Watters Vietnam Veterans Memorial Media Arts Center offer historical and genealogical research and educational materials.
But even with all those resources, the library’s staff isn’t resting on its laurels. Under Priscilla Gardner, director of the library system for the past four years, the library is relentlessly seeking to expand its services to all of Jersey City’s residents.
It’s in the cards
In October of 2002, the library set a goal of registering 100,000 card-holders, more than twice the number of valid card-holders when the push began. And though it took a bit longer than anticipated, the library hit its target early last year.
So, what to do once you’ve registered nearly half of the entire population of Jersey City? Register the other half, of course.
Gardner has set a new goal of 240,055 library cards – that’s one for every man, woman and child in Jersey City, according to the most recent census information.
Sure, it’s an uphill battle, Gardner acknowledges. But to naysayers who think that such a goal is unreachable, she responds definitively.
“We’re going to reach it,” she says. “I don’t use the word ‘can’t.’ ”
And Gardner and her staff are already well on their way. Cheered on by daily e-mail updates from Gardner herself, the library staff has registered 120,000 cards as of March.
Honorary card-holders such as Gov. Jon Corzine and former President Bill Clinton were presented with their cards, but anybody else who wants a free library card can register by calling (201) 547-4526 or visiting www.jclibrary.org.
What’s in store
As if the massive card drive wasn’t enough, Gardner and her staff hope to open two new library branches – including a business library – and replace the nearly 50-year-old Bookmobile.
They’ve also set their sights on continuing to develop the library’s existing services, such as its successful Summer Reading Club and Dial-a-Story programs for kids, its used-book store and gift shop, and its computer terminals and classes for residents looking to step up their technology skills. Not to mention building on a circulation that almost topped 300,000 in 2004.
“We have so much more to offer now,” Gardner says. “We get very good responses from the community.”
The very community that the library serves also often helps to keep the library running, through donations of books and other materials as well as assistance at one of the library’s regular fundraisers. Two events in the coming months include the “Black, White and READ (RED) Ball” on June 8 and the “Last Breath of Summer Fundraiser” on Sept. 7.
Keeping them reading
Last year, nearly 1,000 children joined the library’s Summer Reading Club, a program designed to keep the city’s kids reading while they enjoy summer vacation.
“The kids who don’t read much during the summer, they don’t really keep up their skills,” says Sarah Pardi, chairperson of the summer reading program.
The program is run in coordination with the New Jersey State Library, which supplies workbooks to children enrolled in the program. The theme of this year’s program will be “Paws, Claws, Scales and Tails.”
Jersey City also incorporates arts and crafts activities into the reading program to encourage children to enroll. “It’s really popular,” Pardi says. Even so, she adds, “We always want to get more kids involved.”
Registration for the Summer Reading Club runs from the end of June to mid-August, and information on the program will be available in either April or May.
For more information about the Summer Reading Club, visit www.jclibrary.org or call the Children’s Room at the Main Library at (201) 547-4519.
Afro-American Historical Society Museum
Though not officially affiliated with the Jersey City Free Public Library system, the Afro-American Historical Society Museum moved into a permanent space in the Greenville branch in 1984.
Occupying most of the second floor, the museum contains displays of African and African-American memorabilia, art and historical artifacts, plus a large collection of reference books. Much of the museum’s collection of rare documents has been digitized to allow for easy and continued access to the museum’s guests.
“My goal is to have wide-ranging attendance at the museum,” says Neal Brunson, the museum’s director, “and for people to look at the museum as a real resource.”
Notable displays include an African Room with artwork, quilts and masks, and a mock kitchen showing what life was like in the home of a typical African-American family in the 1930s.
The Afro-American Historical Society Museum is located on the second floor of the Greenville Public Library at 1841 Kennedy Blvd. For more information, call (201) 547-5262.
The New Jersey Room
Established in 1964, the New Jersey Room is a veritable treasure trove of information about Jersey City, Hudson County and all of New Jersey.
Chief among the room’s resources are hundreds of books about all aspects of New Jersey government, industry and culture, plus maps, periodicals, and directories that chart Jersey City’s growth over the past 200 years.
Also to be found in the New Jersey Room: a catalog of Jersey City high school graduates, a keyword-searchable database of historical postcards and photographs, and hundreds of vertical files containing clippings on every conceivable site or event in Jersey City and throughout New Jersey.
Cynthia Harris, the manager of the New Jersey Room, says she and the rest of the room’s staff are in the process of digitizing much of their collection for the New Jersey Digital Highway initiative. Volunteers help out with filing, preservation tasks such as vacuuming old texts, and upkeep of the room’s digital databases.
Some of the more priceless items in the room’s collection include two Dutch Bibles from the 1600s; an indenture, complete with wax seal, dating from 1796; and an 1841 Douglass map, of which only two others are known to exist.
“We have some absolutely incredible documents,” Harris says. “So many wonderful treasures.”
With all of these exceptional items and resources, it’s no wonder the room’s staff often fields historical and genealogical requests that come in from all over the country.
One memorable caller, Harris says, was a woman who was moving to Hudson County and who wanted to learn the years in which several of the county’s towns were founded. The reason? She wanted to move to a town that was founded on a date that was compatible with her astrological sign.
Future plans for the New Jersey Room include an expansion into an adjacent building and continuing digitization of its extensive collections.
The New Jersey Room is located on the third floor of the Main Library at 472 Jersey Ave. For more information, call (201) 547-4503 or visit www.jclibrary.org/service/njroom.php.
Media Arts Center
The Five Corners Branch Library contains one of the largest collections of multimedia materials in Jersey City: the Chaplain Major Charles Watters Vietnam Veterans Memorial Media Arts Center, which holds thousands of videos, DVDs and CDs in more than a dozen languages. It’s a collection that branch director Susan Stewart says has been growing for more than 20 years.
Included on the shelves of the center are educational videos on everything from foreign languages and biographies, to history and documentaries, to children’s studies.
“We have cooking, we have dance, we have art, we have parenting,” says library assistant Maniben Jaykar Patel, rattling off educational categories at the center.
Most items at the center cost $1.50 to borrow, but educational videos can be withdrawn for free.
Also to be found in the Media Arts Center are audio books and newly released feature films.
“We try to keep up with what the public wants and needs,” says supervising assistant librarian Beatriz Vrrutia.
The Chaplain Major Charles Watters Vietnam Veterans Memorial Media Arts Center is located on the second floor of the Five Corners Branch Library at 678 Newark Ave. For more information, call (201) 547-4543.
SIDEBAR
Main Library
472 Jersey Ave.
(201) 547-4500
REGIONAL LIBRARIES
Five Corners
678 Newark Ave.
(201) 547-4543
Greenville
1841 Kennedy Blvd.
(201) 547-4553
Miller
489 Bergen Ave.
(201) 547-4551
The Heights
14 Zabriskie St.
(201) 547-4556
Cunningham
275 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr.
(201) 547-4555
NEIGHBORHOOD BRANCHES
Lafayette
307 Pacific Ave.
(201) 547-5017
Marion
1017 West Side Ave.
(201) 547-4552
Pavonia
326 Eighth St.
(201) 547-4808
Pearsall
104 Pearsall Ave.
(201) 547-6557
Perfecto Oyola Biblioteca Criolla & Cultural Center
280 First St.
(201) 547-4541
West Bergen
476 West Side Ave.
(201) 547-4554
Bookmobile
(201) 547-5666