For some of those who came to celebrate the grand reopening of Jersey City’s West Bergen Branch Library on June 29, the facility’s makeover was like “night and day.” The library reopened after being closed for nearly three months for renovations. Guests attending the official reopening said the library was brighter and had more room.
“Before this, everything was cramped,” said Freeholder Bill O’Dea, who lives a block from the library branch. He came bearing a freeholder resolution marking the occasion. Done by the landlord at no cost to the library, the new branch has been expanded to allow for a new children’s room.
“This is a 360-degree change,” said Hussein Odeh, chief librarian. “Before this we had very little space for the children. When we held Story Hour, it was very tight.”
The upgrades include improvements to the air conditioning system, redone bathrooms, and new tile floors.
Located 476 West Side Ave., the branch serves the public on the west side of Jersey City.
A very popular site for several years, the library seemed to lose clients recently.
“A library is a poor man’s university.” – . Priscilla Weaver-Gardner
____________
He said he believed the expanded facility will help serve the public better.
Welcoming the public back
The branch was started in 1971 as a satellite for the longer-established Miller Branch on Bergen Avenue. The West Bergen Lending Service set up operation at 503 West Side Ave. The library became a branch in its own right in 1980, and relocated to its current site in 1990.
O’Dea, an author himself, was a city councilman when the library located to its current site.
“I got a lot of calls when the library was closed,” he said. “This is one block from where I live. I like the fact that it expanded to include a children’s room.”
He said a child’s personality develops in the first four years, and that it is important to read to children at an early age.
“Reading helps to develop a child’s imagination, and it is through imagination that great discoveries are made,” he said.
Councilman Khemraj “Chico” Ramchal, who represents the West Side, said the redone library is part of a number of positive changes going on in the neighborhood, including two new supermarkets and a new Coptic center.
Ramchal said the library was a community center that helped bring together the neighborhood. While it was closed, it was sorely missed.
Councilman Richard Boggiano, who is somewhat old school when it comes to reading, said kids should be encouraged to get off computers and into reading.
“I’m a firm believer that reading leads to success,” he said.
Sandra Riley, one of the numerous guests at the event, said the newly-revamped library was warm and inviting.
Esther Wintner, newly-named president of the Jersey City Library Board, said she almost never takes time off from work, but did so on this occasion.
“Education and literacy are close to my heart,” she said. “I grew up in Manhattan. I was always in the library.”
She credited Library Director Priscilla Weaver-Gardner for being fully involved with the project.
“For her this was a labor of love,” Wintner said
She said the library is more than just a place to do homework, it is a vibrant part of the community.
Weaver-Gardner quoted former Jersey City Mayor Glenn Cunningham as she described the library branch.
“A library is a poor man’s university,” she said. “It has the wisdom of the past, the achievements of the present, and the aspirations of the future. Let’s make this the university of the West Side.”
She credited realtor Greg Racelis for finding the additional space for the children’s room and Billy Cheeseborrough, LandNear LaForte, and Gil Origenes for making the necessary repairs.
The staff worked hard, packing and unpacking books, and putting them back on the shelves.
“We got a lot of phone calls asking when the library would reopen,” she said.
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.