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August 29, 2008

Watchung library getting an upgrade

Courier-News
By LAURIE LEVOY • STAFF WRITER • August 28, 2008

WATCHUNG —The problems that come with operating a modern public library in a 1940s house are not new to Watchung Public Library Director Doug Poswencyk.

The question the library, and ultimately the borough, faces is what to do about the situation.

Poswencyk, who has helmed the local branch of the Somerset County Library System for 18 years, has a vision for the Watchung Public Library at 12 Stirling Road: "to make the library a real place of destination for our patrons, and the greater community."

The current building has operated out of the 1945 home of Harlan Pratt since 1976 and is bursting with a large collection of CDs and audio books, as well as print volumes. The checklist of the library's current limitations, according to Poswencyk, includes:

One recessed (for privacy) Internet terminal for public use.

No elevator in the three-story building.

Inadequate space for children's programs and activities.

Having to discard viable materials to make room for current titles.

No space to display Young Adult print and music collections.

No space for patrons to do research or homework.

Inadequate leisure-reading areas.

Some safety concerns also exist, Poswencyk said.

"For example, we have had to stack the children's room shelves vertically, actually out of reach or view for our youngest patrons," he noted. "That's neither safe for the kids or user friendly."

Seeking a solution

Discussions about a solution have been ongoing for about three years, since an eight-member Library Advisory Committee was formed to do research and make recommendations, said Borough Councilman Stephen Pote, the council's library liaison and a committee member.

"I worked to bring the library's issues to the surface and before the Borough Council," Pote said. "A committee was created to see how to reconfigure the library, to figure out what can be salvaged."

In February, and after several public sessions gathered comments, the committee presented recommendations about the size of a new, or renovated library and its probable location to Mayor Albert S. Ellis and the Borough Council, Pote said.

Pote said the group determined the facility's current 2,000-square feet should be expanded to between 10,000- and 12,000-square feet to allow the library to catch up to its Somerset County Library System partner branches in both available products for patrons and physical plant size.

Pote said the borough pays between $600,000 and $700,000 to the county library system in return for materials, staff and computers, the same as other member branches. The borough is responsible for the building's maintenance.

"But we're not taking advantage of what our association with the library system can provide, because of our space constraints," Pote said.

Sharon Orlando, the children's librarian, said nooks and crannies in the children's section makes it "hard for children and families to sit together for programs."

Dhr said that while the library has a "wonderful picture book collection, ... we can only buy one copy of a title because there is no place to put extras of any materials."

Christopher Miller, a part-time employee in the Young Adult Department, said he has program ideas to attract middle and school students to the library, but two evening programs can't be held at the same time in the building.

In the meantime, the nearby Watchung Arts Center has allowed the library to use its large space for some programs.

"There is the red barn, actually more of a shed, on the lower level of the steep land there. We could utilize that and build or expand two levels above that," Pote mused, before adding that continue use of the Pratt house would require installation of an elevator as well as plumbing and electrical upgrades.

"That's where we are right now," he said. "It might be more cost-effective to tear down the house and build new construction. We could reorient the library for better views, parking and sighting from Watchung Circle," said Pote.

What's next

The library has issued a Request For Proposals seeking a qualified architect to develop a preliminary plan for a library in the vicinity of the current building. Proposals are due by 11 a.m. Sept. 9 to the borough clerk's office.

In the meantime, the advisory group has visited eight other libraries in nearby communities to tour their facilities and gather ideas.

Orlando said Watchung is a neighborly place, and suggested that keeping "that sense of connectedness along with the comfort level that comes from calling a patron by his or her first name" is important to any potential project.

Environmental matters also must be weighed. "We will have to have clearance from the state Department of Environmental Protection regarding any water issues that stem from Watchung Lake," Pote said.

Pote said the project will require public and private funding, and Poswencyk noted that "Libraries are for everyone. It is a classless institution and it's free. And it becomes, in part, a public responsibility."

"We have a lot of prospective benefactors in our community, and we will be asking for their, and the borough's, support in this project," Pote said.

Laurie Levoy can be

reached at 908-707-3118 or

llevoy@mycentraljersey.com.

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August 27, 2008

It's one for the books at Monroe library expansion near early completion

Courier News

By CHRISTINE SPARTA • STAFF WRITER • August 26, 2008

MONROE —Renovations at the Monroe Township Library could be finished ahead of schedule. The $5.5 million facelift was expected to be completed by spring 2009, but now Irene Goldberg, the library's director, said upgrades could be completed as early as January.

"If everything keeps on target here, we're going to squeak in here in January," said Goldberg.

One unusual part of the improvement program is the installation of a drive-thru window. Goldberg said the new drive-up service is a nod to Monroe's demographics.

"Half our community is senior citizens. Some days you don't have the energy to get out of the car," she said.

The service is also helpful for young mothers who might have trouble moving sleeping children into the library to grab a book or drop off an item that is due.

Architect Anthony Iovino, who has worked on a number of library projects in the state, said it was rare to see a drive-thru feature, and that it's the first one he's seen in New Jersey.

The library will be expanded on the north and south sides of the building.

Wayne Hamilton, township administrator, said the library's available space will more than double, from approximately 20,000 square feet to about 44,000 square feet.

The renovations will also add a cafe area, expand the children's section, and create a wood-paneled rotunda that will hold rotating art exhibits.

Goldberg calls the children's area her "claim to fame" because it will have an interactive section especially geared toward pre-school kids up to age 5 who don't always have programs to help their development.

"They need to have some stimulation," said Goldberg, adding that the types of activities, including a LEGO table, will be similar to ones at the Children's Museum of Manhattan.

Right now, new carpeting is still in boxes and sections of the library still need to be finished, including the administrative area for staff.

Library workers now share one phone in their temporary, makeshift quarters in the adult meeting room, but that is expected to change in the next couple of weeks as the renovation progresses.

"We expanded operations when we added a bookmobile (almost) five years ago," said Goldberg. "We needed space for those people," she said.

Library visitors are also looking forward to seeing everything completed.

"I'm very excited about it," said Lill Lerner, a retired Monroe resident who lives in walking distance of the building. "It makes for a better community," she said about the improvements at the library.

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August 25, 2008

Local libraries a success story

Courier-News Online Aug. 25, 2008

About the best news a town could get — or a society, for that matter — is that more people are using the library.

It might seem counterintuitive to expect that, considering the extent to which Americans now rely on their home computers to gather information, but it's happening anyway, and Sayreville provides a good example.

The library's Summer Reading Club for children, which ended this month, had 525 youngsters registered this year, compared with 300 last year.

In addition, overall circulation of materials from the borough library has increased 18 percent over last year. The library is issuing more than 300 new membership cards each month, according to Library Director Susan Kaplan.

Kaplan has noted that the borough's population as of the 2000 U.S. Census was 40,377, and that the library last year made more than 22,600 individual loans.

Even considering that the population has grown some since that census, the number of loans implies that the library is serving the needs and interests of a large portion of borough residents.

There's a lot of conventional wisdom, and some hard evidence, that ours is no longer a nation of readers, if reading involves print on paper.

But phenomena like the response to the "Harry Potter'' and "Twilight'' series indicates that reading books can still be attractive and … most interesting of all … attractive to boys and girls who were born into the digital age.

There's nothing wrong with receiving information and education from digital sources, and libraries like the one in Sayreville and the ones throughout Middlesex County have kept pace with changing technology and changing habits and now provide their users with Internet access and with CDs and DVDs.

But libraries also provide in one location shelves loaded with books of every description, and they provide an atmosphere that reminds us, including the fidgety young among us, that low-tech exploration of the thoughts and experiences and recollections and imaginations of others has not and probably will not go out of style.

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Work starts on Harding library site

Special to the Daily Record • August 24, 2008

HARDING -- Construction of the new township library has begun, with earth-moving machines working to prepare the site next to the municipal building.

"It's so gratifying to see the project take off. The specs have gone out to bid, so it really feels like our little library will finally have a new home," said Susan Stahly, chairman of the Library's Building Committee.

The site work, which started earlier this month, follows more than 10 years of fundraising that has netted more than $4.5 million toward the $6 million project. The plan calls for a three-level, 8,253-square-foot building to be erected on township-owned land that would be leased to the library, which is run by a private, nonprofit association that does not receive taxpayer funds. The existing library is located in a small room in the municipal building and only takes up about 400 square feet.

On the west side of the municipal lot, workmen are working on relocating the original Sand Spring Road entrance to make space for the new library building. As part of the project, the township has committed to improving and paving the old gravel parking lot, which was plagued by poor drainage, according to Lotte Newlin, a representative for the library.

"The excavation you see by the tennis courts is the future bio infiltration area for runoff from the new parking lot," Mary Ellen Balady, town construction official, said in a release. The work is being carried out by a local contractor, Petillo Inc.

The new building will allow the library to increase its collection to 15,000 volumes from its current 7,500 to 8,000 volumes. It also will allow the library to offer an array of new services, including public access to eight Internet-linked computers.

The library is being paid for through private donations, including more than $1 million from Jay Kemmemer and the Kemmemer Foundation. Kemmemer was a longtime Harding resident, as were his parents. The new library will have the same color bricks and trim as the existing municipal building.

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August 22, 2008

Check out the library of the future: More space, more technology are trend

By KRISTI FUNDERBURK • Staff Writer • August 22, 2008

The Daily Journal

Dawn Holmes visits the Millville Public Library at least twice a week with her 3-year-old daughter, Samantha Jones. Together they take advantage of library services, both traditional and new.

"She gets to read books while I'm on the computer," Holmes said. "It's really convenient right now because my home computer broke down."

Libraries, both locally and nationwide, have changed drastically from the age-old definition that classifies them as a collection of books and references.

Internet access is available to anyone with a library card. Open spaces and comfortable furniture welcome visitors to stay and read rather than borrow and leave. And various programs and materials attract visitors of all ages.

Libraries left behind years ago their sleepy image and have recently transformed into community centers, keeping their traditional services while adding free access to the growing digital world.

"What we do now is meet the demand where the old style was to manage that demand," said Holly Rogerson, Vineland Public Library's head of reference.

Grants pay the way
Money from grants helped largely as some libraries transitioned to the digital age.

Rogerson sought a grant in 2002 that helped Vineland Public Library fill a large community need. The library started circulating laptops to help families with children in Vineland Public Schools.

Apple donated 50 laptops to the library and the need became obvious -- in the first year, they were borrowed 3,294 times.

The laptops were eventually phased out as they aged, but the unique circulation option had city residents rethinking what Vineland Public Library had to offer.

Grants also brought technology to the smaller Newfield Public Library in Gloucester County.

The library opened in 1997 with one Internet-capable computer, then replaced it a year later with three more, thanks to state technology grants, said Susan Mounier, Newfield's director. A South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative state grant helped Newfield Library go wireless in 2005, she said.

Mounier counted on the grant money to push the library into the digital age.

"We try to keep up with technology the best we can, but it's hard with a tight budget," she said.

Programs and activities
Programs have become increasingly important for libraries to have, especially as they move closer to becoming community centers.

Vineland expanded its library in 2003, doubling its size. When construction finished, the librarians created a massive list of activities for all age groups, from family fun nights to educational workshops to art displays.

"We want to have what all people want and need," Rogerson said.

Kevin Kleiner, who works in Vineland and lives in Milmay, believes libraries "have to change to find their niche and be progressive," he said.

He added that librarians should remind people of a library's utmost attribute: everything's free.

"They just have to get that word out. It's certainly an opportunity to be revitalized," Kleiner said.

As visitors increased, Vineland's librarians also started ordering extra books by traditionally popular authors, such as J.K. Rowling and James Patterson, and increased the DVD collection from 200 titles to 1,900 in six years while maintaining the VHS movies, Rogerson said.

Spotting the trend
Other local libraries are following similar trends as Vineland, but in different ways. Librarians consistently try to offer a variety of materials and computers to follow the nationwide pattern.

A Gannett News Service analysis found library visits across the nation increased 10 percent between 2002 and 2006 to 1.3 billion. In that same time frame, the analysis found circulation increased 9 percent to 1.81 billion, and the number of computers linked to the Internet rose 39 percent to 175,000 in 2006.

Vineland Public Library's Community Relations Coordinator Anita Lupcho said Vineland's total circulation rose from 147,527 materials in 2006 to 168,054 last year.

The library's summer numbers increased in June this year, she said. Vineland users borrowed 6,083 books for adults in 2007 and 6,612 in 2008. Roughly 300 more children's books were borrowed this year compared to last year's 3,873 books, she said.

"We've been so busy. It's been the perception of the circulation staff, who talk the most to customers, that people are coming in because they don't want to spend money to go to the beach or travel," Lupcho said.

People aren't just borrowing materials at Vineland, they're staying to turn what used to be an errand into an experience.

Martha Saint-Jean, a 43-year-old Vineland resident, comes to Vineland library three or four times each week.

She uses the computer for an online course she enrolled in before her home Internet service went down. She works while her son enjoys the children's section.

Vineland Library offers 46 computers for public use. Some are set up for children's activities, and some only offer basic Microsoft programs, but many have the Internet.

"It's easily accessible. There's not really a lot of wait time and it's definitely quiet," Saint-Jean said. "This is a good alternative."

Franklin Township Public Library Director Denise Saia has seen more families come to the library, like Saint-Jean.

"I've noticed a lot more of that this summer, whole families coming in," Saia said. "We find more and more they're staying than leaving."

The digital divide
Cumberland County Library Executive Director Nancy Forester believes the Internet has helped libraries find a new forte.

Federal data show only about one-third of households with incomes below $25,000 has Internet access at home, she said.

Cumberland County has a sizeable number of low-income families who need Internet access for everyday activities like preparing for homework, managing bank accounts or sending e-mails, she said, and libraries may be their only way to access the Web.

Meeting patron demands with the money available can be difficult for the county's libraries, Forester said.

Together, Vineland, Millville, Bridgeton and Cumberland County libraries spend $18.04 per resident, she said. The average per capita spending in the state is $30.79, Forester said.

"Cumberland County is next to the bottom on per capita spent," Forester said. "We've done a lot with what we have. Networking has been an important part of that."

While budget pressures on cities and counties nationwide forced some libraries to shorten hours or even close, the libraries of Cumberland County work together to save money and offer patrons a variety of services, Forester said.

The CLUES Card -- which stands for Cumberland Libraries United Electronic System -- enables visitors to borrow from any of the county's main libraries and gives access to materials in libraries with the Cumberland County Historical Society, the Millville Army Air Field Museum and Beth Israel Library, Forester said.

Mounier said Gloucester County libraries have similar networking for their patrons.

More than books
Books are still the library's staple item, but the Franklin Township and Millville public libraries also offer a new approach to reading. Playaways act like audio books but work like MP3 files, Millville Library Director Irene M. Percelli said.

Millville attracts locals who take advantage of the eight computers and wireless capability, but the Playaways have proved Millville's most popular item, she said. Patrons just have to attach their own headphones.

"We can't keep them on the shelves," she said.

Besides giving patrons a taste of traditional libraries with a digital device, Millville's 100 Playaways don't take up much space, coming in small DVD-like boxes.

Space is the Millville Public Library's most valuable commodity.

The library operates in a small building on Buck Street where it started in the 1960s. The library can only offer select programs with the limited space.

Percelli would like to expand the library to create more room and get more materials, but that possibility is not in the city's master plan for future development.

"We disappear in phase one and come back in phase five, but we don't know where we go in between," Percelli said.

Working with what she has, Percelli said the basement is getting reorganized this summer to make space for the No Child Left Behind and home schooling programs, which have 25 to 40 tutors servicing sometimes three students each at the library during the school year. Another room of the basement is used for the GED program, a joint effort with Millville Public Schools that graduated 50 city residents last year.

The library is eventually scheduled to move to a new, larger location, she said.

"We're at a crossroads and we either need to move on or make a decision," she said.

Gannett News Service contributed to this report.

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A community's history has a future on the Net

Friday, August 22, 2008 BY JODI WEINBERGERSTAFF WRITER
The Record

The New Jersey Digital Highway is offering a backup to libraries looking to preserve their historical collections online.

At a meeting on Thursday morning with representatives from eight public libraries and the Passaic county historian, NJDH introduced a "starter kit" that would give libraries a foothold into the partnership.

NJDH is active in preserving the state's history through participation of local groups such as libraries. Through digitization processes that follow national standards and sophisticated storage and access technology, the partnership can "extend the life forever of projects that are extremely endangered," said Project Manager Linda Langschied.

"This is a marvelous use of technology: to get the history of a town into the hands of a community," said Passaic County Historian Ed Smyk.

"This will give smaller libraries a chance to digitize," agreed Ruth Bogan, executive director of Pals Plus, who organized the meeting of librarians. She also hopes to see a collaborative Passaic County collection of photos hosted on the digital highway in the near future.

In essence, libraries can sign up for the program and store 20 digital photos or documents from each individual collection in the statewide servers. Libraries also get a direct link into the collection for their Web sites, Lang-schied explained, ensuring that treasured items won't be lost if something goes amiss with local systems.

"There is a common misconception that when [collections] are digitized, it's forever," said Andrea Cahoon, director of the Ringwood Library.

Hosting collections through the NJDH would provide that safekeeping, said Langschied.

The NJDH is launching the starter kit effort at a time where interest is high in digitizing historical collections. More than a dozen libraries in Bergen, Morris and Passaic counties have begun archiving projects to ensure that their town histories are preserved and easily accessible.

Aside from learning about the NJDH opportunity, the eight libraries - Ringwood, Pompton Lakes, Clifton, Caldwell, North Haledon, Little Falls, Bloomingdale and Paterson - met for a "show and tell" of their projects and swap ideas.

For administrators of some libraries, who admitted their own collections had been sitting in boxes, becoming moldy, brittle, wrinkled and deteriorating, those ideas will spur further projects for the historical collections.

Patty Perugino, assistant director of Bloomingdale's public library, says she did not have digitization in mind when starting her archiving project, noted it is something that could be possible in the next three to five years.

E-mail: weinberger@northjersey.com

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Jon Scieszka at Newark P. L.

The NJ Center for the Book is holding a day long symposium for school and public librarians, educators and parents entitled Showcasing Information Literacies: New Dimensions 2008, to be held at the Newark Public Library on Wednesday, October 22nd, from 9:00am to 3:00pm. The day of workshops and teaching enhancements will conclude with a lecture by Jon Scieszka, the Library of Congress National Youth Ambassador, introduced by Dr. John Cole of the Library of Congress. A gala reception and book signing will end the day.

The Second Miss Rumphius Award will also be presented.
Door prizes will be presented, including a laptop and a Kindle. Parking, a continental breakfast and a hot and cold luncheon buffet will be provided as part of the registration fee.

Registration information can be found on the NJCFB website at http://www.njcenterforthebook.org

I presented last year at the NJ Center for the Book's Stellar Science Spectacular held at Liberty Science Center and really enjoyed all the programs. I'll be at Newark P.L.'s event this year displaying and answering questions about manga. Try to come if you can!

Sharon Rawlins
Youth Services Consultant
NJ State Library

Posted by rawlins at 10:36 AM | Comments (0)
Category: Children's Services NJ Association of School Librarians Young Adult Services

August 21, 2008

Library keeps its freedom, for now

Lambertville council nixes November ballot question
Thursday, August 21, 2008
BY CURT YESKE
Special to the Times of Trenton
LAMBERTVILLE -- The city's free public library will retain its in dependence for at least another year.

The city council decided this week not to place a question on the November ballot that could strip the library of the independent status it has had for 82 years.

Last year, supporters of the library waged a hard-fought campaign and defeated a ballot question aimed at removing its inde pendence and making it part of the city administration.

At issue is the tax revenue used to support the library. By state law, the city must pay the library a sum equal to one third of a mill of assessable property in the community each year. In 2007, that amounted to slightly more than $243,000.

Mayor David DelVecchio contends that mandatory funding will jeopardize the city's finances be cause a state law limits tax increases to 4 percent.

Although nothing was said publicly, discussions have been going on behind closed doors that could result in the library board agreeing to allocate part of its surplus to the city. Such transfers, although complicated, are legal through a new state law passed last spring.

The library, after decades of having relatively meager revenues from taxes, has seen its income grow as property values in the city have soared in the past several years. It has a surplus of at least $170,000.

At one point in the meeting, a small but vocal contingent in support of the library started to get into a heated argument with Councilwoman Cindy Ege, a harsh critic of the library, before DelVecchio restored order.

"The voters have (already) spoken," said Abraham Leibson in calling for the council to vote against the ballot question.

Councilman Ward Sanders, who was not on the council last year, wanted to postpone a ballot question for a year, which would allow the dust to settle from the argu ments, provide time to review some of the criticism aimed at the library, and resolve the question of the future of state aid to the city.

Sanders said his family has had satisfactory experiences at the library and that he liked the "small- town feeling about it." He said he has been speaking with townspeople and library supporters in an attempt to assess the situation and he questioned whether changing the library's status would affect the amount of taxes paid by city residents.

Councilman Ron Pittore called for a compromise rather than the ballot question.

DelVecchio responded to an audience member who asked how many times the issue was going to be on the ballot by saying he was prepared to cope with the voters' decision last year, but since then state budget proposals have raised the issue of eliminating aid to small towns. This forced the city to start revamping its budget structure, he said, which included taking another look at the library's tax- based funding.

At a public hearing on the budget last week, the mayor spent about a half hour reviewing cost- saving efforts the city was making on its own as well as making service-sharing agreements with other municipalities.

A second question, on whether to extend the city's Open Space Tax, was approved unanimously and is headed for the November ballot.

The tax of two cents per $100 of assessed value of a property is scheduled to expire in 2010. DelVecchio said the funds would be used to acquire about seven acres of land on Music Mountain that otherwise could potentially be developed for housing.

DelVecchio has said if the acqui sitions were completed, the entire steep hillside and the ridge line in an area from Buttonwood Street to York Street would remain as woodlands.

The tax was previously used to acquire other tracts in the same area, including those behind the elementary school and the recreation complex, both on North Main Street.

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August 18, 2008

New three-room 'Teen Center'

Program opens at Miller Branch Library next weekend

Hudson Reporter
Ricardo Kaulessar
Reporter staff writer 08/15/2008

MORE THAN A LIBRARY – The second floor of Jersey City Free Public Library’s Miller Branch, located on Bergen Avenue, has three rooms set aside for the new MBL Teen Center, opening Aug. 23.
When Reneé Moody was a teenager in Jersey City in the 1970s, she had a special place to hang out.

"It was called the Teen Post on Bergen Avenue and Forrest Street, and it was where teens went after school to hang out with our friends," Moody said.

Now Moody, as an adult, is opening a structured, safe haven for today's teenagers.

The MBL Teen Center is scheduled to open next Saturday, Aug. 23, at the Miller Branch Library of the Jersey City Free Public Library system on Bergen Avenue, where Moody is the branch manager.

The center will have three rooms on the second floor: a computer room where teens can play educational games, a room for doing homework and for studying, and a third room for performances, lectures, and educational programs.

The center came out of Moody's conversations with parents who visit the library and lament about not enough places in the community for their teenage sons and daughters to engage in productive activities.

She also cited the alarming number of pregnant teen mothers she sees in Jersey City.

"I wanted to give the teenagers in the area a space to learn but also have fun," said Moody, who is also the mother of a teenage daughter. "If they don't have a place where can they find structure, they will engage in negative activities."

50 to 60 teens in library

The center is for the use of teens ages 13 to 18. It will be open during library hours except during the school year, when the center will be open only after school closes.

Moody said that at the most, about 50 to 60 teens use the library on any given day.

The center is financed through the Public Library's Young Adults grant, but the library will pursue other grants in the future to maintain the center.

'My space, your space, our space'

The teen center, while created by an adult, will see much of its input and operation from the young adults for whom it is intended.

According to Moody, there will be a Teen Advisory Board, or TAB, with TAB members responsible for developing rules to govern the Teen Center.

The board will be comprised of students that are achieving a B at school, or higher grade average. They will meet bi-weekly to discuss programs and ways to help others.

And there will be 11 ground rules for teens to follow in the center, including no cell phone use.

Job training for parents who volunteer

While Moody said teens are being sought for the advisory board, they are also looking for parents to volunteer their time to help out the center.

She said there will be benefits to the parents.

"Those parents who are not working, we look to help them identify and explore the skills they need to re-enter the workplace," Moody said. "I think parents and teens have to be open-minded and have some kind of bonding."

Moody said she has received nothing but "positive feedback" from the patrons and other people, both young and old, who have found out about the teen center.

Library Director Priscilla Gardner said, "I know without a doubt that this Teen Center will be successful and a beacon in Ward B and all Jersey City."

And Moody has gotten commitments from various local organizations such as Jersey City Coalition That Cares, Team Walker, and Free Teens wanting to use the space for teen-related programs.

She is also reaching out to the Jersey City Board of Education to let students of Lincoln High School, and Schools 12, 17 and 39, all in close proximity to the library, know about the new teen center.

Moody thinks the impact of the center will be immediate but lasting.

"The motto of the center will be 'My space, your space, our space' and we hope to see that everyone benefits," she said.

Comments on this story can be sent to rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com

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August 14, 2008

Plainsboro receives

The Times

Thursday, August 14, 2008
donation from Verizon for township library PLAINSBORO TOWNSHIP -- The township has received a dona tion from Verizon for the new Plainsboro Library. Mayor Peter Cantu recently accepted a $24,000 dona tion from Mark Bocchieri, Verizon's director of external affairs.

This is the first of two installments that will total $50,000. Through its fundraising campaign, "Leave a Legacy, Build a Library," Plainsboro has raised $1.4 million for the library under construction at the Village Center.

Plans for the library call for the construction of a three-story, 34,000-square-foot facility which will hold 125,000 volumes and provide informal reading areas, display space for art, study rooms, 40 computer stations, a children's section with a greatly expanded science/ computer center, a local-history room, administrative offices, storage space, and community meeting rooms. Situated at the head of Market Square, with its expansive village green, the new site offers a venue for the library's indoor and outdoor community-based
programs.

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August 13, 2008

No ballot question set on library

By Keith Brown • COASTAL MONMOUTH BUREAU • August 13, 2008

TINTON FALLS — Residents will not see a ballot initiative asking whether the town should build a new library — at least not yet.

While the results are in on a state grant-funded feasibility study that the library's board of trustees and other supporters commissioned more than a year ago, the Borough Council is still mulling over the report, which was received earlier this month.

The study was received just a week before the deadline to put a question on the November ballot. Council members said at their Aug. 5 meeting that time line was too tight — a decision that was backed by library supporters.

"We're not eager to go to a referendum — at least not at this point," said Linda Zucaro, president of the library's board of trustees.

A presentation by Somerville-based Dennis Kowal Architects, the study's authors, will be scheduled for later this year, according to Council President Brendan Tobin.

Councilman Michael Skudera said the cost of the library, according to the study, was around $7 million.

The recommended size of a new library is around 27,000 square feet, roughly 10,000 square feet smaller than the borough hall. The current library is about 4,000 square feet.

The site of the new library also is an unanswered question. Library supporters would like it to be near the borough hall. Current plans for the redevelopment of Fort Monmouth place the library on that property.

"We would like it either on the borough site, which would be our preference," Zucaro said, "or on the Fort Monmouth site, which is the mayor's wish."

The library study was paid for by a $25,000 state grant.

The library, which has occupied the same space since 1961, last year lent out 70,000 items to the borough's more than 17,000 residents. Library use since 2001 has increased 63 percent. The library receives well more than 100 visitors each day and has accommodated up to 400, according to Rosemarie Tunnicliffe, library director.

The donated house that serves as the library has long since run out of storage space. Its only two Internet-connected computers are so in demand that staff has set a 20-minute time limit per person on each, and its burgeoning children's summer-reading program routinely has to be held outside — weather permitting — under a borough-donated tent for lack of space inside.

Keith Brown: (732) 643-4076 or kbrown@app.com

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August 12, 2008

The checkout is in the mail: Library adds to reach

By KRISTY DAVIES • Courier-Post Staff • August 12, 2008

Gloucester County residents no longer have to trek to the library for the books they need or want to read.

The MailLit program, funded by a grant from the South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative and the Gloucester County Library System, was launched June 16.

Library-card-holding residents can now have books, CDs, audiobooks and DVDs mailed to them at no charge. They can then drop the items off at the nearest branch of the GCLS or pay the postage to mail them back in a provided envelope.

"We are always looking at innovative ways to provide library services," said Nancy Polhamus, spokeswoman for the GCLS.

As of Friday, they have mailed out 626 packages to residents.

The MailLit program is available to residents who hold a card from any of the Gloucester County Library System branches or affiliated libraries -- Mullica Hill, Glassboro, Greenwich, Logan, Swedesboro, East Greenwich and Newfield. It also includes communities that don't have libraries, such as Clayton and Elk, Polhamus said.

The Burlington County Library System launched a similar program, "Library in a Bag," at the same time after receiving the same grant from the SJRLC.

The Camden County Library currently does not offer the program, but is considering it after the results are released from the pilot program offered by the other two counties. The Cherry Hill library, serving one of the largest communities in Camden County, does not see a need for such a program.

"Cherry Hill members love to come to the library," said Katie Hardesty, spokeswoman for the Cherry Hill Library. "We're really a destination for people because we have so much going on at our location. We really haven't received any requests for a mailing program."

To use the MailLit program, residents can go online and when placing a book on hold, they can select which library branch to pick it up at or "mail."

"When the item is placed on hold, it is mailed by the end of the next day and usually arrives the following day," Polhamus said.

The MailLit program has many advantages, Polhamus said.

"If you're waiting for one of the latest best sellers instead of having it sit and wait for you, we can just mail it," she said. "This eliminates the problem of having books waiting on hold for people to pick up. At this time or year, there are a lot of kids going back to school in September that have reading requirements and are requesting books."

Since Gloucester County has rural areas, the MailLit program can prove to be a great asset to residents who have to drive any distance to their nearest library branch.

"The feedback is very positive," Polhamus added. "We've had a couple of people comment that it saves them a trip and a couple of people have mentioned the high price of gas. It's a couple more miles they don't have to drive when trying to consolidate."

Reach Kristy Davies at (856) 486-2917 or krdavies@camden.gannett.com

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Westville Library limps to expansion

By JEREMY ROSEN • Courier-Post Staff • August 12, 2008

WESTVILLE — Early stages of construction on the library expansion here continue, while borough struggles with building permits have caused a bit of a delay.

Administrator William J. Bittner Jr. said the $360,000 project, for which construction started in late June, will be done by mid-October, and the outstanding permits should be shored up by Tuesday.

Bob Kunkle of Woodbury City's construction department, which administers permits for this project, said he received papers Monday afternoon from the library's architect that will "hopefully be right."

"If it's correct, we'll issue a full permit," he said.

With foundation and footing permits previously granted for the project, contractors worked Monday on the foundation of the approximately 1,000-square-foot addition.

But they cannot yet renovate the existing 1,356-square-foot library's interior or build any more of the addition until plumbing and other structural permits are granted, Bittner said. Permit problems have changed the project's plans by disallowing a second bathroom to be built, because it would not have been handicapped-accessible, he said.

Inside the closed library on Monday, shelves were covered in plastic and library employees, who are excited the expansion is finally coming to fruition, said they were somewhat stressed about the permit problems that have delayed the project two weeks.

"We haven't been able to do the shelf weeding and database cleanup we've needed to while it's closed," librarian Mary Ward said.

Ward said library board members have been meeting to decide about how to designate storage inside the expanded library, which was a major reason the project had been fought for over the past three years.

Library director Gwen Carotenuto said the library will likely open at the beginning of November, after construction and setup are finished, and feature an enlarged children's section, more public computers, a larger, more private student tutoring area, more storage and increased program capacity.

The expansion of the library, which is attached to the municipal building at 1035 Broadway, was funded for by $45,000 in local money, a $45,000 state library grant, a $100,000 Department of Community Affairs grant and a $140,000 private donation.

Longtime library trustee Grace Williams, who said she worked in 1972 on organizing the original library, admitted the last two to three years have been a struggle.

"We've worked hard to get it here," the 83-year-old said. "I hope I'll live to see the end of this."

Reach Jeremy Rosen at (856) 486-2456 or jrosen@camden.gannett.com

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August 11, 2008

Library funding may be on ballot

Lambertville voters may decide issue in the fall
Sunday, August 10, 2008
BY CURT YESKE
Special to the Times
LAMBERTVILLE -- Less than a year after the city council was defeated in a referendum in its effort to end the independent status of the community's free library, the issue is reemerging as election time nears and the municipality seeks to restructure its budget.

Whether a referendum will again be on the ballot depends on negotiations that are taking place between the library representatives and Mayor David DelVecchio. At issue is whether the library will transfer some of its entitled revenue to the city coffers, a concept that advocates of the library had broached last year.

The issue is a result of two clashing state laws. One obligates the city to annually pay the sum equal to one-third of a mill of every assessable property within the city. For last year, that amounted to slightly more than $243,000. But a state law capping municipal budget increases by 4 percent places the city in a financial bind, the council has argued. The city last year tried unsuccessfully to change the status of the library to that of a department of the municipal government, which would have given the council control of its budget.

DelVecchio has claimed that the current status of mandatory revenue for the library hamstrings the city's efforts to meet other rising operational costs.

People who are in a position to know about the negotiations say both sides are working on a specific amount of funds the library would transfer to the city's budget. If they reach an agreement, there would be no question on the ballot.

The council at its meeting last week seemed reluctant to proceed with the necessary vote to get the question on the ballot for November. If the negotiations are not finalized it is likely the council will vote at its Aug. 18 meeting to have voters decide the issue again.

Another issue for voters to decide is whether the city should extend its open space tax. The proposal is for the city to acquire between six and seven acres of land on Music Mountain that could po tentially be developed for housing.

DelVecchio said if the acquisi tions were completed, the entire steep hillside and the ridge line in an area from the Buttonwood Street to York Street would remain as woodlands.

The tax was used previously to acquire large properties along the hillside, including behind the elementary school and the recreation complex, both on North Main Street.

The mayor said it is not a proposed increase in the amount of the tax but an extension of the levy until the acquisitions are paid off. If the voters approve the non-binding proposal, the city would then seek private and public grants to help fi nance the transaction.

The tax is 2 cents per $100 of assessed value of a property and is scheduled to expire in 2010.

While the city continues to study the economic benefits of a merger of its police department with its neighboring communities, it has reached an agreement with West Amwell to share the services of a tax assessor.

DelVecchio said it is another step with several to come as the city restructures its budget as a re sult of the state's 4 percent cap on spending. He estimated the move would save the city about $7,500 a year. "That may not be a great amount, but it is $7,500 we don't have to get from taxes," said the mayor.

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August 8, 2008

Library items 'in the bag'

Aug. 7 Maple Shade Progress.com

By Sean Patrick Murphy; Staff Writer
The Maple Shade Library has just added a new dimension to its services: folks can borrow items by mail.Mike Bennett, branch manager of Maple Shade Public Library, said "Library in a Bag" is a new pilot project that started in June.

The program, which is becoming very popular, is open to all Burlington County card holders in good standing.

Borrowers can request items in person, by phone or online.

Bennett said they try to mail two business days from time of request.

AdvertisementUsers can return items in the bag and pay for postage or in person to any of the 16 libraries in Burlington County.

"We hope that as this gets disseminated people will say, 'Oh, I don't have to go fill up my car with gas - I can request this and it will come as close as my mailbox,'" Bennett said.

He said due dates will be included in the bag and are the same as items normally checked out in person.

Sarah Thomson is Extension Services Librarian and Project Supervisor for "Library in a Bag."

She said the county-wide library system received a grant from the South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative.

"We were very excited by the idea," Thomson said. "Many of our long time customers find it difficult to get to a library either because they work long hours out of the area, are care-givers for family members, have child care issues, are disabled themselves, or are just plain busy."

The county mailed 313 items in June, and just over 1,000 items (or more than 400 packages) in July.

Any library customer can place a hold on an item from any computer in one of the library branches, or from their home or office. They simply choose "mail," instead of "Maple Shade," when prompted for a pickup location.

The item then is pulled from the shelf and sent to the "Library in a Bag" area for mailing.

"We named the program, designed a logo, and purchased teal nylon bags with the logo on them for mailing, as well as padded paper bags, and rigid bags for DVDs," Thomson said.

The grant year for the program runs through June 30, 2009.

"If we are 'successful,' we could receive half as much money for a second year ending June 30, 2010," Thomson said. "We are feeling pretty successful so far."

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Business owners can once again access NJKI

Aug. 8, 2008

TRENTON —With the inclusion of $2 million in the fiscal year 2009 state budget, New Jersey small business owners and entrepreneurs can, once again, tap into the New Jersey Knowledge Initiative, or NJKI, and access free market research data and analysis, industry news, sales leads and hundreds of thousands of peer-reviewed journals and magazines.

The New Jersey State Library's state-funded program is available to New Jersey library card holders through their local library Web site or by going to www.njki.org.

"We are very happy to be able to resume this important resource for our small business community," said Norma Blake, New Jersey State Librarian and Library Journal's Librarian of the Year, who initiated the program in 2005. "This level of funding will allow us to continue to make available the most used and valued general business databases of our customers, such as ReferenceUSA, Academic Search Premier, and Frost and Sullivan marketing reports."

The NJKI Task Force, composed of librarians from many types of libraries, as well as representatives of the government and the business sector, will begin selecting additional business resources to be offered remotely. Later on, if alternate funding sources are found, the NJKI Task Force may supplement NJKI with subsidized information resources, as needed, particularly in the biotechnology fields.

More information is available by visiting www.njki.org or by writing to Kathi Moeller-Peiffer, Associate State Librarian, at kpeiffer@njstatelib.org.

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August 5, 2008

Burlington County Library offers home delivery

By CAROL COMEGNO • Courier-Post Staff • August 5, 2008

WESTAMPTON — Getting a book from a library usually means a trip there, but the Burlington County Library is now in the mail order business as well.

The library initiated free home delivery service this summer with its new "Library in a Bag" program. Gloucester County is the only other county library offering materials using this mail program.

Gail Sweet, Burlington County Library director, said there has been a tremendous response from the public already.

Since the startup in June, she said the library has sent out more than 400 packages that have included books, CDs and DVDs.

"We thought DVDs would be the most requested. They weren't. It was books," she said. "Despite what many believe, books are still popular. I think people just still enjoy curling up with a book."

She said mail-order customers range from young to old and from the homebound to people who just have busy schedules or who do not want to drive.

She said the county library is using part of a $50,000 grant from the state library and the South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative to pay for the nylon bags and for the postage to mail them. The patron must either pay the return postage or deliver the books to one of library's 19 branches.

"Think Netflix. We'll mail you what you request -- books, DVDs, whatever. You can return the items by mail or drop them off at a library branch," said Sweet, referring to the mail-order company that sends customers DVD movies.

She said the library user must be a county resident with a library card in good standing.

Sweet said one of the most popular books ordered in a bag by women this summer is "Stori Telling," the new autobiography by actress Tori Spelling.

Peter Jaskolowski of Riverside is a library user who is using the service and finding it convenient.

"The Riverside library has restricted hours and my business hours are also restricted, so this is a great service," said Jaskolowski, 55.

He said he started using it immediately after spotting a notice about it on the library's Web site.

So far he said he has received five book-in-a-bag deliveries, requesting mainly history books and also some travel DVDs about Scandinavia and Russia.

He said he generally gets his order in two days and that his latest, "The Homefront: America During World War II," arrived Thursday.

The county still has its bookmobile that visits nursing homes and selected housing developments with lots of children, but Sweet said the bookmobile cannot go house to house.

Reach Carol Comegno at (609) 267-9486 or ccomegno@courierpostonline.com

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August 4, 2008

Library: More are flocking to shelves

Gloucester County Times

Monday, August 04, 2008
By Lucas K. Murray
lmurray@sjnewsco.com
With gas prices as high as they've ever been and more people feeling the crunch of a faltering economy, employees of the Gloucester County Library System are seeing more and more new faces among the stacks of books, periodicals and electronic media.

"We're issuing more and more cards each month to people who haven't had them before," said Robert Wetherall, director of the library's Mullica Hill branch. "Last month we handed out over 500 new cards."

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He called the summer of 2008 one of the most successful the library has ever seen, estimating circulation of materials and participation in summer reading programs up as high as twelve percent in most of the system's seven locations.

"It's my guess the cost of gas and the economy and all are attributing to that. We see a lot of people in here every day with their kids in the summer," Wetherall said. "I'm seeing the increase in all of our branches, not just here."

The American Library Association commissioned a study that covered usage from January 1997 to December 2001. That period included a recession and the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, DC.

"This data confirms what librarians have seen from experience that in times of economic difficulties, people turn to their libraries and librarians," Association President John Berry said in a statement.

Wetherall said a normal summer month will see 300 new library cards issued, in addition to renewals.

The library has seen some success for its patrons who don't even have to leave the house to reap the benefits found at the system's seven branches. Just six weeks into its MailLit program, more than 700 items have been sent out in 528 packages all at no cost thanks to a grant from the South Jersey Library Cooperative.

The service saves readers the hassle of driving to the library to pick up items. Cardholders can reserve books online and have them delivered by mail. Their only responsibility is to return them on time.

Through June the system saw circulation increase from approximately 273,000 items checked out to 300,000. That includes DVDs and compact discs in addition to books.

"We're seeing more people coming in for community-oriented programs," Wetherall said. "It's a very busy year for us, and of course, we like to be busy."

Gloucester County Libraries offer various programs throughout the year, but during the summer months, more classes and reading groups are available for youngsters.

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Jerry Winslow has been running the children's programs at the Logan Branch for the past three summers. When she came on board in 2006, only 142 young people signed up for summer programs.

That figure jumped to 207 last summer and to this year's figure of 283. It's double what she started with three years ago.

"More people are staying around," Winslow said. "Before they were reluctant to sign up because they were away on vacations or shore trips, so they're around a little bit more."

Storytime for younger children is held four times a week. She said more and more often young people who are not quite children, but not yet teenagers are walking among the library's stacks.

"With the computers, the kids are here all day long using them, looking for Web sites," Winslow said. "A lot of them use it to listen to the music we have available here."

Still, when working with the children of the community, Winslow finds special enjoyment in the way books and reading enhances the lives of young people.

"The more kids we have the more fun we have," Winslow said. "When we have 20 kids in here and we're bumping into each other doing the hokey pokey that's when it's most fun. They entertain each other."

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