Elizabeth Public Library: Difference between revisions

	Mid-Town Historic District
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	U.S. Historic district; Contributing property
	New Jersey Register of Historic Places
Coordinates	40°39′42″N 74°12′55″W / 40.661539°N 74.215199°W
NRHP reference No.	95001143
NJRHP No.	2665
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	October 5, 1995
Designated NJRHP	September 29, 1994

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The Main Library undergoing renovations in Fall 2011

The Elizabeth Public Library is the free public library of Elizabeth, New Jersey. Serving a population of approximately 127,558, its collection contains 342,305 volumes, circulating 190,581 items annually^[1] from its four locations.^[2]

Locations

Main Library - 11 South Broad Street
LaCorte Branch Library - 408 Palmer Street
Elmora Branch Library - 730 W. Grand Street
Elizabethport Branch Library - 102-110 Third Street

Carnegie library building

Elizabeth's Main Library was built during the "free library movement" at the turn of the 20th century in part with the impetus of Charles N. Fowler,^[4] US Congressman from Union County. It is one of New Jersey's original thirty-six Carnegie libraries, which by the 1940s had become one of the busiest libraries of its size in the USA.^[5] Records show that millionaire Andrew Carnegie granted $130,810 made February 3, 1910, for the main and no longer existing Liberty Plaza branch libraries.^[6]^[7] Opened in 1912, the building, reminiscent of an Italian palazzo and the Boston Public Library was designed by Edward Lippincott Tilton,^[8] who had designed many other Carnegie libraries as well as the immigration station at Ellis Island. It is a contributing property to the Midtown Historic District, a state and federal historic district established in 1994–1995.^[3] The Main Library is the Federal Depository Library for Union County.

References

^ "Elizabeth Public Library". librarytechnology.org. September 21, 2011. Archived from the original on November 25, 2012. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
^ "Libraries". Visiting Elizabeth Attractions. City of Elizabeth. Archived from the original on October 12, 2011. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
^ ^a ^b "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places - Union County" (PDF). NJ DEP - Historic Preservation Office. September 6, 2011. p. 19. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 24, 2012. Retrieved October 8, 2011.
^ "Libraries in New Jersey Growth of the Movement for the Free Circulation of Books" (PDF), The New York Times, December 16, 1900
^ Rizzo, Joe (with Ellen (January 12, 2003), "My Job; Coming to the Rescue of Run-Down Libraries", The New York Times, archived from the original on March 6, 2016, retrieved October 3, 2011, One project I'm especially proud of is the Elizabeth Public Library, also in New Jersey. At the turn of the last century, Andrew Carnegie was benefactor to hundreds of libraries in the United States, and this is a Carnegie library. In the 1940s, it was one of the busiest libraries in the country for its size. But by the 1960s, with the shift to suburban development, circulation had seriously declined. In the 1990s, the city brought in a new librarian. He hired me to bring the building up to date. It hadn't been significantly renovated since the early 1960s. The carpets were ripped, the furniture was ancient and the roof was leaking. Some of the book collections hadn't been updated in more than 50 years. My team and I built a 2,000-square-foot room at the front of the building. There, we assembled the library's media collections, which had previously been kept out of sight: videotapes, audiotapes and CD's. We put these on prominent display in the new room. People loved it; circulation went way up. We also moved the children's area to the ground floor of the library. It had been next to the reference room, up a gigantic flight of stairs. Imagine all those noisy children next to people studying, or a mother having to push a stroller up all those stairs. The changes were a huge success. On the day of the dedication, one of the patrons came over to me and said, You gave us back our old library -- and gave us a new one.
^ Bobinski, George S. (1969). Carnegie Libraries: Their History and Impact on American Public Library Development. Chicago: American Library Association. ISBN 0-8389-0022-4.
^ Jones, Theodore (1997). Carnegie Libraries Across America. New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-14422-3.
^ Slyck, Abigail A. (July 20, 1998), Free to All Carnegie Libraries & American Culture, 1890-1920, University of Chicago Press, ISBN 978-0-226-85032-0

External links

This New Jersey–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This article about a library-related building or structure is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] "Elizabeth Public Library". librarytechnology.org. September 21, 2011. Archived from the original on November 25, 2012. Retrieved October 6, 2011.

[2] "Libraries". Visiting Elizabeth Attractions. City of Elizabeth. Archived from the original on October 12, 2011. Retrieved October 7, 2011.

[NJRHP-3] "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places - Union County" (PDF). NJ DEP - Historic Preservation Office. September 6, 2011. p. 19. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 24, 2012. Retrieved October 8, 2011.

[4] "Libraries in New Jersey Growth of the Movement for the Free Circulation of Books" (PDF), The New York Times, December 16, 1900

[rescue-5] Rizzo, Joe (with Ellen (January 12, 2003), "My Job; Coming to the Rescue of Run-Down Libraries", The New York Times, archived from the original on March 6, 2016, retrieved October 3, 2011, One project I'm especially proud of is the Elizabeth Public Library, also in New Jersey. At the turn of the last century, Andrew Carnegie was benefactor to hundreds of libraries in the United States, and this is a Carnegie library. In the 1940s, it was one of the busiest libraries in the country for its size. But by the 1960s, with the shift to suburban development, circulation had seriously declined. In the 1990s, the city brought in a new librarian. He hired me to bring the building up to date. It hadn't been significantly renovated since the early 1960s. The carpets were ripped, the furniture was ancient and the roof was leaking. Some of the book collections hadn't been updated in more than 50 years. My team and I built a 2,000-square-foot room at the front of the building. There, we assembled the library's media collections, which had previously been kept out of sight: videotapes, audiotapes and CD's. We put these on prominent display in the new room. People loved it; circulation went way up. We also moved the children's area to the ground floor of the library. It had been next to the reference room, up a gigantic flight of stairs. Imagine all those noisy children next to people studying, or a mother having to push a stroller up all those stairs. The changes were a huge success. On the day of the dedication, one of the patrons came over to me and said, You gave us back our old library -- and gave us a new one.

[6] Bobinski, George S. (1969). Carnegie Libraries: Their History and Impact on American Public Library Development. Chicago: American Library Association. ISBN 0-8389-0022-4.

[7] Jones, Theodore (1997). Carnegie Libraries Across America. New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-14422-3.

[8] Slyck, Abigail A. (July 20, 1998), Free to All Carnegie Libraries & American Culture, 1890-1920, University of Chicago Press, ISBN 978-0-226-85032-0

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
-[[Image:ElizabethPublicLibrary.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The Elizabeth Public Library, Main Library, under renovations in Fall, 2011]]
+[[Image:ElizabethPublicLibrary.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The Main Library undergoing renovations in Fall 2011]]
-The '''Elizabeth Public Library''' is the free [[public library]] of [[Elizabeth, New Jersey]]. Serving a population  of approximately 121,000, its collection contains 342,305 volumes, circulating 190,581 items annually.<ref>{{Cite web   | title = Elizabeth Public Library  | work =    | publisher = librarytechnology.org   | date = September 21, 2011   | url = http://www.librarytechnology.org/lwc-displaylibrary.pl?RC=6924  | accessdate = 2011-10-06}}</ref> from four locations.<ref>{{Cite web   | title = Libraries   | work = Visiting Elizabeth Attractions   | publisher = City of Elizabeth   | date =    | url = http://www.elizabethnj.org/libraries.html   | accessdate = 2011-10-07}}</ref>
+The '''Elizabeth Public Library''' is the free [[public library]] of [[Elizabeth, New Jersey]]. Serving a population  of approximately 127,558, its collection contains 342,305 volumes, circulating 190,581 items annually<ref>{{Cite web  | title = Elizabeth Public Library  | publisher = librarytechnology.org  | date = September 21, 2011  | url = http://www.librarytechnology.org/lwc-displaylibrary.pl?RC=6924  | access-date = 2011-10-06  | archive-date = November 25, 2012  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121125184705/http://www.librarytechnology.org/lwc-displaylibrary.pl?RC=6924  | url-status = live  }}</ref> from its four locations.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Libraries |work=Visiting Elizabeth Attractions |publisher=City of Elizabeth |url=http://www.elizabethnj.org/libraries.html |access-date=2011-10-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012053620/http://elizabethnj.org/libraries.html |archive-date=2011-10-12 }}</ref>
 ==Locations==
@@ Line 10: / Line 11: @@
 ==Carnegie library building==
+{{Infobox NRHP
-Elizabeth's Main Library was built during the "free library movement" at the [[turn of the century]] in part with the impetus of [[Charles N. Fowler]]<ref>{{Citation
+  | name = Mid-Town Historic District
+  | nocat = yes
+  | embed=
+  | nrhp_type = cp
+  | coordinates = {{coord|40.661539|-74.215199|region:US-NJ_type:landmark|display=inline, title}}
+  | locmapin = USA New Jersey Union County#New Jersey#USA
+  | added = October 5, 1995
+  | refnum = 95001143
+  | designated_other1_name = New Jersey Register of Historic Places
+  | designated_other1_abbr = NJRHP
+  | designated_other1_link = New Jersey Register of Historic Places
+  | designated_other1_date = September 29, 1994
+  | designated_other1_number = 2665<ref name=NJRHP/>
+  | designated_other1_num_position = bottom
+  | designated_other1_color = #ffc94b
+}}
+Elizabeth's Main Library was built during the "free library movement" at the turn of the 20th century in part with the impetus of [[Charles N. Fowler]],<ref>{{Citation
   | title = Libraries in New Jersey Growth of the Movement for the Free Circulation of Books
   | newspaper = The New York Times
   | date = December 16, 1900
-  | url = http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F50712F63F5911738DDDAF0994DA415B808CF1D3
+  | url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1900/12/16/102428486.pdf
+  }}</ref> US Congressman from [[Union County, New Jersey|Union County]]. It is one of  [[List of Carnegie libraries in New Jersey|New Jersey's original thirty-six Carnegie libraries]], which by the 1940s had become one of the busiest libraries of its size in the USA.<ref name = rescue>{{Citation   | last = Rizzo   | first = Joe (with Ellen   | title = My Job; Coming to the Rescue of Run-Down Libraries   | newspaper = The New York Times   | date = January 12, 2003   | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/12/business/my-job-coming-to-the-rescue-of-run-down-libraries.html?scp=1&sq=Carnegie%20library%20new%20jersey&st=cse   | access-date = 2011-10-03   | quote = One project I'm especially proud of is the Elizabeth Public Library, also in New Jersey. At the turn of the last century, Andrew Carnegie was benefactor to hundreds of libraries in the United States, and this is a Carnegie library. In the 1940s, it was one of the busiest libraries in the country for its size. But by the 1960s, with the shift to suburban development, circulation had seriously declined. In the 1990s, the city brought in a new librarian. He hired me to bring the building up to date. It hadn't been significantly renovated since the early 1960s. The carpets were ripped, the furniture was ancient and the roof was leaking. Some of the book collections hadn't been updated in more than 50 years. My team and I built a 2,000-square-foot room at the front of the building. There, we assembled the library's media collections, which had previously been kept out of sight: videotapes, audiotapes and CD's. We put these on prominent display in the new room. People loved it; circulation went way up. We also moved the children's area to the ground floor of the library. It had been next to the reference room, up a gigantic flight of stairs. Imagine all those noisy children next to people studying, or a mother having to push a stroller up all those stairs. The changes were a huge success. On the day of the dedication, one of the patrons came over to me and said, ''You gave us back our old library -- and gave us a new one.''   | archive-date = March 6, 2016   | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160306053429/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/12/business/my-job-coming-to-the-rescue-of-run-down-libraries.html?scp=1&sq=Carnegie%20library%20new%20jersey&st=cse   | url-status = live   }}</ref> Records show that millionaire [[Andrew Carnegie]] granted $130,810 made February 3, 1910, for the main and no longer existing Liberty Plaza branch libraries.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bobinski|first=George S.|title=Carnegie Libraries: Their History and Impact on American Public Library Development|publisher=American Library Association|location=Chicago|year=1969|isbn=0-8389-0022-4|ref=Bobinski}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Jones|first=Theodore|title=Carnegie Libraries Across America|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=New York|year=1997|isbn=0-471-14422-3|ref=Jones}}</ref> Opened in 1912, the building, reminiscent of an Italian [[palazzo]] and the [[Boston Public Library, McKim Building|Boston Public Library]] was designed by [[Edward Lippincott Tilton]],<ref>{{Citation   | last = Slyck   | first = Abigail A.   | title = Free to All Carnegie Libraries & American Culture, 1890-1920   | date = 20 July 1998 | publisher = University of Chicago Press   | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=p1QwcVZJ7pEC&dq=elizabeth+new+jersey+library&pg=PA91   | isbn = 978-0-226-85032-0}}</ref> who had designed many other [[Carnegie library|Carnegie libraries]] as well as the immigration station at [[Ellis Island]]. It is a [[contributing property]] to the [[Mid-Town Historic District (Elizabeth, New Jersey)|Midtown Historic District]], a state and federal [[historic district]] established in 1994–1995.<ref name=NJRHP>{{cite web | title=New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places - Union County | url=http://www.state.nj.us/dep/hpo/1identify/nrsr_lists/union.pdf | publisher=NJ DEP - Historic Preservation Office | page=19 | date=September 6, 2011 | access-date=2011-10-08 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024131125/http://www.state.nj.us/dep/hpo/1identify/nrsr_lists/union.pdf | archive-date=October 24, 2012 }}</ref> The Main Library is the [[Federal Depository Library Program|Federal Depository Library]] for Union County.
-  | accessdate =
-  | quote = }}</ref>, US Congressman from [[Union County, New Jersey|Union County]]. It is one of  [[List of Carnegie libraries in New Jersey|New Jersey's original thirty-six Carnegie libraries]], which by the 1940's had become one of the busiest libraries of its size in the USA.<ref name = rescue>{{Citation   | last = Rizzo   | first = Joe (with Ellen Rapp)   | title = My Job; Coming to the Rescue of Run-Down Libraries   | newspaper = The New York Times   | date = January 12, 2003   | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/12/business/my-job-coming-to-the-rescue-of-run-down-libraries.html?scp=1&sq=Carnegie%20library%20new%20jersey&st=cse   | accessdate = 2011-10-03   | quote = One project I'm especially proud of is the Elizabeth Public Library, also in New Jersey. At the turn of the last century, Andrew Carnegie was benefactor to hundreds of libraries in the United States, and this is a Carnegie library. In the 1940's, it was one of the busiest libraries in the country for its size. But by the 1960's, with the shift to suburban development, circulation had seriously declined. In the 1990's, the city brought in a new librarian. He hired me to bring the building up to date. It hadn't been significantly renovated since the early 1960's. The carpets were ripped, the furniture was ancient and the roof was leaking. Some of the book collections hadn't been updated in more than 50 years. My team and I built a 2,000-square-foot room at the front of the building. There, we assembled the library's media collections, which had previously been kept out of sight: videotapes, audiotapes and CD's. We put these on prominent display in the new room. People loved it; circulation went way up. We also moved the children's area to the ground floor of the library. It had been next to the reference room, up a gigantic flight of stairs. Imagine all those noisy children next to people studying, or a mother having to push a stroller up all those stairs. The changes were a huge success. On the day of the dedication, one of the patrons came over to me and said, ''You gave us back our old library -- and gave us a new one.''}}</ref> Records show that millionaire [[Andrew Carnegie]] granted $130,810 made February 3, 1910, for the main and no longer existing Liberty Plaza branch libraries.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bobinski|first=George S.|title=Carnegie Libraries: Their History and Impact on American Public Library Development|publisher=American Library Association|location=Chicago|date=1969|isbn=0838900224|ref=Bobinski}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Jones|first=Theodore|title=Carnegie Libraries Across America|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=New York|date=1997|isbn=0471144223|ref=Jones}}</ref> Opened in 1912, the building, reminiscent of an Italian [[palazzo]] and the [[Boston Public Library, McKim Building|Boston Public Library]] was designed by [[Edward Lippincott Tilton]],<ref>{{Citation   | last = Slyck   | first = Abigail A.   | title = Free to All Carnegie Libraries & American Culture, 1890-1920   | publisher = University of Chicago Press   | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=p1QwcVZJ7pEC&pg=PA91&dq=elizabeth+new+jersey+library&hl=en&ei=htiQTuDOEMmDOqa4uMsN&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=11&ved=0CGAQ6AEwCg#v=onepage&q=elizabeth%20new%20jersey%20library&f=false   | isbn = 9780226850320}}</ref> who had designed many other [[Carnegie library|Carnegie libraries]] as well as the immigration station at [[Ellis Island]]. It is [[contributing property]] to the [[Midtown Historic District]], a state and federal [[historic district]] established in 1994-1995.<ref name=NJRHP>{{cite web | title=New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places - Union County | url=http://www.state.nj.us/dep/hpo/1identify/nrsr_lists/union.pdf | publisher=NJ DEP - Historic Preservation Office | page=19 | date=September 6, 2011 | accessdate= 2011-10-08}}</ref>
 ==See also==
@@ Line 26: / Line 43: @@
 == External links ==
-*[http://www.elizpl.org/ Elizabeth Public Library]
+*{{Official website|http://www.elizpl.org/}}
 *[http://www.librarything.com/venue/31727 Library Thing]
+{{Elizabeth, New Jersey}}
-{{coord missing|United States}}
+{{Authority control}}
-[[Category:Elizabeth, New Jersey]]
+[[Category:Library buildings completed in 1912]]
+[[Category:Education in Elizabeth, New Jersey]]
 [[Category:Carnegie libraries in New Jersey]]
-[[Category:Visitor attractions in Union County, New Jersey]]
+[[Category:Tourist attractions in Union County, New Jersey]]
 [[Category:Beaux-Arts architecture in New Jersey]]
-[[Category:1912 architecture]]
+[[Category:Buildings and structures in Elizabeth, New Jersey]]
-[[Category:Education in Union County, New Jersey]]
+[[Category:1912 establishments in New Jersey]]
+[[Category:New Jersey Register of Historic Places]]
+[[Category:Historic district contributing properties in New Jersey]]
+{{NewJersey-stub}}
+{{Library-struct-stub}}