About the New Brunswick Free Public Library

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NEW BRUNSWICK FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY

In its historic building, the library strives to give personalized, quality service to the community while adopting the computerized information tools of this century. The New Brunswick Free Public Library traces its roots back to the 1796 Union Library Company. The present library, incorporated in 1890, has been serving the community for a century from its Carnegie building on Livingston Avenue. The library was expanded in 1990 with the addition of a

larger Reference Room and a Community Meeting Room. In 1994, the Children’s Room was expanded and a Story Hour Room was added. A new elevator completed in 2002 provides handicapped access to multiple levels of the library and added convenience for seniors and others discouraged by stairs. The library is administered by a professional staff of ten under the direction of the Library’s Board of Trustees. Open in the evening and on Saturdays throughout the year, the library is also open most Sundays between September and May. Library users can also telephone the library with questions.

The Library stresses service to all but especially service to children and teenagers. The Children’s Room offers a variety of programs including story hours and a summer reading program. There is also a growing service to teenagers including a homework center and a collection of books specially geared to the interests of teenagers. Visits to the Library by classes, day care groups, scout troops or other groups can be arranged by calling either the Children’s or Young Adult Librarians.

The Library is becoming an electronic doorway to the information highway while still having 80,000 books, over 200 periodicals, and over one thousand videotapes. Besides the thousands of reference books, the reference collection includes reproducible tax forms and on-line databases. Besides EBSCO MasterFile™, a full-text periodical database, the Library also has the New York Times on microfilm from 1851 onwards and the New Brunswick newspapers including the Home News from 1783 until today. An extensive New Brunswick collection includes maps, reproducible pictures, slides, and pamphlets from New Brunswick and the surrounding communities.

A heavily used service of the Library is its meeting room where non-profit organizations can hold public meetings. Substantial use of the meeting room requires that interested organizations request the room as early as possible. To book the room, call 732-745-5108 x28. To learn more about our meeting rooms click here.

The Library is a member of the Libraries of Middlesex Automation Consortium. Using the computer terminals located in the Library, you can locate books both in our library, in most surrounding public libraries, and even at libraries as far away as Hawaii. Almost any of these books can be sent to the Library within days. If speed is essential, you may go to one of the libraries with which we maintain reciprocal borrowing. These include LmXac, MURAL libraries (an agreement that covers most public libraries in Middlesex and Union County), the Raritan Valley Federation of Municipal Libraries, and other open borrowing participating libraries. For a complete list of libraries, please contact the library at: 732.745.5108 x25.

A key aspect of any library is the quality of the service. The Library staff strives to give patrons friendly and professional service so each patron leaves the library with what they wanted and feeling their tax dollars are well spent.

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HENRY GUEST HOUSE

In 1755, Henry Guest, who had a flourishing tannery somewhere between Commercial Avenue and Schulyer Streets, bought two and a half acres on the corner of Livingston Avenue and Carroll Place (New Street) in New Brunswick. Five years later, Guest built a sandstone house in which he and his family lived until his death in 1815.

In 1817, it was advertised for sale as, “One of the best stone houses in the State of New Jersey.” A century after Henry Guest, the house was in imminent danger of being demolished. In 1924, this stone building was moved up Livingston Avenue to its present location next to the New Brunswick Free Public Library.

Henry Guest said, “If his descendants would only keep a roof on it, the house would stand till Gabriel blew his trumpet.” However, over the years, the roof and other parts of the building did deteriorate. In 1992, the City of New Brunswick and the New Jersey State Historic Trust funded a major exterior renovation to the Guest House. A new roof, repainting of the mortar, and other repairs checked the decline of this historic house. The Guest House is now being used for displays, art shows, and meeting rooms.