After a slightly hesitant start
as an independent association
library, the Middletown
Township Library appeared
almost as a full-grown entity in
June 1921 – full-grown in the
sense that its form and structure
in 1921 continued almost until
1954. A referendum held in 1920
was approved, and Middletown
had a municipal library to provide
services to the fewer than 6,000
residents of the nearly 40-squaremile
sprawling township.
Service began in 1921 with
the Navesink Library, built in
1917 as a memorial to Herman
B. Duryea, as headquarters. The Middletown Library, housed in the former
Franklin Academy on Kings Highway, was designated a branch. In
addition, stations were located throughout the township, and a Model
truck, in various incarnations (Model A, 1938 Dodge) served the community
until 1942, when it succumbed to war-time gas rationing. The
stations continued to operate almost continuously until 1954, with a
few lasting even longer. Middletown provided a pioneering model for
rural library service nearly two years before Monmouth County voters,
including those in Middletown, approved the establishment of a county
library. The stations at New Monmouth, Heddens Corners and Hillside
had closed by 1927, but the others – Belford, East Keansburg, Everett,
Leonardo, Lincroft, Port Monmouth, Red Hill and River Plaza – all continued
into the 1950s. Locations changed. They may have been in com-
persisted. In 1931, River Plaza attained branch status and retained it
until 1949, when the library moved to the school.
In 1942, the Middletown Library was moved from the Academy to
the basement of the old township hall, where it remained until 1959. In
1959, the township acquired the former telephone company building
on Kings Highway, and early in 1960, the 3,600-square-foot building
opened as the main library of Middletown Township. With this opening,
the three remaining stations at River Plaza, Lincroft and East Keansburg
were phased out, leaving only Middletown and Navesink. It soon became
obvious that while the Kings Highway building was a vast improvement
over the town hall basement, it was only a temporary solution.
26 MAY 2021 | TheJournalNJ.com
Middletown’s population, which
had grown to more than 16,000 by
1950, was nearly 40,000 in 1960.
In the ensuing six years of site
searching and discussion of funding,
the library had to contend with
steadily increasing circulation, a
growing collection and inelastic
was storage of books outside the library.
Space which could be leased
reasonably was found in a building
in Port Monmouth. From this
storage space the Port Monmouth
Branch (later renamed Bayshore)
evolved, opening for service in
June 1966. Recognizing that
branch services should be resumed, the Board of Trustees determined that
Lincroft, the most remote unserved portion of the township, should be
and service began in November 1966. In 1968, the climate changed with
the township acquiring a 13-acre property at New Monmouth and Tindall
Roads. Five acres, fronting on New Monmouth Road, were allocated to the
library. The Township Committee adopted a $750,000 bonding ordinance
in 1969. The elusive $50,000 federal grant that the Board had despaired
of obtaining became instead $107,000. Ground was broken in fall 1969.
In May 1971, the building was opened to the public. By this time the
library was extending services to a population of nearly 55,000. A Friends
of the Library group, organized to work toward the new library, began
book sales which became annual events. In the 70s, rising energy costs
-
munity’s. The library continued to buy books and to provide services, but
clearly with hope of better times ahead. Through the 1980s, the library
continued to grow and expand the services at its headquarters on New
Monmouth Road and three branches: Lincroft, Bayshore and Navesink.
In the 1990s, the library entered the electronics age with a computerized
catalogue and CD data bases for general interest, health and
business periodicals. The children’s department offered story hours and
-
sues and business subjects, as well as art exhibits and special afternoon
programs. The library was renovated in 2005, adding additional space for
materials and programs. The library has many online resources and now
has a web presence on Facebook, Twitter and Flickr.
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