Residents Protest Plan To Relocate Clara Barton Library In Edison

EDISON, NJ — Residents of the Clara Barton neighborhood in Edison held a protest on Tuesday over the township’s plan to relocate the local branch of the public library.

Back in September, Mayor Sam Joshi announced that the Clara Barton Library branch will be converted into a special needs recreation and programming center. The plan is to service the Clara Barton area with a bookmobile and then move the branch to a rental space on Amboy Avenue. More: New Special Needs Programming Center Coming To Edison

However, residents said Joshi approved the plan without any input from residents.

During the Dec. 28 council meeting, many residents voiced their concerns over the library being repurposed.

“The people who were most impacted were not told anything at all about it. And that really hurts as a member of the Clara Barton community,” the resident told Council.

“Slowly but surely all the community things in my area are being taken away.”

Another resident of the neighborhood told Council they heard about the library branch relocation from the news and not from the township.

The resident told Council the plan was ill-conceived and requested officials to save the library.

“This is a big township. If we can find a place for a library, we can find a place for a learning center,” a resident told Council.

“I’m not suggesting a special needs program isn’t a great idea. But why there needs to be a tradeoff?”

Meanwhile, Joshi has called for a community meeting to discuss the proposed move on Jan. 12, 7 p.m. at the Clara Barton Library.

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