Neighbor News
Princeton Public Library to Celebrate Building Milestone
20th Anniversary of the Sands Library Building to be marked with exhibit, films, panel discussion
Princeton Public Library will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Sands Library Building with a photo exhibition and three events on April 24. Leslie Burger, interim director of the American Library Association and former Princeton Public Library executive director, will return to Princeton to participate in a panel discussion about the creation of the building.
“Many people new to Princeton assume that the library has always had a facility as magnificent as the Sands Library Building,” said Jennifer Podolsky, executive director. “When I was new here, I soon found out that wasn’t the case — that creating a new library for Princeton was actually a decades-long process to build public support, craft a vision and raise capital. We’re so happy to be welcoming some of the people who made this building a reality.”
Burger will be joined on the 7 p.m. panel by Harry Levine, former chair of the Princeton Public Library Board of Trustees, and Princeton architect Nicholas Garrison, who designed the Sands Library Building while working for Hillier Architecture. Tim Quinn, the library’s marketing and communications director since 2000, will lead the discussion. Library alumni and members of the public will be invited to share their thoughts following the panel discussion.
“Twenty-years ago, after years of discussion, Princeton’s residents reaffirmed their commitment to literacy, learning and community when they agreed to build a new library,” Burger said. “Since then, this library has more than exceeded expectations in terms of its annual use. More than a million people have visited, hundreds of thousands have attended engaging and entertaining programs, discussed issues important to the world and Princeton community, learned English, received job training and career advice, learned how to use computers and emerging technologies, taught their children to read or simply enjoyed sharing community space.”
As part of the celebration, the library will host a one-day exhibition, “It Was 20 Years Ago Today,” featuring photos of opening day by Cie Stroud from 1-9 p.m. in the Community Room.
“Many people remember the formal dedication of the Sands Library Building on May 15, 2004, but the actual opening on April 24 was much more of an organic event,” Quinn said. “I think we got the temporary certificate of occupancy a day or two before we opened. Social media didn’t really exist then, so the opening was mostly word-of-mouth. Still, we had a long line of people waiting to get in and word soon spread throughout town that we were open. Cie’s photos perfectly capture the sense of anticipation and excitement the community felt about the ‘new’ Princeton Public Library.”
Library staff member Anna Lewis will give a tour of Ik-Joong Kang’s “Happy World,” beginning at 5 p.m. One of the signature pieces of public art in the Sands Library Building, “Happy World” was a collaboration between the artist and the Princeton community, which contributed artifacts, some historically and culturally significant, to the mural. An interactive kiosk with details of many of the community contributions, will be reinstalled soon after the celebration.
At 6 p.m., library staff will blow out the candles on a cake from Delizioso Bakery Kitchen and show a series of short films by Lambertville filmmaker Tom Florek about the history, art and architecture of library. Included will the short film, “How Do You Say Library?” featuring some of the Princeton Public Schools students who contributed world language tiles to “Happy World.”
The panel discussion, which will be streamed on the library’s YouTube channel, will follow the films at 7 p.m.
“I’m looking forward to returning to Princeton to help celebrate this milestone,” said Burger, who served as executive director until 2016 and leads a consulting firm in addition to being interim director of ALA. “It has been a joy to watch the Princeton Public Library continually evolve to meet the needs of every community resident. It’s my hope that this library will continue to change, model and lead the way for others well into the future.”
Construction of the 55,000-square-foot Sands Library Building began in 2002 to replace a 27,000-square-foot building from the mid-1960s. The total cost of the building was $18 million. The former Princeton Borough and Princeton Township provided $1.92 million and $4.08 million, respectively, in public funding. The Princeton Public Library Foundation (now the Friends and Foundation of Princeton Public Library) raised $10.3 million in private funds in a capital campaign. The State of New Jersey provided just under $2.2 million in bond funding and the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library provided $100,000 to support technology.
Princeton Public Library is in the Sands Library Building, 65 Witherspoon Street, Princeton, NJ. For additional information about library services and programs, please visit princetonlibrary.org.
