Wall Township Library celebrates golden anniversary in July

The Wall Township Public Library has come a long way from its opening on July 15, 1961 in one room of the “little red schoolhouse,” the New Bedford School, built in 1897.

As the Wall Township Public Library celebrates its golden anniversary they can point with pride to 50 years of serving the community.  The library opened in 1961 with a budget of $3,000, a collection of 1,200 books, and operated 10 hours a week. Their first annual report in 1962 reflected over 450 borrowers, and a circulation of 3,600 books. 

Today the Wall Public Library is open 59 hours a week, has over 23,000 borrowers, an annual circulation of over 250,000 items a year (2010), and a collection of over 120,000 items. As one of the 13 branches of the Monmouth County Library, the Wall Library also has use of over 1.5 million more items which include books, videos, DVDs, MP3’s, large print books, books on compact disc, music CDs, circulating magazines, e-books and more.  The Wall Public Library itself has more than 5,000 DVD movie titles which accounts for over 52,000 checkouts each year.

The idea of a Township library was an outgrowth of a citizens group formed in 1959, the Friends of the Wall High School Library, who wished for a public library for all Wall Township citizens.  At that time, Wall Township was served by the Monmouth County Library Bookmobile, which arrived once a month and stopped at five Wall area locations.

On February 23, 1961, a group of five trustees -- Leonora Cole, Evelyn Heroy, Dorothy King, Audrey Shefter and Dorothy Treney -- along with Wall Township Mayor Richard Sharpe and Superintendent of Schools Granville Magee, formed the new Wall Public Library Association.  With donated books left from the book drive for the Wall High School Library, a borrowed room in the Little Red Schoolhouse, determination and a vision, they met with the Wall Township Committee and Miss Julia Killian, then-Monmouth County Library Director and were allocated $3,000 of public funds toward the establishment of a public library.  

Miss Killian recommended that the proposed library be an “association library,” serving the public as a joint venture of the municipality, the county and a library association.  The Wall Township Public Library was dedicated and officially opened on July 15, 1961.  In August, 1962 Mrs. Albert Otto was hired as Wall Library’s first paid librarian. 

The library soon began to outgrow the borrowed room in the Little Red Schoolhouse and in 1967 space was leased in the Circle Plaza Shopping Center on Atlantic Avenue and Route 35 through the joint efforts of Wall Township and the Association.  Volunteers and civic groups helped prepare the space and move shelving and books.  Dedication ceremonies were held on October 22, 1967 and the Wall Library was now open 18 hours a week.   

It was at this time that the Library Association asked the Monmouth County Library Commission to make Wall Library a branch of the county system.  As a branch, the county provided the staff and agreed to supply an established number of books each year, while Wall Township agreed to provide the physical facilities.  The library’s hours then increased to 40 hours a week.  When the Circle Plaza location was sold to new owners, the library was forced to relocate in 1976 to the Old Mill Plaza complex on Ocean Road and Route 35, first upstairs in Suite D then downstairs in 1978. 

From the beginning, the Association had a dream of a permanent home for the Wall Public Library and so a building fund was established. At the time of the Library’s 25^th anniversary celebration in 1986, those dreams were beginning to become reality as plans were being made for a municipal complex which would include a new library

Librarian Janet Van Nattan, who had been with the Wall Library since 1976, turned over the helm to librarian Louise Parr, who propelled the library through the planning and moving stages. The official dedication of the new complex took place on June 3, 1990.  Thanks to the foresight of the original “Friends,” the help and encouragement of Wall Township officials and countless volunteers, the Wall Township Public Library was ready to enter the 21st century.

Today’s Wall Public Library is open 59 hours with a full-time branch librarian, children’s librarian, and proficient staff, an active and dedicated library association and a host of enthusiastic volunteers.  The Wall Township Public Library was voted “one of the best” public libraries by the Asbury Park Press Reader’s Choice Poll 7 times in the last decade.

The information, materials, services and programs have changed dramatically over the years; the focus is on library services, collections, technological resources and entertaining programs, but the goal of the library system remains to promote community, lifelong learning and opportunity for all the county’s residents and many out-of-state visitors. 

Are you aware that the Wall Library conducts nine children’s storytimes a week?  In 2010, the library presented 190 adult and teen special programs including concerts, lectures, author talks, informational workshops, weekly movies, weekly bridge & mahjong clubs, computer classes, art exhibits, book clubs, book sales and more.  Every tax season the Wall Library conducts a tax assistance service in cooperation with the AARP where trained and certified AARP Tax-Aide volunteer counselors help low-to-middle-income taxpayers prepare and file their income tax returns with the IRS, free of charge.  

A new era of 21st century library infor­mation services has begun.  In addition to the Library’s extensive collection, they offer many free services to the community including free Internet access, reference services, and electronic resources to cardholders for authoritative research, accessible anywhere via an Internet connection.  Utilization of these electronic resources to cardholders makes it possible for Library users to receive answers to their reference questions 24 hours a day, seven days a week, regardless of whether or not their libraries are open.

 ListenNJ, free downloadable audio books for library cardholders, intro­duced in 2007, also expands technologically accessed library services. The 24/7 service offers access to fiction and non-fiction titles, children’s fiction, biographies, and business titles. Patrons can download free audio books onto personal computers, laptops, or Personal Digital Assistant and MP3 devices.

One thing hasn’t changed in the last 50 years is the mission of that small group of community activists and visionaries.  Through growth and assistance from the Township, the County and the community, the Wall Township Public Library continues to strive to be a place to dream, a place to learn, a place to mingle, and a place to realize one’s potential.

The Wall Township Library will celebrate its 50^th anniversary with a day full of events for the whole family on Saturday, July 16. Meet local authors, enjoy a show by comic and ventriloquist John Pizzi, and end the day with a free concert by The Jazz Lobsters! The fun starts at 9:30 a.m. Call the library at 732-449-8877 for more information.

-- Written by Janet Trotter
Wall Township Library Branch Librarian