Thanks to the watchful eye of Assemblyman Neil Cohen, the Roselle Public Library has received a $10,000 special purpose grant from the State of New Jersey . The one time grant from the Department of the Treasury will go towards improving the non-fiction collection at the library.
"I know that our library lags behind other communities when it comes to resources," said the deputy majority leader in the state Assembly. "I saw this as one way to improve Roselle by bolstering one of its more popular services."
Library Director Keith McCoy expressed appreciation for the unexpected grant. "Over the past four years, I have been explaining to our elected officials what the Library needs to serve the public more effectively. We are so pleased that Assemblyman Cohen has been paying attention. This grant will allow us to add depth to our collections, and help students and adults when they come looking for information."
McCoy pointed out that a community the size of Roselle usually has a library with over 80,000 volumes. While Roselle has been reporting 51,000 to the state, a recent inventory shows that the actual collection is closer to 44,000 titles.
The grant will be used to add books in the areas of history and art, subjects where books have a longer shelf life and where the library needs more resources to meet demand. The Library has already taken advantage of the grant, by meeting with publishers at the recent American Library Association conference. Historical series from Greenwood Press, Fitzroy Dearborn, and Compass Point Books were acquired at convention discounts.
Cohen is also the primary sponsor of a bill in the legislature to provide matching funds for library construction. Under the proposal being considered, urban libraries such as Roselle would be eligible for a 1-1 match from the state, for property acquisition, construction, and furnishing. Library officials hope that the bill will be approved in the next few months, and appear on the November 2005 ballot for voter approval.
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