Plainfield library director Da Rold receives state history issues award

Library Director Joe Da Rold and Board member Beverly Calland
at Friday's award ceremony.

Plainfield Public Library Director Joe Da Rold received the 2011 Gail F. Stern Award at Friday's 18th Annual New Jersey History Issues Convention, held at the NJ State Museum in Trenton.

The award, which recognizes outstanding achievement to New Jersey community history, honors Da Rold for his contributions to the Plainfield community through the library's emphasis on cultural diversity. These efforts have resulted also in Da Rold's having been honored in the past by the NJ Black Issues Convention and the RAICES Hispanic Cultural Association.

Named 2010 Librarian of the Year by the New Jersey Library Association, this latest award helps cap a career at the Plainfield Library which began in 1994.

Besides overseeing program and collections development as library director, Da Rold is currently working with the library's architect and contractors to complete the redesign and outfitting of the Children's Library, expected to be completed by early summer.

Joining in celebrating Da Rold's achievement at the Trenton affair were Library Board president Anne Robinson and Board members Carol Anderson and Beverly Calland.

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Library construction update: Yes, local contractors are used

'Snake wall' conceals unisex bathroom and storage area.

Workmen constructing curved ceiling soffit for 'snake wall'.

Plainfield Library Director Joe Da Rold gave me a peek at the ongoing construction work in the Children's Room the other day, providing an opportunity to answer a reader's question from the last post on the project (see here).

The reader wrote --

That is great that the room is being renovated. I too have fond memories. The one question that I must ask is? How many local contractors are being used.

To which Library Director Da Rold responds --

Per New Jersey Law the Library went out to competitive bid due to the cost of the project. However, we have included as many local vendors in as many areas as possible. By handling the entire demolition of the room in-house, we were able to bring in local electricians, plumbers and HVAC vendors. The primary painter for the upcoming finishing work is a local contractor as well. Scrap metal was hauled off by a local salvage company, rather than throwing it in the dumpster.

I was told that 'portholes' will soon be cut in the paper covering the windows so that visitors can watch the work as it progresses.

Larger unisex bathroom meets ADA requirements that two older bathrooms could not.

View of room from inside puppet theater (opening is the 'stage').

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• Plainfield Today:  "Library's children's room being reinvented"
  

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Signs Of The Times: Library's Children's Room being reinvented

The much-loved (and fondly remembered) 'story pit' will be reinvented.

 

Reinvention of the Plainfield Public Library's Children's Room is well under way, with the new room expected to open in late spring or early summer, according to Director Joe Da Rold.

These are a couple of shots I grabbed as the room was being stripped of its old carpet and walls in preparation for the do-over.

I won't spoil the surprise of the changes, but let's just say I'll bet the kids will be wowed.

Da Rold says adults may get a sneak peek by way of a fundraising reception before the room officially reopens to the public.

Stay tuned.

It's a to-the-walls reinvention!

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Library hangs Plainfield photographers

With a limit of five entries, this shot of mine did not make the cut.

For the fifth time, Plainfield photographers will be hung by the Plainfield Public Library.

And, with no rumble of tumbrels, they're all looking forward to it.

The twenty entrants in the Library's 5th annual photography contest will gather tomorrow for the exhibit's opening reception and awards presentations.

Realizing that the Library's extensive collection of photographs documenting daily life in the Queen City for the past century and a half could use constant freshening with contemporary images, Library Director Joe Da Rold started the annual event with the express purpose of continuing to add to the Library's collection.

"Even though prints are submitted for hanging the show, most of the images are originally captured digitally which is an ideal format for the Library's archival purposes," Da Rold said.

More than seventy images have been submitted for this year's contest, which had as its theme 'East Side, West Side, All Around The Town'.

The reception, to which the public is cordially invited, is from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM in Room 2 on the Library's lower level. The exhibit will hang through December 31.

NOTE: For those not sated by the photo exhibit, Swain Galleries will open its 'Antique Engravings' show with a reception from 3:00 - 5:00 PM Saturday afternoon. The Galleries are at the corner of East 7th Street and Watchung Avenue.

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5th Annual Plainfield Public Library Photography Contest

Opening Reception and Awards Presentation
On view through December 31

Plainfield Public Library
Room 2, Lower Level
Park Avenue at West 8th Street

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50s Sock Hop Dance for Library tonight

Poodle skirts welcome!

The Plainfield Public Library will be rockin' tonight -- if not around the clock, at least for a good portion of the evening -- as the Friends'  organization hosts a fundraiser dance called 'Sox 'n Subs', celebrating 1950s culture in dance and food.

It promises to be an evening of fun and fab food (courtesy of Sandy Spector and friends), as guests dine and dance to doo-wop and 50s classics around the Library's pool, recreating a bobby sox hop that a few may have actually experienced in their teen years.

Blue suede shoes, too!

The Friends of the Plainfield Public Library has as its mission raising funding to supplement the Library's programming. This has become even more important in recent years, as the Library has suffered reduced funding from the City along with increased expenses, resulting in cutbacks on hours and services.

So, dig in your closet (or maybe your attic) and find those old blue suede shoes and that hot-pink poodle skirt, and come along for a fabulous top-down ride along Memory Lane as you dance and dine the night away.

Whoopie Pies included!

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SOX 'n SUBS
A 1950s Dance Party

Sponsored by the Friends of the Plainfield Public Library

Tonight, October 16 | 7 PM

Plainfield Public Library

Park Avenue at West 8th Street
(Parking in both Library lots)

$25 Contribution at the door
Info:  (908) 756-0310

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Friends of Library Dance Saturday: Sox 'n Subs

Poodle skirts welcome!

The Plainfield Public Library will be rockin' Saturday night -- if not around the clock, at least for a good portion of the evening -- as the Friends'  organization hosts a fundraiser dance called 'Sox 'n Subs', celebrating 1950s culture in dance and food.

It promises to be an evening of fun and fab food (courtesy of Sandy Spector and friends), as guests dine and dance to doo-wop and 50s classics around the Library's pool, recreating a bobby sox hop that a few may have actually experienced in their teen years.

Blue suede shoes, too!

The Friends of the Plainfield Public Library has as its mission raising funding to supplement the Library's programming. This has become even more important in recent years, as the Library has suffered reduced funding from the City along with increased expenses, resulting in cutbacks on hours and services.

So, dig in your closet (or maybe your attic) and find those old blue suede shoes and that hot-pink poodle skirt, and come along for a fabulous top-down ride along Memory Lane as you dance and dine the night away.

Whoopie Pies included!

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SOX 'n SUBS
A 1950s Dance Party

Sponsored by the Friends of the Plainfield Public Library

Saturday, October 16 | 7 PM

Plainfield Public Library

Park Avenue at West 8th Street
(Parking in both Library lots)

$25 Contribution at the door
Info:  (908) 756-0310

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Shutterbugs! Time running out on Library photo contest

Entries in the Plainfield Public Library's 5th annual 'Documenting Plainfield' photography contest are due Friday, October 1st.

This year's theme is 'East Side, West Side, all around the town'.

Amateur and professional photographers are welcome to submit up to five photographs of contemporary images of Plainfield places, activities and people.

Complete submission rules and instructions can be found on the Library's website (here) or picked up at the Library, Park Avenue and West 8th Street. Entries must be received at the Library or postmarked no later than October 1st (Friday). You can download the entry form here (PDF).

In addition to cash prizes for winners in various categories, entries become part of the Library's permanent collection of photographs documenting Plainfield daily life.

The contest is made possible through the support of the Plainfield Cultural and Heritage Commission and the Friends of the Plainfield Public Library.

For more information, contact Jessica Myers, head of the Local History Department at (908) 757-1111 x 136 or visit the Library's website here.

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Plainfield Library mounts online Milt Campbell exhibit

Milt Campbell, Plainfield hero, honored in parade in front of City Hall.

The Plainfield Public Library has mounted a new online exhibit, the eleventh in its continuing series, honoring Plainfield Olympic champion Milt Campbell.

Milt Campbell, Plainfield Champion, features 45 high quality news photos of Milt Campbell with family, friends, coaches, and other athletes.  The photographs have been recently discovered among the 35,000 black-and-white prints donated to the library by the Courier News.  The Courier News Photograph Archive is now part of the Library’s Local History Collections.

Milton Gray Campbell, a state, national and world champion, began his athletic career in Plainfield. While still in high school, he became the 1952 Olympic Silver Medal Decathlete.  Four years later he won the 1956 Olympic Gold Medal in the Decathlon, the first African American to do so. 

The exhibit documents the life and athletic accomplishments of Campbell, including images of his time at Plainfield High School, at the Olympic Games, and his homecoming back to Plainfield.

The online exhibit is an expansion of a recent exhibit in the library’s lobby and an exhibit that was sent on loan to the Plainfield YMCA for a reception honoring Campbell.  The online exhibit is accessible directly here.

For more information about the Courier News archival photos, contact Sarah Hull, Archivist, Plainfield Public Library at 908-757-1111 x136, or email sarah.hull@plfdpl.info.

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Library: Book sale, appeals for 'Library Champions' kick off

Dad was shelling out for this brother-and-sister team's selections.

The Plainfield Public Library's annual -- and MONSTER, this year -- Book Sale kicked off Friday morning with a preview for 'bookies'.

Intending to take some pictures to illustrate this post, I nevertheless succumbed to the lure of the 6,000+ books neatly arranged in categories around the pool area. Some shoppers carried shopping baskets over their arm, which were filling up as they cruised around the pool. I knew that would be deadly -- as it was, I escaped with only four books. (But I know I will be back!)

Part of the irresistible lure is that several thousand of the books available (most in pristine condition) were donated by Plainfield activist Mike Ramos who had been asked to clean out the apartment of the late Robert Kern, where they were discovered. Many will remember Mr. Kern from his long service as factotum to Vicky Griswold in the Plainfield Music Store.

Banner inviting all to become 'Library Champions'.

Visitors could also become a 'Library Champion', joining the Library's new advocacy organization. Those who join sign on to be counted and pledge to tell others how the library has helped them personally, to remember that support for the Library now helps the children of tomorrow, and to lobby elected officials -- if needed -- for better funding.

The little brochure outlining the 'Champions' program has some great quotes about the importance of libraries (at least one quite unexpected) --

Pete Hamill, columnist --

In hard times, libraries are more important than ever.

Maya Angelou, poet --

My encouragement to you is to go tomorrow to the library.

Ward Burton, NASCAR driver --

Teenagers can discover the pleasures of reading and gain the power of knowledge by going to libraries. With that power, they will be invincible.

Craig Silverstein, Director of Technology, Google.com --

My guess is it will be about 300 years until computer are as good as, say, your local reference library in search.

Oh, yes, what did I find so compelling I just HAD to have them?

• Len Deighton's City of Gold, a mystery-thriller centering on the hunt for the Nazi general Rommel's master spy in wartime Cairo;
  
  
• Richard Lingeman's Small Town America, a narrative history of same from 1620 to the present (I'm a small town kid at heart);
  
  
• Richard Hooker's History of Food & Drink in America, especially looking forward to the sections on 'drinking and drinks' at various periods; and
  
  
• Joseph & Frances Gies' Life in a Medieval Castle, where I expect to learn all about cooking and sanitation.

So, what's waiting for you with your name on it?

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Plainfield Public Library Book Sale

In the Pool Area on the Ground Floor
During Regular Library Hours

Park Avenue at West 8th Street

All are welcome!

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Kean U. website boasts historic Plainfield photos

Home of Alexander Gilbert, early Plainfield mayor, at West 8th Street and Central Avenue.
While an apartment complex is now on the site, the home to the right is undergoing restoration.

A treasure trove of early Plainfield photographer Guillermo Thorn's pictures is being mounted by Kean University Library on its ContentDM website (see here).

Many thanks to Plainfield Public Library Director Joe Da Rold for the heads up.

Thorn (1837-1920) was an early photographic chronicler of Plainfield life and people, operating out of his home and studio on East Second Street with a long career that spanned the decades of Plainfield's explosive growth as a post-Civil War railroad suburb attracting a wealthy elite of Wall Street bankers and financiers and executives in some of America's largest corporations.

The Plainfield Public Library holds a sizeable collection of Thorn's images, some of which have been organized as part of its online survey of Plainfield in photographs from 1870 to 1970 (see online exhibit here).

Kean's images are from a collection of more than 300 Thorn items that came into the possession of Prof. Frank Esposito in the late 1980s and are now part of Kean's holdings. He and his colleague Donald Lokuta organized the material into both an exhibit mounted in 2005 and a book (published by Kean U. Press as Victorian New Jersey: Photographs of Guillermo Thorn and released on the 100th anniversary of Kean's founding) -- see more here.

Plainfield's own Jean Mattson, former president of the Historical Society of Plainfield, worked with Esposito and Lokuta to research much of the Plainfield material. Much background information on the photos was supplied by Mattson, who at the time was also on the faculty of Kean University.

To use the Kean collection website, go to its home page (here) and click on the BROWSE link which will take you to the two pages of items currently online. Clicking on any image will bring up a large version of that item, with the available background information.

Note that the CONTACT US link at the bottom of the page is not yet set up (you get a blank email). For more information regarding the collection or to supply background information on any of the images, contact the Kean University Librarian, Luis Rodriguez, at (908) 737-4646 or by email here.

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• Kean U. Library: "ContentDM: Guillermo Thorn photographs"
• Plainfield Public Library:  "Chronicles of Plainfield: 1870 - 1970"
• Kean University:  "Guillermo Thorn photos on exhibit"
  

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Plainfield Public Library launches redesigned website

The Library's redesigned website features navigability.

The Plainfield Public Library has officially launched its redesigned website (see here), which marks its fourth iteration since putting up its first website in the mid-1990s (Full disclosure: I worked on the design of the original website.)

Much has changed in both the Web and site design in the intervening years, and libraries themselves have changed to meet new needs undreamed of before the advent of the Internet.

Because so much of the library's online services are database driven, the Plainfield Public Library's site is probably the most sophisticated of any in the city.

Yet for all the behind-the-scenes complexity, the user experience is one of simplicity and directness (are you reading this, City Hall?). Hovering over any of the images or links on the home page gives the viewer options.

Hovering over a menu item reveals additional choices.

Especially noteworthy are the drop-down menus and submenus bar across the top of the page. Unlike on the city's website, where the menus are driven by a proprietary technology (Adobe's Flash, which often presents accessibility issues for users with disabilities), the Library's menus require nothing other than a browser to be accessible to any user -- regardless of ability or disability.

But the website isn't all that has changed at the Library.

Once thought of as a big warehouse for books and magazines, the Plainfield Public Library has striven over the years to meet the ever-changing needs of its community.

With 16,500 active cardholder patrons, the library's reach into and service to the entire community is deeper than that of any other city institution, including the public schools (with 6,431 students) and the city and its agencies (where Recreation, Senior Services and Plainfield Action Services reach several hundreds of participants each at most). For complete information, see the Library's 20009 Annual Report here (PDF).

The Plainfield Public Library was a pioneer in offering public computers, realizing that many in the community could not afford them but also that Internet access and email would become increasingly important in people's everyday lives.

Literacy outreach has also become in important part of the Library's services, helping residents better address life issues by imparting reading and math skills as well as helping improve English-language facility.

The Great Recession has put a spotlight on another area where the Library offers invaluable services -- preparing for and hunting down jobs. With software to help patrons prepare resumés, computers to search and apply for jobs, the Plainfield Public Library has plans to expand its offerings by dedicating a space within the building as a 'Job Search Center'.

By all means, visit the new website (here), but make plans also to drop in, if you haven't lately, and take a quick tour of a vital community institution meeting the needs of today's patrons and preparing to meet those of tomorrow's.

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• Website: "Plainfield Public Library"
• Report:  "2009 Annual Report, Plainfield Public Library" (PDF)
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Christie restores some state library funding, affecting Plainfield

Plainfield's library is a cultural and architectural gem.

Despite facing continuing financial pressures locally from an apparently hostile mayor, the Plainfield Public Library (along with 303 others across the state) received some good news from this week's budget compromises in Trenton.

The proposed budget would restore sufficient funding to the State Library for it to continue to subsidize services that local libraries have come to depend on, including Internet access for patrons; access to online magazine, newspaper and scholarly journal databases; and the continuation of interlibrary loan services, through which borrowers are supplied copies of books not found in their local library (see story here).

The restored funding will also guarantee that the State Library will meet its match amount for continued federal funding of some programs.

Both legislators and NJ Library Association executive director Pat Tumulty credit intense library advocacy with the restoration of funding.

While the Plainfield Public Library will benefit from the continued offering through the State Library of Internet and database access as well as interlibrary loans, we are still in the opening phases of discussions about the city's FY2011 budget and the library's funding in it.

Library Director Joe Da Rold and a host of those who would be impacted by cuts in library funding made the case for restoration of funding cuts made in the past year at last week's City Council meeting (see story here).

With the library forced to cut back evening hours, the Robinson-Briggs administration's cuts have left some sixty community organizations that depended on the library for meeting space scrambling to find alternatives.

The cuts have also affected the library's award-winning literacy program as well as its computer classes and job-search assistance programs.

The City Council indicated it would be looking more closely at how to ensure the library receives adequate funding in next year's budget and what its alternatives are if the Robinson-Briggs administration pursues further cuts.

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• Daily Journal:  "Agreement restores millions for libraries"
• Courier:  "Plainfield Public Library officials fear 'catastrophic' cuts"
  

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Council features Library, CFO discussions

A common thread tied together the main discussions at Monday's Plainfield City Council meeting: Finances.

Responding to a request from Plainfield Public Library Director Joe Da Rold, Council president Annie McWilliams set aside time at the meeting's beginning for a presentation by Da Rold on the library's financial needs as the Council looks down the road to the FY2011 budget.

He was followed by ten speakers representing community-wide support for the Library (including some who were moved to speak by those whose testimony they heard last evening), and the dramatic impact that budget cuts have had on programming, staffing and availability of the building as the community's premier meeting space.

From appearances, Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs is preparing to mount an all-out assault on library funding as she prepares for the next budget, though no one can quite figure out her antipathy to the 118-year-old institution acknowledged as THE hub of the community and one of the Queen City's gems.

The Council seemed attentive in a positive way -- with an occasional light touch (sounding a little chagrined, McWilliams said she would be returning some overdue books today).

Councilor Mapp led off a discussion of options the Council has to parry any cuts contemplated by the Robinson-Briggs administration. As it started to get somewhat involved, Council President McWilliams suggested that the discussion should be reserved for another time.

Whatever, it was perfectly clear that the Administration will get pushback if it decides to press its attack on library funding.

The much-anticipated Council discussion of its resolution requesting the state appoint a certified financial officer was the other high point of the evening.

Council President's statement that she had heard nothing from the Robinson-Briggs administration by Monday afternoon concerning suggested changes to the resolution elicited a statement by City Administrator Bibi Taylor that 'the Administration proposes no changes as it opposes the resolution in its entirety'.

The room fairly crackled with tension between the Council bench and the Administration's table, with Corporation Counsel Dan Williamson having to admit that the mayor is still no closer to having a viable candidate.

(As an aside, there was a discussion of a memo from Williamson to the council in which it was averred that Mayor Robinson-Briggs had made an offer of the position to Councilor Adrian Mapp, who holds the required municipal financial officer certification. Mapp firmly stated -- TWICE -- that he wanted the record to reflect that no such offer had been made to him, though there had been preliminary discussions.)

Though Robinson-Briggs is on her THIRD THREE-MONTH EXTENSION OF THE DEADLINE (set to expire on July 19), a matter which has been commented on repeatedly in the media and the blogs, Councilor Burney stated that he would prefer a 'conference call with the state' rather than an action by the Council in advance of the expiry of this third deadline. Councilor Storch allowed as how Burney's reservation had merit.

On the eventual vote, the measure failed. Absent Councilors Carter and Rivers, four of the five members present would have to support the measure, and it was clear that without Burney's support or that of Councilor Bill Reid (who no one expected to cross Robinson-Briggs on the matter), the measure would fail. The final vote was 3-2, with only McWilliams, Mapp and Storch in favor.

Regardless of the failure of the measure or the fact that the Council's next business meeting will not be until AFTER the mayor's deadline, the Council has applied a great deal of heat to the feet of the Robinson-Briggs administration.

Surely, not even Councilor Burney can suggest after July 19 that the Council is being hasty.

One thing at least would be certain were the state to send in its own CFO, the sloppiness with which the city's financial affairs have been managed (alluded to by Council President McWiliams) would come under sharp scrutiny, and we might expect more 'i's' to be dotted and more 't's' to be crossed.

That in itself would be progress.

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Plainfield Library children's room moves to improve

Children's Room librarian Janice People shows of the temporary quarters.

The Plainfield Public Library is soldiering on amid difficult conditions with its planned renovation of the children's room, which is essentially unchanged since the modern building replaced the much-loved Carnegie building that faced Library Park.

This has involved compressing the spacious children's rooms stacks, reading tables, computer terminals and staff accommodations into the Anne Louise Davis Meeting Room for the interim.

Janice People, one of the affable and welcoming staffers, advises that users are becoming accustomed to the new quarters and are eager to peek through the windows of the old room to note progress.

The work, which has not yet started, is expected to take about a year once it begins.

The Children's Room is in temporary quarters in the Library's public meeting room.

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Jean Mattson photo exhibit opens tomorrow with reception

One of the images featured in the Jean Mattson retrospective.

Plainfield photographer, history enthusiast and community activist Jean Mattson will be honored with a retrospective exhibit of her work -- highlighting her Plainfield portraits and daily life and scenes from Dublin, Ireland -- that opens tomorrow at the Plainfield Public Library.

Jean realized a number of years ago that an important group of Plainfielders, who had taken part in the great changes in the community over the past half century or so were becoming older and she determined to capture portraits of them while they were still with us.

This led to expanding the record to include younger people and newcomers to the community, thus comprising a special window into Plainfield as the Queen City left the 20th and entered the 21st century.

Her meticulous composition, posing and lighting showcase her desire to capture the 'essence' of the subject at hand. Elegant, and with attention to light and shadow, they engage viewers by showing Plainfielders as fully present yet somehow timeless.

Born in Plainfield in 1927 (Saturday will be her 83rd birthday), Jean is a descendant of the Squier family, early settlers of Union County who played a special role in towns such as Rahway, Clark and Elizabeth.

Professionally, Jean worked in the Media Department of Kean University for many years, retiring at age 80.

In the Plainfield community, however, she is better known for her interest in local history, and will be long remembered for organizing and curating an exceptional series of exhibits at the Drake House in 2000 that documented Plainfield in the 20th century.

That exhibit drew on her wide range of contacts throughout the community to display photographs, ephemera and daily objects reflecting the families and daily life of the Queen City, decade by decade.

Her late husband, Lutheran pastor Norman 'Moose' Mattson, had a career that took the family from Illinois to Minnesota to Alberta, Canada and back to Union County, where he retired from the ministry and went to work for the state.

Jean then found the time to earn two Masters degrees, one from Columbia University in African History and the other from Temple University in Educational Media.

Her community activism led her to become an early and enthusiastic supporter of the late Mayor Al McWilliams, who always fondly referred to her as 'The Citizen'. She stumped her neighborhood and the community for McWilliams, turning her vast network of friends and contacts into supporters for the up-and-coming father of five (whose daughter Annie is currently City Council president).

The reception will also serve as a 'birthday party' for Jean, with a cake provided by her daughter Lois Mattson and son-in-law (and Ward 2 Councilor) Cory Storch.

Anyone wishing to honor her may want to consider making a donation to the Plainfield Public Library, an agency close to Jean's heart, and -- if you've been following the news -- one now taking a severe hit from the current fiscal difficulties of the city and the state.

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Opening Reception: Photography of Jean Mattson

An opening reception for an exhibit including her photographs of Ireland and Plainfield subjects
The exhibit runs through June 30th

The Room 2 Gallery
Plainfield Public Library
Park Avenue and 8th Street

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Two visions of America on Sunday: MLK's and Malcolm X's

Plainfielders have a unique opportunity to asssess the conflicting visions of America held by two iconic figures from the tumultous 1960s: Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X.

The two are featured in a fictitious meeting in Malcolm X's suite at Harlem's famed Hotel Theresa in Jeff Stetson's 'The Meeting'. The play is being offered at the Plainfield Public Library on Sunday.

Street-savvy, totally urban and looking at the issues from the bottom up, Malcolm has invited the Southern Baptist minister who preaches nonviolent resistance to meet and share their views.

The time is 1965, just days before Malcolm X was assassinated in another Harlem landmark the Audubon Ballroom, and the meeting is laced with bitter humor and the tension created because the audience knows of real outcomes of which the characters are unaware.

Forty-five years later, we can see what an impact the Voter Registration Act of 1965, about which Dr. King was passionate, has had. We observe a federal holiday in his memory.

Meanwhile, Malcolm X, who mocked the civil rights movement, is not often or deeply recalled.

But is it because he struck too close to a nerve?

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'The Meeting'
Dramatization of the historic meeting
between Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X.

Produced by Shades of Truth Theatre
Sponsored by the Plainfield Public Library

Tickets: $10/adults, $5 kids
$25 for the play plus a champagne reception to meet the artists
Info: (908) 757-1111 x111

In the Anne Louise Davis Room
Plainfield Public Library
Park Avenue and 8th Street

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UPDATE: $10 Plainfield banknote

A generous reader has purchased the banknote for the Library.

A generous reader purchased the 'hometown' $10 bill issued by Plainfield's First National Bank in 1929 offered on eBay and is donating it to the Plainfield Public Library (see original post here).

Anyone who feels badly about missing their opportunity to do the deed can still pitch in and help.

You will note in CLIPS online links today a story by Courier beat reporter Mark Spivey detailing some of the cuts the city has made to Library funding (see here).

Donations in support of the Plainfield Public Library and its programs are always welcome -- whether you wish to make a contribution by check, or to remember the Library in your estate planning.

Call the Library's administrative offices at (908) 757-2305 for more information.

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• Plainfield Today: "Could Plainfield use this $10?"
  
• Courier: "Budget cuts force library to slash hours, staffing"
  

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Could Plainfield use this $10?

A 1929 $10 bill issued by Plainfield's First National Bank.

From 1869 to 1935, nationally chartered banks could issue their own banknotes, as Plainfield's First National Bank did.

These notes, sometimes called 'hometown bank notes' were secured by bonds place by the local bank with the Federal government. They looked like U.S. government issued currency, except that they bore the name of the issuing bank (hence the 'hometown' monicker) and the signatures of the bank's President and Cashier.

The note pictured above is on sale on eBay (see here) for $95.

Would it make a nice addition to the Plainfield Public Library's collection of Plainfieldiana?

I think so.

Is there some generous reader who would purchase it as a gift to the Library?

That would be really nice.

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• eBay: "1929 $10 National Note, Plainfield, NJ"
• Wikipedia: "National bank notes"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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NJ tax forms not available at Library. What to do?

Plainfielders will no longer find New Jersey tax forms stacked in huge piles by the pickup table near the entry.

Because the state is trying to save money (estimating they will save half a million dollars by not offering the forms through libraries and post offices -- I can attest to the waste, having helped to dispose of carton upon carton of leftover forms each year when I worked at the Plainfield Public Library).

What's a taxpayer to do?

All New Jersey tax forms are AVAILABLE ONLNE and can be printed out and mailed or filled out online for online filing (see forms and instructions here).

For those who have no computer or Internet access at home, reference librarians at the Plainfield Public Library will help patrons use the library's computers to access and print out the forms online.

Taxpayers may also call the state to request they be mailed directly at (609) 292-6400.

Federal tax forms will still be available at the Plainfield Public Library.

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• Division of Taxation: "Gross Income Tax Returns"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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'Chronicles of Plainfield' exhibit opens today

The Plainfield Public Library once again opens the treasure trove of its unparalleled photography collection, to the delight of Plainfield's history and photography buffs.

'Chronicles of Plainfield, 1870 - 1970' features previously unexhibited images of the four most important photographers in the Library's collection: Guillermo Thorn, Reina Lawrence, Paul R. Collier and Irving Georges.

The exhibit, curated by Sonja Sekely, opens today with a reception from 1:00 to 3:00 PM.

Mr. Georges will be on hand to greet visitors and discuss his photographs, which cover the most recent period in the exhibit.

In the Anne Louise Davis Gallery at the Plainfield Public Library, Park Avenue and 8th Street.

Detail from a Collier image of businesses along East Front Stree (no date).

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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