Library coming soon … maybe

Roadwork holding up new branch of county library system

BY LINDA DeNICOLA Staff Writer

BY LINDA DeNICOLA
Staff Writer

Ocean TownshipOcean Township OCEAN TOWNSHIP — One of the road blocks to opening the new library on Deal Road is exactly that, roadwork.

According to Township Manager David Kochel, the township is moving toward the opening of the library, but first the road widening at the entrance to the property where the library is sitting must be completed.

“One of the key elements is getting people safely in and out of the library. We expect that to be done this fall and are hoping the library will open before year’s end,” he said.

He explained that the township is widening Deal Road so that people traveling from Route 35 east on Deal Road toward the library will be able to get into a center left turning lane to wait for a break in traffic. He added that Deal Road will still be one lane in each direction.

The 19,700-square-foot library looks from the outside as though it is ready to open. Once it opens, the township’s library system will be greatly enhanced. The building includes a 10,700-square-foot addition on the 9,000-square-foot, 100-year-old farmhouse off Deal Road that will allow the library to display a significantly larger collection and add space for related activities.

The current library, located in the lower level of the municipal building, holds an 88,000-book collection. The new building will bring the library into the Monmouth County Library System as a branch.

According to Kochel, the new library will serve the township as an activity hub offering meeting rooms, a conference room, a lectern sitting area to accommodate speakers and activity rooms for children. It will be more than four times larger than the existing library, which is on the bottom floor of the municipal building at Deal and Monmouth roads.

The addition, there will be considered a more active section of the library, designed to accommodate children’s activities, the circulation desk and a collection of adult and children’s books.

The existing library will be used for less demanding activities. The library’s periodicals will be in that section, and large parlors with fireplaces are designated for use as reading rooms or meeting rooms with the kitchen and a storage room to house older periodicals and newspapers.

The $3.1 million project was funded with $2.3 million from the sale of the 20 acres on Park Avenue, bonds, $628,186 in state grants, and $40,000 in private donations.