No more dancing in the stacks

"Unquiet Fridays" to cease at Princeton Public Library

By: Courtney Gross
   The sounds of a string band will be farewell music to the Princeton Public Library’s Unquiet Fridays, a staple of the library’s programming since the fall of 2002.
   The library will welcome Jim Murphy & The Pine Barons today as the last performers of the series that once had readers dancing in the stacks, the library’s programming director, Janie Hermann, said.
   Since the library moved back to Witherspoon Street, Ms. Hermann said, the monthly event is not as well-attended nor does it "bring down the house" as it used to when the library was temporarily stationed in the Princeton Shopping Center. In the shopping center, a smaller location, she added, the noise level was always elevated throughout the entire library — the primary objective of the program.
   But in the downtown location, the Community Room, where the events are held, is so segregated from the rest of the library that pandemonium doesn’t serve its original purpose.
   "It worked beautifully in the shopping center, and it’s worked OK in the (downtown location)," Ms. Hermann said. But, she added, "Now we have programming every night of the week, and we weren’t able to do that in the old location."
   In the new library, Ms. Hermann added, the evening programming is competing with other nightlife downtown, including multiple eateries.
   And, she added, the library’s events will eventually compete with its once and future neighbor, the Arts Council of Princeton, which is slated to open the expanded Paul Robeson Center for the Arts next year.
   For the future, Ms. Hermann said the library will take a break from its Friday night programming for a few months. It will also discontinue its late Friday hours that accompanied the monthly Unquiet Friday series.
   But the library is considering Friday night events next year that could center on one musical theme, such as open mike or jazz nights.
   "We still like the idea of offering Friday night programming, but we want to best meet the needs of the community," Ms. Hermann said.
   Unquiet Fridays had included music, but also games and other activities, the library’s Public Information Director Tim Quinn said.
   "It was anything that was sort of personal enrichment," Mr. Quinn said. "This will be an opportunity for us to focus on the more popular offerings," he added of the library’s possible replacement programming.
   Ms. Hermann described the finale provided by Jim Murphy & The Pine Barons as a bluegrass and country band who perform original music as well as covers. When they had performed at the library in the past, she added, they drew a large audience.
   The band, which hails from South Jersey and has played in the state for 34 years, will begin at 7:30 tonight and is expected to play until 9 p.m.
   The band will end the series, Ms. Hermann said, on a high note.