Long Branch library to reopen history room

LONG BRANCH — The Local History Room at the Long Branch Free Public Library reopened on June 1, with a new look and new hours.

Helpful staff will be available to assist patrons two afternoons and one evening a week. Appointments may also be scheduled at other times.

The new hours will are 2-3 p.m. Monday, noon to 3 p.m. Tuesday, and 5-7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The Local History Room houses a large collection of books as well as the following special collections: David H. and Lillian Alterman Collection, James Durnell Collection, Daniel Hennessey Collection, George Moss Jr. Collection and the Elsalyn Palmisano Collection.

These resources, which include fascinating primary-source information on Long Branch’s past, are being rearranged by subject to make them easier for a beginning researcher to access.

The library will have a genealogy corner, a section on Long Branch, a section on the Jersey Shore and another on New Jersey as a whole.

Using the resources available in the Local History Room will make it possible to research family history, using the Ancestry Library Edition database and various print resources; look through Long Branch High School yearbooks; and research the history of one’s house.

There is also information about Long Branch’s heyday as a resort in the late 1800s and images of some of the best-known “cottages” and the people who lived in them.

Visitors may also enjoy browsing through the large collection of vintage Long Branch postcards and other ephemera of the past.

The main library is located at 328 Broadway. For more information or to schedule a visit, call 732-222-3900, ext. 228 or visit www.longbranchlib.org.