SOUTH BRUNSWICK – The South Brunswick Library is holding events each month to celebrate its upcoming 50th anniversary in April.
In February, library patrons were asked to write love letters to the library, describing their appreciation for the community center through notes, poems, haikus, a rap song, artwork, etc.
“February seemed conducive to the idea of love letters,” assistant Director Judy Pietrobono said.
The Children’s Department cut out hearts for messages. Index cards were left for anyone to write notes. The teen section had a “refrigerator art” project, where separate words were put on magnets so that teens could arrange phrases and sentences.
Some of the sentiments included the library being a welcoming place that cheers up patrons, a place for new transplants from London to visit, a place to learn and see friends and a dream work place.
A special component was birthday messages from famous authors, such as Kazu, Louis Sachar, Dan Gutman, Jenny Lawson, Jung Chang, Alan Moore, Sarah Mlynowski, Chris Grabenstein, Sharon M. Draper, Rachelle Burk, Lawrence Block and Junot Diaz. ‘Tween Librarian Cindy Ambos wrote to each author, asking him/her to partake in the project.
“We were really excited they wrote to us,” Pietrobono said.
Pietrobono’s favorite was a letter and autographed photo from Danielle Steel. Steel thanked the patrons for reading her novels, noting, “Nothing can expand the mind and the heart like the magical world of books.”
Pietrobono said libraries are a vital part of the community, providing more than just books.
There are cooking classes, three book clubs, resume help, peer tutoring, a chess club, coding classes, a business group, a knitting club, an English-as-a-second-language conversation group and a travel club in South Brunswick.
“To me, what I see changing in this library is it really being a community meeting place,” she said. “You can tell for some customers, this may be the only part of their day, if they don’t have a lot of family, they come talk to the staff. … People get tired of sitting at home behind a computer and feeling isolated. … I think coming in with mutual interests is really big.
“There really is a wide range of services – because where else do you go? You have everything in one place. And there really is a need for human contact,” she said.
She also said that staff members assist patrons in navigating information when doing research, because so much is available on the internet.
“People still have faith that librarians give them information that is valuable and trustworthy,” she said.
To celebrate its 50th birthday, the library will hold a flagpole dedication in memory of the late Mayor Frank Gambatese at 2 p.m. on April 29. Afterward, there will be complimentary cupcakes and a birthday party in the Children’s Department.
The library is located at 110 Kingston Lane, Monmouth Junction section of South Brunswick. For more information, call 732-329-4000.
Contact Jennifer Amato at [email protected].