New Jersey State Library Newsletter

The New Jersey State Library will present a special lunch-time program with Dr. Maxine N. Lurie, called “Mapping New Jersey,” on Friday, March 12, beginning at noon in the State Library’s level 2 reading room. The free event is open to the public and participants are invited to bring a lunch. Desserts and beverages will be provided.

The presentation will be based on the book Mapping New Jersey, which Lurie co-edited with Peter Wacker. Mapping New Jersey, the first interpretive atlas of the state in more than one hundred years, traces changes in environment, land use patterns, demography, transportation, economy and politics over the course of many centuries, and illuminates the state’s transformation from a simple agricultural society to a post-industrial and culturally diverse place. Integrating new maps, graphs, and diagrams unavailable through ordinary research or Internet searches, Mapping New Jersey is divided into six topical chapters, each accompanied by an introduction and overview telling the story of the state’s past and detailing its diversity. Mapping New Jersey, dramatically bold and in full color, travels where New Jersey has gone and the rest of the nation is likely to follow. The oversize book has 225 colorful maps, graphs, and diagrams.

Lurie is a professor and former chair of the history department at Seton Hall University. She has also co-edited the Encyclopedia of New Jersey and edited A New Jersey Anthology.

If you plan to attend, contact Cindy Warrick at cwarrick@njstatelib.org or 609-278-2640, ext 172.

In April 2009 at the NJ State Library,Norma Blake, NJ State Librarian (left), presented Christiane Leitinger, director, Pennies for Peace, Central Asia Institute, with a check for $13,400. The money was raised by over 75 New Jersey public and school libraries.

Throughout February and March 2010, the New Jersey State Library, the New Jersey Library Association and libraries throughout New Jersey plan to again honor the legacy of Abraham Lincoln, as part of the national Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commemoration, by collecting pennies.

Lincoln firmly believed in education, equality, opportunity and peace. To help continue his legacy, the State Library and NJLA are encouraging New Jersey libraries to participate in the Lincoln Pennies for Peace Campaign. All funds collected will be donated to Pennies for Peace which collects funds for the Central Asia Institute co-founded by Greg Mortenson, the subject of the bestselling biography, “Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace… One School At A Time.” The money will be used to build school libraries in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“Last year, school and public libraries from all over New Jersey raised over $13,400 in pennies. The campaign really caught on with young people and children, because they all could be part of the fundraiser just by putting in a few pennies. We found the ‘children helping other children’ aspect resonated with them,” said Norma Blake, NJ State Librarian. So far, almost 90 public and school libraries have joined the 2010 campaign.

The original Pennies for Peace was conceived by students in a Wisconsin elementary school in 1996. Since then, over 16 million pennies have been raised by over 700 schools in all 50 states, including over 10 million pennies in the past year. The program is designed to educate children about the world beyond their experience and show them that they can make a positive impact on a global scale, one penny at a time.

After failing to reach the summit of K-2, Mortenson, emaciated and exhausted from his experience, staggered into a poor remote village whose residents nursed him back to health. He noted the children had no school or school supplies, using the ground and sticks to practice their multiplication tables. He promised to build them a school, and since then has made it his life’s work to build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan to educate students where no schools existed. His mission has been to promote education and literacy, especially for girls, in remote regions of these two countries. To date, the Central Asia Institute has established 130 schools, educating over 51,000 students.

Now those schools need libraries. “We believe that Lincoln would have been proud to have New Jersey libraries adopt this campaign in his honor,” said Blake. “Lincoln would have been very supportive of helping children in other areas of the world receive an education to help them become insightful leaders and active participants in global peace.”

The following libraries/library systems are participating:
Ridge High School Basking Ridge
Belvidere High School Library
Bernards Township Library
Bloomfield Public Library
Bloomfield High School
Bloomingdale Public Library
Brick Branch of the Ocean County Library
West Avenue School Bridgeton
Bridgewater Library
Pemberton Branch of BCLS Browns Mills
Sandshore School Library Budd Lake
Old Turnpike School Califon
Cape May County Cape May Court House
Carteret Public Library
Cedar Grove Public Library
Richard Stockton Elementary Cherry Hill
Clifton Public Library
Clinton Twp. Middle School
Henry Inman Branch Library Colonia
Cranbury Public Library
Cranford Public Library
Orange Avenue School Cranford
Demarest Public Library
North Dover Elementary Dover
Twin Rivers Library East Windsor
Robert Morris School 18 Elizabeth
McCloud Elementary School Englewood
Dismus Middle School Englewood
Fords Branch Library - Woodbridge Public
Franklin Lakes Public Library
Freehold Public Library
Academy of Our Lady Glen Rock
Morgan Early Elementary School Act Club Hamilton
Sunnymead School Library Hillsborough
Pascack Valley High School Hillsdale
Miller Branch Library Jersey City
Kearny Public Library
South Hunterdon Regional High School Library Lambertville
Leonia Public Library
Chapel Hill Academy Lincoln Park
Passaic Valley High School Little Falls
Little Ferry Free Public Library
Livingston Public Library
Mahwah High School
Taylor Mills School Media Center Manalapan
Manasquan Public Library
Cranberry Pines Elementary School Medford
Campbell Elementary School Library Metuchen
Metuchen High School
Middletown Township Public Library
Milford Public Library
Woodland Elementary School Monroe Township
Monroe Township High School
Monroe Township Public Library
Pascack Hills High School Montvale
Lazar Middle School Montville
Moorestown Public Library
Mount Laurel Library
Fleetwood Elementary School Mount Laurel
Gloucester County Library System Mullica Hill
Neptune Public Library
New Providence School District Libraries
West Essex Middle School Library North Caldwell
West Essex High School North Caldwell
Otto Bruyns Library Northfield
North Plainfield High School & Middle School
Nutley Public Library
Ocean City High School
Park Ridge Public Library
Parsippany-Troy Hills Library System
Peapack Gladstone Branch Somerset County
Piscataway Public Library
Leeds Ave School Pleasantville
Ringwood Public Library
Woodside School Library River Vale
Robbinsville High School
Rockaway Township Library
Rutherford Public Library
Sayreville Public Library
Somerville Public Library
Sparta Public Library
Oak Knoll Lower School Summit
Tinton Falls Public Library
New Jersey State Library Trenton
Talking Book & Braille Center Trenton
E.T. Hamilton School Library Voorhees
Wanaque Elementary School Library
Valley View School Library Watchung
Watchung Public Library
BCIT Westampton
West Long Branch Schools
Westfield Library
Camden County Library System Westmont
Academy of Allied Health/Biomedical Sciences Woodbridge

Thomas O’Malley, head of the New Jersey State Library law library, is one of the two-member New Jersey team chosen to attend the upcoming conference, A Training on Public Libraries and Access to Justice. The team is one of only 13 from across the country selected to participate of the 42 teams that applied. The two-day conference in Austin, Texas, will address how public libraries can improve access to online legal information. Joining O’Malley, is Nancy Gramaglia, Esq., Litigant Services Manager, NJ Administrative Office of the Courts.

The conference, held Jan. 11-12, is funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the National Center for State Courts and the Center-hosted Self-Represented Litigation Network, in cooperation with the Legal Services Corporation. It will give public librarians an opportunity to meet with legal and court experts to discuss strategies for assimilating access to legal information into their programs. This information will include how to best locate content and tools, how to talk about the matter with library patrons, how to work with content partners to make sure that needed subject matter is developed, how to share what they have learned statewide, and how to use successful programs to advocate for the importance of public libraries as gateways to government institutions.

“Our law librarians provide exceptional service on a daily basis to state officials and their staffs, state employees, students, and our other customers,” said Norma Blake, New Jersey State Librarian. “This is a wonderful opportunity for Tom to share his expertise with a select group of librarians from across the country and to learn the latest best practices from experts in the field.”

Colleen Dazé, director of the State Library Information Center said, “Tom has been helping the residents of New Jersey locate answers to their legal questions for more than a decade. We are proud that his team was chosen to attend.”

In a highly entertaining presentation at the New Jersey State Library, Dr. Marc Mappen read three chapters from his newest book, There’s more to New Jersey than the Sopranos. Over 75 people attended this edition of the library’s popular free lunchtime Author’s Program held from noon to 1 p.m., November 19.

Dr. Mappen has been described by the New York Times as “the eminent New Jersey historian.” He has five books to his credit and has more than 100 articles and essays in publications that include the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Rutgers Magazine and New Jersey Heritage. He has been interviewed on the History Channel and National Public Radio.

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The New Jersey State Library will present a free lunch time author talk with Dr. Marc Mappen on his newest book, There’s More to New Jersey than the Sopranos. The program will be held from noon to 1 p.m. on Thursday, November 19 on Level 2 of the State Library, 185 West State Street in Trenton, NJ. All are welcome.

Dr. Mappen has been described by the New York Times as “the eminent New Jersey historian.” He has five books to his credit and has more than 100 articles and essays in publications that include the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Rutgers Magazine and New Jersey Heritage. He has been interviewed on the History Channel and National Public Radio.

Dr. Richard Veit, Department of History and Anthropology, Monmouth University, has this to say about the book, “So you think you know New Jersey history? Well, think again. In There’s More to New Jersey than the Sopranos, Marc Mappen provides readers with dozens of fascinating Jersey stories. From long-buried mastodons to menacing Martians, it is all here. This book is a must read.”

On Friday, April 17, at 10 a.m., at the New Jersey State Library, Norma Blake, NJ State Librarian, was joined by librarians and school children from around New Jersey, to present a check for $13,400 to Christiane Leitinger, director, Pennies for Peace, Central Asia Institute.

Throughout February and March 2009, the New Jersey State Library, the New Jersey Library Association and libraries throughout New Jersey honored the legacy of Abraham Lincoln, as part of the national Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commemoration, by collecting pennies in support of Greg Mortenson’s Central Asia Institute. Over 75 public and school libraries joined the State Library and the Library for the Blind and Handicapped in the campaign.

After the check presentation, the school and public libraries that raised the most money were recognized. Students from the New Providence School District, who raised $3,036.43, were on hand to accept the award in the school library category. Accepting the public library award for the Glen Ridge Library, which collected $1,169.84, was its director John Sitnick. Also participating in the program were Joyce Powell, president of the New Jersey Education Association, and Pat Tumulty, executive director of the New Jersey Library Association.

“The one thing I heard from libraries all over the state was just how much fun this was,” said Blake. “We are committed to doing this again next year and to getting even more of our libraries involved. I will also be attending a meeting of all state library directors and I hope to get other states adopting this project to raise money for this worthwhile cause.”

According to Leitinger, The New Jersey State Library and NJLA conducted the first and to this date only state-wide campaign for Pennies for Peace. “Libraries have a special place in Greg’s heart,” she said. “When he first started this project, it was a librarian who showed him how to do the research so he could find contacts to ask for donations. Pennies for Peace has now constructed 78 schools, is helping 100 other schools pay for teachers and has impacted the lives of 28,000 students including over 14,000 girls. On behalf of those children, thank you.”

Leitinger also announced that Mortenson had been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

MORE PHOTOS

As the statewide New Jersey State Library Pennies for Peace campaign in honor of President Abraham Lincoln draws to a close, on Friday, March 27, ABC News profiled the man whose charity will be the beneficiary of all those pennies as their Person of the Week.

Watch the ABC World News video

Lincoln - In this year of President Lincoln’s Bicentennial, “Lincoln in New Jersey” is the topic of a display at the State Library this month and next. Commemorating Lincoln’s visit to Trenton in 1860, the display offers books on Lincoln, highlights the resolution given to him upon the occasion of his speech to the New Jersey Senate and General Assembly, and shows newspaper articles describing his time in the state.

Tasteful Display - A separate display, of New Jersey cookbooks, ties in with an exhibit at the State Museum sponsored in conjunction with the NJ Council for the Humanities, “Key Ingredients: America by Food.”  The museum and library displays add the flavor of Trenton as well as a broader view of NJ’s many foods. The displays run through March 15. 

On December 9, 2008, the NJ State Library/Thomas Edison College Brightest Light selection committee surprised Ruth Pallante (at the copier), administrative assistant, naming her the NJ State Library’s Brightest Lights Award recipient. Ruth was recognized for “continually creating a pleasant environment for co-workers and all who encounter her. Her pleasant attitude and willingness to go above and beyond the duties of her job make her a Bright Light at The New Jersey State Library.”

Congratulations, Ruth!

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The New Jersey State Library has received a significant donation to the Genealogy Collection. The private collection of over 1,000 volumes was owned by a local genealogist, and includes 200 city directories; more than 100 city, county and state histories; some family genealogies; and about 300 genealogical reference volumes of various kinds. The generous donation was given to the State Library by the two friends of the genealogist who inherited them after his death ten years ago.

The State Library is also receiving a collection of issue briefs from the Forums Institute for Public Policy, Princeton, because it is closing. The briefs were produced over the past ten years and cover a wide range of health policy questions. All are in electronic format.

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The State Library’s management of its U.S. documents collection garnered recognition for several notable achievements during a recently completed review by the Government Printing Office (GPO). The State Library is among the first group of member libraries of the Federal Depository Library Program to have a Public Access Assessment review.

“The New Jersey State Library participates very effectively in the New Jersey region,�? the report stated. “The library communicates with their nearby depositories to conduct referrals and interlibrary loan and to participate in regional meetings and initiatives.�? FULL STORY

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On September 18, State Library staff members gave a presentation to New Jersey Administrative Law Judges and clerks. Fifty people attended the program which covered legal resources, how to determine legislative intent, and the services of the New Jersey State Library. According to the day’s coordinator, Sandrya Porter, assistant director, Legal Research, Library and Continuing Education, “Everyone was commenting about the great nuggets of information they got from the wonderful presentation.”

Pictured, from left: Cynthia Warrick and Leslie Witko, New Jersey State Library staff, Toni Telles, law clerk, and Laura Sanders, director and chief administrative law judge.

Andrea Simzak has joined the State Library Information Center as a Library Associate in the Reference Services Section. Her responsibilities will include scheduling the State Library’s Training Lab, coordinating staff training, scheduling presenters for training sessions and working on staff development programs, in addition to serving as a reference librarian. MORE

On August 28, the staff of the New Jersey State Library Information Center, at the request of Sharon Price-Cates, deputy chief counsel to Governor Corzine, gave a presentation at the State House explaining the Information Center’s resources and services. Over 30 people attended, including members of the Governor’s and Chief Counsel’s staff, and Treasury researchers in the Divisions of Taxation, OMB, Pension & Benefits, Property Management and Legislative Analysis. Everyone said on their evaluation forms that the information was useful and that the presentation was a good use of their time.

Deputy Chief Counsel Sharon Price-Cates is a frequent user of the State Library. She issued the invitation in order to get the word out to Executive Branch staff who might be unaware of the valuable research help and information at the State Library.

SLIC staff members pictured with Deputy Chief Counsel Sharon Price-Cates (right) are, from left, Shaaron Warne, Leslie Witko, Colleen Dazé and Teri Taylor. Cindy Warrick prepared the presentation slides, handouts, logistics and took photos at the event.