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Jersey City Free Public Library

The Jersey City Free Public Library (JCFPL) is the municipal library system of Jersey City, New Jersey, serving the residents of Hudson County. The library was established in 1889, opened in 1891, and had its first dedicated building, the main library, by 1901. Numerous branches have since opened and as of 2023 there are nine throughout the city as well as a bookmobile. It has over a million physical and digital items its collection, making it the largest library system in the state.

Founding

The New Jersey Legislature passed a law in 1884 for the establishment free public libraries when approved by local referendum. On April 9, 1889, after two earlier attempts, citizens of Jersey City voted for the provision (15,304 to 345) after which Mayor Orestes Cleveland appointed a board of trustees.

Dr. Leonard J. Gordon (1844–1905), for whom Dr. Leonard J. Gordon Park is named, was director of the library trustee board and a driving force in its creation. Despite the state mandate to fund public libraries the city resisted appropriating the resources; he took the matter to court, where the case was easily won.

The city's first public library opened on June 1, 1891, on Washington Street at the Provident Bank with a reading room in the adjacent Hudson National Bank . Over 4,000 volumes from the city's high school were incorporated into the original collection of about 15,000 books.

Priscilla Gardner Main Library

The Main Library, a four-story Renaissance Revival granite building, is located on Jersey Avenue at Montomgery and Mercer in Historic Downtown. It is a contributing property to the state and federal Van Vorst Park historic district.

Following a design competition, the architectural firm of James Brite and Henry Bacon was selected and on August 16, 1899, the cornerstone was laid. It was first opened to the public on January 14, 1901. It began with 15,515 books in its collection. An addition was added to the rear of the building in 1926.

In addition to the main library, the building houses the New Jersey Room, a section dedicated to historical documents about New Jersey, with a focus on Hudson County and Jersey City. The room was created in 1964 to merge the collections of William H. Richardson and the Hudson County Historical Society with the material the library already possessed. The New Jersey Room holds over 20,000 volumes, in addition to historical maps and periodicals. Biblioteca Criolla, the system's Spanish language library, originally opened on Newark Avenue in 1972 but was incorporated into the main library in 2010. The building was also home to the Jersey City Museum until it was relocated in 2001.

An ongoing phased renovation and modernization of the building began in 2014, during which parts of the building were closed.

In 2019 the Main Library was dedicated to Priscilla Gardner, who had worked for 50 years for JCFPL. She started as a junior library assistant at the since-closed Claremont Branch in 1969, worked for 30 years at the Miller Branch, and became director in 2002.