Libraries Are More Than Just Books

I just attended a meeting at my local public library and coincidentally just finished reading a book about a library. Neither is what you might think it would be about.

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Cristopher Murray was about the establishment of The Morgan Library, which is a major museum in the heart of Manhattan. It started out as the private library of J.P. Morgan and, through the efforts and leadership of Belle La Costa Greene, became an illustrious testament to Morgan’s good taste and Belle’s vision. This is a fictionalized account of Belle and Morgan’s interactions and of their lives as they pertained to building the Library. An understory is that Belle was a white-passing. Had her race been known, it is doubtful she would have been able to retain her position with Morgan, given the prejudices of that time period. As an aside, her father, Richard Theodore Greener, was the Executive Secretary of the Grant Memorial Association, which I read about in Grant’s Tomb by Louis L. Picone and which gave me the opportunity to call Louis and tell him about this. Louis is a friend and a presidential historian who has written exhaustive books about presidential birthplaces and where they died, in addition to the Grant book. I recommend Louis’ books and The Personal Librarian.

The meeting at the East Brunswick Public Library (EBPL), where I am its Foundation’s Treasurer and Board member, was about its fantastic initiatives of bringing health education to underserved members of the community. It seems the EBPL is spearheading an NJ statewide project to engage public libraries to address access to care and services that Healthier Middlesex County NJ partners identified as a critical shortcoming needing improvement. The project is named NJ Health Connect@Your Library and is comprised of over 150 libraries and taps the talent of librarians and the physical accessibility of public libraries to provide essential and necessary health information in an unobtrusive way, as is the practice of all public library assistance.

This major program was developed through the initiative and efforts of Karen Parry, EBPL Manager of Information Services and the Just for the Health of It program at the Library. As an aside, the seed funding for the initial Just for the Health of It program was through the EBPL Foundation and, with public and corporate grants, has evolved into this 150-library program. Additionally, the program supports research by the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences that shows that libraries are indispensable connective tissue that keeps healthy communities together. Karen has also provided guidance and training to librarians throughout the United States. Further information can be obtained by contacting Karen at [email protected].

Libraries are more than just books!