| BOROUGH OF BEACH HAVEN, NEW JERSEY: OFFICIAL WEB SITE | |
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300 Engleside Ave Beach Haven, NJ 08008 | Ph: (609) 492-0111 | Fax: (609) 492-6262 |
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Beach Haven Public Library History Presently Board of Trustees Staff Meeting Minutes
Attempts to have a library in Beach Haven began as early as the 1880’s with a gift of books for the town’s children from Dr. Edward Williams who, along with Charles Parry of the Parry House and the Baldwin Hotel, was a partner in the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pa. The collection was kept for some time in the home off Samuel Copperthwaite on Engleside Avenue, eventually to be relocated to one of the Sunday School rooms of the Kynett Methodist Church, which had been built in 1890. After the old Quaker Meeting House had been given to the town by Walter Pharo, the Reverend Alexander Corson of the Methodist Church, along with his bride, transformed the building into a viable library; it was well on its way by the time they left Beach Haven in 1908. In 1923, in memory of her husband’s parents – Archalaus Ridgway Pharo and Louisa Willits Pharo, the founders of Beach Haven – and her late husband, Mrs. Walter Pharo proposed to construct a new library for the town at her own expense. The site selected was two blocks away from the church, on a corner lot owned by her at Beach Avenue and Third Street. The building was to be modeled after a Pennsylvania-style farmhouse, not an early life saving station, as has often been said. Unlike a traditional farmhouse, the building would be constructed entirely of brick and steel, including several non-traditional features like three fireplaces, a vaulted ceiling and an interior balcony encircling the first floor. Tons of concrete were poured and the steel girders of the new, two story structure were already in place by the spring of 1924. Constructed by local builder and craftsman Floyd Cranmer, ten railroad cars of bricks were used to build the solid outer walls. It soon became readily apparent that Beach Haven was about to have the finest library on the Jersey Coast. As it neared completion in the fall of 1924, the new library was already drawing praise. Long pale green shutters were hung to offset the white exterior walls. A sweeping, multi-dormered, black roof added a stateliness and grace seldom seen in municipal building. Surrounded by a low, white picket fence – and later, a manicured lawn – the new library added an incomparable dignity to Beach Avenue, which was at that time Beach Haven’s “Main Street”. At the formal opening of the new facility on November 29, 1924 it was evident that no expense had been spared in the design of the first floor either. The red brick floor, supported by a great steel beams, had come from Philadelphia. Originally from England, and transported as ship’s ballast, the bricks had been part of St. John’s Church in Philadelphia until the church’s demolition in 1923 to make room for the massive west bank supports of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge newly proposed to span the Delaware River. The precisely engineered vaulted ceiling, rising forty feet from the floor, permitted sunlight to be diffused without glare. The spacious northern alcove, now home to the children’s area, was originally designed as a sitting area for “Women Only”, so that ladies could browse literary works beyond the roving gaze of men. The alcove still opens onto an airy porch, no longer screened, hosting comfortable wicker rockers for summer reading and perusal. The southerly alcove originally constructed as the “Children’s Room”, now hosts the Library’s office. The main room on the building’s Westside, with its vaulted ceiling, hosts one of three over-sized, colonial style first floor fireplaces were constructed back to back to share a common chimney and provide the heating source for the building, as – even back then – year ‘round residents were few. The balcony encircling the room is accessed by a spiral staircase with thick, slate slabs for stair treads. The balcony’s flooring is oak, as are the railing and its spindles. The large, semi-circled window on the western wall was inserted to provide late evening sunlight during the summer months. Today’s reference and meeting room, now named after local historian John Bailey Lloyd, was originally constructed as the “Men’s Reading Room”, where male patrons could sit quietly on overstuffed chairs – discretely isolated from the female patrons. During the summer months, the room was well lit by two tall French doors opening onto the screened porch. The back room on the second floor currently hosts a well appointed museum of sorts, featuring old hotel registers, deeds, diaries, photographs and other sundry papers of substance and import to the heritage of Beach Haven. The Library Board of Trustees has recently decided to provide the Borough of Beach Haven’s Historic Preservation Advisory Board with a home at this location, along with the creation of a bona fide archival center for the existing historical documents that exist within the Beach Haven community. The Beach Haven Free Public Library is a prime architectural treasure on Long Beach Island, and a direct link to a colorful past that is the town’s precious heritage. Mrs. Elizabeth Pharo’s gift to the town continues to look as new as the day it was built, and Beach Haven’s taxpayers are proud of its status as the only independent library in Ocean County. It still is a great place to explore the world through a great book, especially on a rainy day! The Board of Trustees of the Beach Haven Free Public Library met on April 1, 2008. The Beach Haven Book Club, will be meeting on Wednesday, April 30, 2008 to discuss "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath in the reference room at 2:30. All are welcome. The group meets monthly for analysis, review and camaraderie, and is currently accepting new members! So contact Virginia Donnelly or Eileen Mitchell at the library – 492-7081 – to enroll with this thought provoking group. The Knitting Club has been meeting on Wednesdays at 1:00 in the Library. The group is open to all levels of knitters with local resident, Linda Kelly, in charge of instructions. Participants have to provide their own supplies. Please call the Library at 609-492-7081 for more information. The Library has free computer use for it's patrons. We are also wireless so you may bring in your laptop computers to use in the building.
Robert Buckley - President Ginny Donnelly - Director Open public meetings are held the first Tuesday of
each
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