mattersmagazine.com 13 President of the South Orange Republican Club, Beebe offered space in the club’s headquarters. Membership would be by subscription (the library would not become “public” for another 22 years). Books would be donated by citizens of the village. And so the library of South Orange came into being. Melissa Kopecky, director of the South Orange Public Library, points out that the village was “ahead of the curve” in terms of regional and national trends toward the establishment of libraries. Some in New Jersey are older – Burlington, Newark, and Trenton, for example – but it wasn’t until industrialist/philanthropist Andrew Carnegie started giving his fortune away in 1883 that thousands of communities began to use this funding to organize local libraries. The library’s first home in the Republican Club was on the corner of Railroad Avenue (now Sloan Street). In 1867, the library moved next door to the upper floor of Smith and Lum’s Booksellers and Printers store. By 1869 the library had 1,000 volumes; by 1875, the number had grown to 1,646. Membership continued to be by subscription: Members paid annual dues, which supplied the library’s main income. In 1884, with the building of a new railroad station, Sloan Street needed to be widened, and the Smith and Lum’s building – with the library still on site – was picked up, placed on huge logs, and dragged by horses to the north corner of Scotland Road. Two years later, another radical change took place: conversion of the operating model to that of a free circulating library, available to the whole community, and overseen by its new Library Association. With continued growth of its collection and circulation, the library moved to a ground-floor space nearby on South Orange Avenue. But by 1895, obtaining its own building became a serious goal. The goal was attained thanks to Eugene V. Connett (for whom ConnettPlaceisnamed),whooffered land on the corner of Scotland Road and Taylor Place “on condition that the sum of $7,500 be bona fide 145 Maplewood Avenue, Maplewood Office: 973-378-8300 Susan Blodgett Broker / Sales Associate Cell: 973-214-4636 Susan.Blodgett@cbmoves.com Virginia "Ginny" Spiegel Sales Associate Cell: 973-219-8865 Virginia.Spiegel@cbmoves.com ©2014 Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC Coldwell Banker® is a registered trademark licensed to Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. An Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing Opportunity. Owned and Operated by NRT LLC. Property Experts. Neighborhood Enthusiasts. Contact Susan or Ginny at The Blodgett Group Selling Lifestyles through Real Estate Follow us! 165 Maplewood Avenue Maplewood, NJ 07040 973-275-1658 New Maplewood Items Make Great Gifts! We love this town!