Attention Kids!  Attention Parents!

We invite you to join us on Saturday, September 24, 2011, for the re-opening of the Children’s Library. 

After three years of planning and one year of construction, this exciting new space will open to the public with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 9:00 a.m.  The doors will open to the public at 9:30 a.m.

The room has been totally renovated with unexpected images in every direction: a rope bridge, a jungle pool, a thatched hut, and an explorer’s tent.  Technology upgrades include six Internet computers and a self-checkout station. There will be free gifts for all children with library cards from the Plainfield Public Library.

Library Director Joe Da Rold says the design was conceived as a tropical environment to represent the family roots of many Plainfielders.  “The ‘Reading Rainforest’ will be a place where kids can come for quiet excitement and learning.  It will be a lasting gift from the library to the children of Plainfield.”

Alumni Get the Local History Bug

Plainfield High School Alumni have discovered the value of local history while preparing for their reunions.  This year the 50th, 45th, and 25th PHS reunion committees have come to the library’s Local History Department to search through historical newspapers, yearbooks, and photographs.  

In addition to using our library’s Local History Department for research, the Class of 1966 alumni are scouring their attics to collect photographs and memorabilia from 1953-1966. The end product will be a slideshow and history of the Class of 1966 from kindergarten to graduation. The class is planning to give all of the photographs and a copy of the text and slideshow to the Plainfield Public Library.

Historical Newspapers for the Future

Historical newspapers are some of the most frequently used research tools at the Plainfield Public Library.  Grant funding from the New Jersey Historical Commission has recently enabled the library to digitize most of its newspapers-on-microfilm back to 1837.  [Unfortunately, it is too expensive to digitize the 20th century issues of the Plainfield Courier News and the Courier News.]  Researchers and historians can now conduct full-text searches by single issue, year, or decade.  Access to the historical newspapers is available only through the library’s public computers, but access to the Courier’s online database, from 1999 to present, is available remotely for library card holders.

The Library has added a new database to its lineup - Rocket Languages. This database provides our library card holders access to 11 different languages including English-from-Spanish. Patrons will need their Plainfield Library Card # in order to create an account. Once the account is created they can progress as their time and interest permits. Click Here to access our online databases. 
[American Sign Language, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish.]

Bicycling Exhibit = Summer Fun

A simple question about
the history of bicycling in Plainfield has led to a summer attraction of old-fashioned images.
The lobby display case exhibit on bicycling in Plainfield has proven to be
a great hit with the public.  Mounting this feel-good summer exhibit became a full-staff project at
Plainfield Public Library. Employees from all departments brought in memorabilia as librarians researched the history of bicycling.  The three-dimensional exhibit,
which will remain
through the end of September, has already been transformed into
an online exhibit, which
can be viewed Here.

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