Library preparing for temporary move
For-sale items being liquidated; collection being scrutinized
BY BRIAN DONAHUE
Staff Writer

SOUTH RIVER - Borough library employees are gearing up for the facility's temporary relocation by liquidating the book-sale department and trimming the overall catalog.

The several hundred for-sale books and other materials donated to the library are being sold by the Friends of the South River Library for 1 cent apiece until Aug. 3. The liquidation is necessary since the library program will be relocated while its building is renovated and expanded.

The products being sold make up only a small portion of the library's overall collection of nearly 40,000 items, according to Library Director Andrea Londensky. The whole catalog is being scrutinized to find those items that are not needed, since the building will have to be cleared out during renovations.

"We're ruthlessly weeding out the library collection, because when we move, the building will have to be nearly bare," Londensky said. "We're taking a look at everything we own and saying, 'Is this something that somebody would want to take out?'"

Even classic books that are found to be in bad condition are unlikely to survive the move.

"If it's in bad shape, it will be removed and replaced," Londensky said. "Some things are just old or not earning their space on the shelf. Those items will have to go."

The library building, on Appleby Avenue, was built in the 1970s to house about 30,000 items. And between the demand for new products and the state library regulations that require the purchase of so many new materials each year, the library needs more space.

"We need new things, but new things require space," Londensky said. "When you bring in something new, it means something old has to go."

The library will get more space, and a major overhaul, with the renovations, which are estimated to cost $5.5 million and are expected to begin later this year.

The new library, which will have the capacity for 60,000 items, will have three zones - a large new children's area; an adult section that represents the brunt of the library's collection; and a center circulation area that Londensky described as "the hub" of the new facility.

"This will be like a marketplace area," she said, noting that it will include book displays, new and seasonal items as well those of high interest, and all nonprint items such as DVDs and audio books, which are very popular.

But library patrons will still have to wait a bit before they can enjoy the new digs. A tentative time frame calls for the library building to be vacated in November so that construction can start, and that project is expected to take 12 to 14 months, according to Londensky.

A call to Borough Administrator Andrew Salerno regarding the pending construction schedule was not returned earlier this week.

During construction, most of the library's collection will go into storage, and a scaled-back library will be housed at a location to be determined by the borough governing body. While noting that it is not her decision, Londensky said the Corpus Christi School, which closed for good last month, may wind up as the temporary location for the library.

The temporary facility will have all of the library's new materials and those that the library purchases during that period, as well as all nonprint items. Londensky noted that popular materials involving cooking, landscaping and interior design, for example, will be available. And patrons will be able to log on to the Web site at www.southriver

library.org to have books from other Middlesex County libraries shipped and held for them at South River's library.

"We'll be offering a limited library service, but we're trying to offer something that is reasonable, where people will still want to come out and use the library," Londensky said.