Perth Amboy Public Library

Serving a population of 47,000 the collection includes a collection of 177,469 volumes and circulates 110,260 items per year.[1] The library is a member of the Libraries of Middlesex Automation Consortium.[2]

In 1825, several Perth Amboy citizens created the Perth Amboy Library Company, but disbanded in 1835 with the book collection being scattered. The Perth Amboy Library Association was created in 1888, again by a group of locals citizens who in 1891 the saw the library became incorporated under state law. In 1896, the Perth Amboy Free Public Library, with municipal support. From its inception the library relocated five times.[3]

The current building is one of the first of New Jersey's original 36 Carnegie libraries, built with partial funding from the Andrew Carnegie in 1901.[4] It was built on land donated by J. C. Mc Coy, of the Raritan Copper Works. A donation of $1,000 from Adolph Lewisohn was made to purchase new books. The city agreed to operate and maintain the new facility. Dedicated on December 3, 1903, it one of three Carnegie libraries opened that year still in use. In 1914, the Carnegie Corporation donated an additional $30,000 for the creation of two reading rooms. A Children's Library was added in 1925, but was destroyed by fire in 1977 and not rebuilt. The Children's Library was the basement, a space which had been used as a meeting room and theater. A branch library was created ath the Shull School in 1925, but later closed to make way for additional classrooms.[3] In 2010, renovations of the original building, including the replacement windows and repairs to the roof, were made as part of a restoration project.[5][6] A $30,000 study released in 2010 recommends exposing hidden skylights, enlarging the children's library, as well as new restrooms, stairs and elevators to make the facility wheelchair-friendly. An outdoor garden, a meeting room, a local history room, a magazine-reading room and air-conditioning are suggested. It is estimated total costs would run about $3.5 million dollars.[7] In August 2010 the library received from New Jersey a certification of eligibility for the state and national registers of historic places, but has not yet been listed.[8]

At 12,351 square feet, the current building does not satisfy the state's 27,214-square-feet minimum required size for a library and is considered too small for the city's 51,000 residents. The 2010 study calls for adding 22,500 square feet by constructing an addition on the east side of the property. Total costs for renovation and new construction are estimated at $9 million.[7]

• List of Carnegie libraries in New Jersey
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Middlesex County, New Jersey