Grand Opening for the new Fanwood Memorial Library

The new Fanwood Memorial Library opened to the public this week and a ribbon cutting on Saturday, September 14th, 2024, attracted more than 100 residents, local VIPs and elected officials.

The opening of the new building is the culmination of a decade of planning that began seeing daylight with the demolition of the 70-year-old original library in January 2023 followed by groundbreaking for the new facility in February 2023. The $9-million project was funded by the Borough of Fanwood, a state library grant and an appropriation from the state legislature.

The new, two-story building includes large, bright spaces, a family room, a living room area, an enlarged children’s section, a special room for teenagers including a large TV for gaming and extensive stacks of books and DVDs on the second floor. Just off the entrance on the first floor is a gallery featuring local artists, the first of whom is Joe Schott who, at age 102, is believed to be Fanwood’s oldest citizen. There is also a community room that can accommodate 100 people for various town events. The entire building is ADA-compliant and contains an elevator, easy ingress and egress, modern climate controls and automatic lighting.

A special feature is the Carlo Bravo Business Center, a room populated with multiple computers, copy machine and printer, named in honor of Fanwood native Carlo Bravo, who died in 2023 and whose family donated $20,000 to the Fanwood Memorial Library Foundation. In presenting the donation in May, Mr. Bravo’s brother Gino cited his brother’s love of the library having spent countless hours reading and borrowing books about the Vietnam war.

Among those attending the ribbon cutting were Mayor Colleen Mahr, Council members Jeff Banks, Gina Berry, Kathy Mitchell and Anthony Carter, County Commissioners Al Mirabella, Rebecca Williams and Kimberly Palmieri-Mouded, New Jersey State Librarian Jennifer Nelson, Assemblywoman Linda Carter, State Senator Nick Scutari and Scotch Plains Mayor Josh Losardo.

The library’s hours, programs and benefits for card holders can be found at https://fanwoodlibrary.org.

The Fanwood Memorial Library Foundation is looking for new members to assist in its mission of supporting the new library. Interested parties may contact Foundation President Sam Rogers at samuellangstonrogers@gmail.com.