Meeting starts at 7pm ET.

This is an open meeting. All members or prospective members welcome. We would welcome some fresh ideas with open arms!

Contact foledisonnj@gmail.com or call 732-738-4586 for more details.

This is the first meeting following our summer hiatus.

Saturday, July 17, 2010 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. 141 Hoover Avenue (corner of Hoover & Pleasant – Directions & Map)

• Enjoy a 30-minute interactive presentation at 10:30am and 1:00pm Given by Walter Stochel of the Metuchen-Edison Historical Society.
• Browse old photos of the area, local homes and landmarks!
• Discover our history through maps, displays and other memorabilia!
• Members of the Metuchen-Edison Historical Society will be there to answer questions & share stories!
• Parents can relax and participate in the program while children are engaged in supervised activities!

Bring Your Own History!
Dig out those old photos and come over with a friend!

A FREE event sponsored by Friends of the Edison Library, Metuchen-Edison Historical Society and Clara Barton Library Supporters
Please contact us for more information.

Clara Barton Library will be OPEN FOR BUSINESS from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on this Saturday! Check out a book while you’re there!

Meeting starts at 7pm ET.

This is an open meeting. All members or prospective members welcome. We would welcome some fresh ideas with open arms!

Contact foledisonnj@gmail.com or call 732-738-4586 for more details.

Note: This will be the last meeting before our Summer hiatus. There will be no meeting in July or August. Meetings will resume in September.

His most recent Ceepak mystery is Rolling Thunder, which was published in May. With Grabenstein’s background in improvisational comedy, his program is sure to be entertaining. Seating is limited for this free program which is sponsored by The Friends, so please reserve your seat by calling 732-548-3045, ext. 1, sign up at the circulation desk, or online at http://www.lmxac.org/edisonlib, click on Programs and Displays.

While stocks last, we’ll be selling copies of Rolling Thunder at the program, but you can get your copy right now from the Store page of our website. The price is $25, the cover price of the hardcover book, but we’ll pay the postage for you. All profits will go to Friends of the Edison Public Library.

On Wednesday, June 2, 2010, Rick Busciglio will present his lecture on The Greatest Generation at 2pm. at the North Edison branch, 777 Grove Ave., Edison, NJ. Rick, a former broadcast executive, radio disk jockey, and television presenter, will involve his audience with his detailed stories and include anecdotes of the many famous people he worked with, or met, in his 45 year broadcast career.

The audio-visual presentation, including original recordings of the music of the era and numerous photos, recalls that period in American society between 1911 and 1953 and salutes the people who came of age during the Great Depression. It focuses on those who fought and won World War II and came home to build America.

The program is free, but advance registration is required for this Friends of the Edison Library sponsored program. Reserve your seat by calling 732-548-3045, ext. 1, going to the library’s website at http://www.lmxac.org/edisonlib and clicking on Programs and Displays, or signing up at the circulation desk.

A Town Hall meeting regarding the announcement was well attended by people from the Clara Barton area of Edison, many of whom were angry and upset about the closure. Edison’s Mayor Antonia Ricigliano proposed that the Library Board of Trustees meet with her to see if there was anything that could be done. That meeting was this week, as were a number of other meetings on the subject.

The Township Council have reallocated $100,000 from elsewhere in its budget so that the branch may stay open at least until the end of the year, to allow for time to explore the options. A task-force is being put together to look for ways to raise the necessary funds to keep the library open. Permission is also being sought to use around $70,000 that remains from a neighborhood preservation grant made to the area.

Friends of the Library President, Graham Gudgin, and Treasurer, Becky Gudgin were asked to speak at a community meeting held on Thursday in Clara Barton. They explained what The Friends of the Edison Public Library does and its relationship with the library. They also invited people from the area to join The Friends.

Friends of the Edison Public Library have offered our assistance to both the Library and the community group, as long as it falls within the scope of our organization.

Things are looking a little more hopeful for the branch library – we wish everyone involved much success with their efforts to keep it open.

Here are two recent local news stories on the subject:

Edison’s Clara Barton Branch Library gets a reprieve — for now – NJ.Com (Star Ledger)

Edison library branch gets reprieve from closing – MyCentralJersey.com (Home News Tribune)

Don’t miss this chance to find out more about Edison Township’s most famous citizen! Dr. Paul Israel, Director and Editor of the Thomas A. Edison Papers at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, will present insights into Thomas Alva Edison’s life and work at his Menlo Park laboratory. This free program is sponsored by The Friends of the Edison Public Library and The Edison Memorial Tower Corporation and will take place on Wednesday, May 26 at 7pm at Edison Main Library, 340 Plainfield Avenue.

Seating is limited. Reserve your seat by calling 732-287-2298, ext. 1, sign up at the circulation desk or on-line at www.lmxac.org/edisonlib, click on Programs and Displays.

In addition to serving as Director and Editor of the Thomas A. Edison Papers at Rutgers University, Dr. Israel is Chairperson of the Edison Memorial Tower Corporation. He has delivered numerous professional papers and public presentations on Edison’s career and on the subjects of invention and innovation. Dr. Israel is author of Edison: A Life of Invention (John Wiley & Sons, 1998), winner of the 2000 Dexter Prize of the Society for the History of Technology. His other books are From Machine Shop to Industrial Laboratory: Telegraphy and the Changing Context of American Invention, 1830-1920 (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992) and Edison’s Electric Light: Biography of an Invention (Rutgers University Press, 1986) with co-author Robert Friedel.

More details about the Clara Barton Branch closure can be found in our earlier post.

Meeting starts at 7pm ET.

This is an open meeting. All members or prospective members welcome. We would welcome some fresh ideas with open arms!

Contact foledisonnj@gmail.com or call 732-738-4586 for more details.