JCFPL :: Library Info | Branches

Branch Manager: Patricia Mehnert
Assistant Director: Sonia Araujo

326 Eighth Street
Jersey City, NJ, 07302
Phone: (201) 547 - 4808

Monday: 11:00am - 7:00pm
Tuesday: 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Wednesday: 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Thursday: 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Friday: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
**Closed: 1:00pm - 2:00pm (Lunch)**

Saturday, September 6, 1924: The Pavonia Branch of the Jersey City Free Public Library opened to no fanfare, other than the reward of opening a new branch at breakneck speed.

The Jersey Journal, in its Monday, September 8, 1924 evening edition, reported, “The packing and removal of the books from the old library on Grove Street, the rearrangement on the new shelves, and the final preparation of the new building and its equipment were done very quickly, the branch being closed to the public for only three days. This is a record for moving a public library. The work was performed by the regular Pavonia Branch staff under the personal direction of Librarian Miller.”

The dedication ceremony occurred the next year, in 1925, however the commemorative booklet records no exact date. The text began modestly in describing a very beautiful building.

“The new Pavonia Branch Library is a plain substantial building of the Italian Renaissance type of architecture and is built of stone and light brown brick. The building is of fire proof (sic) construction throughout and the floors and other woodwork are of oak. It has two stories and a basement and fronts on Pavonia Avenue. The length of the building is ninety-two feet and the depth about fifty feet.”

A booklet photograph of this “plain substantial” edifice demonstrates the formality of Italian Renaissance architecture, having, etched in stone, two carved garlands and a medallion over the main doorway and a carved garland over each window beside the door. Also stone-engraved, and with medallions on either side, high above yet underneath the dentil freeze of the ornate cornice, were the words, “FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY OF JERSEY CITY.” The words, “PAVONIA BRANCH,” were etched in stone above the door.

Even though urban renewal in the 1970s replaced the inner-city decline of the 1960s, the loss of population took its toll on Downtown Jersey City. Usage of the Pavonia Branch changed. According to then-Library Director William J. Roehrenbeck, “Things have changed now. There used to be a time when it was just a question of stocking the standards of English literature, but now we emphasize books of immediate practical value, how-to books, and books on social problems.” (The Jersey Journal, December 28, 1970)

Library patronage not only changed, but also declined, thereby setting up the probability of the branch library closing. “Residents say the neighborhood is changing: Buildings are being bought and sold, demolished and built up. And the Pavonia branch of the Free Public Library, which was built in 1924 and closed its present building on Nov. 23, is a barometer of that change.” (The Jersey Journal, December 28, 1970)

St. Francis Community Health Center, in a campaign of expansion, bought the surrounding property, and made a successful bid to city government for the library site. The Pavonia Branch was demolished in 1971.

As majestic as the Pavonia Branch’s first building certainly was, bricks and mortar did not replace the public interest and necessity of maintaining a neighborhood library. Involvement by the local residents, and of the Library Board of Trustees and staff, secured that city government uphold its responsibilities in providing a local branch of the Free Public Library to the residents of the Pavonia section (currently, the Hamilton Park Historic District).

Struggles to maintain a neighborhood presence occurred in the early 1970s when the Pavonia Branch became temporarily housed in a modular unit at 206 Pavonia Avenue. The site, between Erie and Grove Streets, had been earmarked for housing redevelopment. Discussion amongst then-Library Director Ben Grimm and elected officials in city government produced interest in keeping the branch open, yet moving the modular building elsewhere.

According to an article in The Jersey Journal, dated Friday, December 20, 1974, “rumors” about the Pavonia Branch’s demise was “unfounded.” Councilman Peter J. Zampella, in that article, said that he had “received assurances from the city that there will always be a branch in the immediate area. The only change is that the prefabricated structure between Erie and Grove streets may be moved to another nearby location or put into another structure because of urban renewal projects.”

Eleven years later, changing the Pavonia Branch Library’s location became an intense topic of discussion as the city’s redevelopment agency moved forward on its condominium development project. In a March 14, 1985 editorial entitled, “Progress,” The Jersey Journal commented, “…Bulldozing a library branch not only handicaps the city’s library system but deprives both new and old residents of this valuable and time-honored service.

“It’s akin to urban suicide. For what is a city that offers residents only a place to sleep? What sense of community will there be if residents are forced to go elsewhere for necessary services and amenities?”

Local community activists joined in the Library fight to ensure a neighborhood branch. Commitments for temporary housing of the Pavonia Branch in School 37 proved difficult, but were gotten. Plans for rehabilitating the old Wells Fargo building at 326 Eighth Street finally met with approval, costing $170,000.

On Monday, November 13, 1989, the new Pavonia Branch Library opened its doors in “what might be considered unusual…the library has been reopened in – of all places, a condominium unit. Library staff believes it is the first library in the country, possibly the world, to be located in a condo.” (The Jersey City Reporter, November 12, 1989)

The Reporter continued, “With a new site library officials were given the chance to start from scratch. When units in the building at 326 Eighth St. were first sold, buyers were getting space only – the building had no interior walls.” Given that “clean slate,” architect Helena Ruman, the library’s architect of record, requested a “wish list” and designed an interior that specifically met the neighborhood library’s needs.

The renaissance of the Pavonia Branch Library continues, as the shift in population now presents an abundance of young adults in their 20s and 30s, who live in the condos that line the Hudson River Waterfront in the Newport section of Jersey City, as a major source of patrons, as well as a solid senior clientele and mothers with pre-schoolers. Programs continue to shift and grow with requests from those frequenting the library.

Every bit of a neighborhood branch, the Pavonia Branch Library participates in the Hamilton Park Festival, held annually in June, the Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association and The Wells Fargo Condo Association. The Pavonia Branch, in entertaining patrons’ requests, will soon sponsor a book club desired by a group of local residents. Monthly movies of interest to adults and children are a constant staple to the other monthly programs offered.

July 2010 Movie Schedule
July 2010 Book Club - Thursday, July 22nd at 7:30PM
August 2010 Movie Schedule
August 2010 Book Club - Thursday, August 19 at 7:30PM

Pavonia Children's Summer Reading Club 2008
Pavonia Branch Library SRP 2006 Closing Party, August 18, 2006, Picture Gallery