SCLSNJ's Watchung Library Branch — Attraction in Watchung

I've been a Watchung resident for 30 years. When I first moved here as a young mother with 2 children under 5, our "go to" on nice days was Mobus field and in all other weather, the Watching library. It was an almost perfect library for children. The staff was very helpful, very patient, and during summer months when the kids were in school they had reading programs that were fun and educational.

The staff has always been very dedicated even though the town has not always kept the library building itself in the best shape.

I frequented the library quite a bit as an adult to check out books, cds, and DVDs. As my kids grew older and in the age of streaming, those visits became less frequent. When I traveled to other towns in the United States with more modern libraries that had performance space where lectures and book talks could be arranged for children and adults alike I longed for this in my own community.

Despite the best efforts of the staff and a more current effort on the part of the town council to care for our library, it remains limited in terms of adult offerings. This is the primary reason that I got involved with an effort on the part of people in the town to rebuild our library on a site with better access and more room.

I still love our little library but I am hopeful that within the next three years we will have a...

My husband and I moved to Watchung 27 years ago. We'd previously lived in a town with a newly built library with state of the art everything. I hated that library. Name tags read "Staff". I was in there nearly every day and was never greeted and no one ever called me by name.

When we relocated to Watchung, one of the first things i did was to seek out the library. It took a few spins around the circle to find it but I did find it. When I walked in I was greeted with a friendly hello, issued a library card and became part of the Watchung Library family. In the years since, I've learned learned staff names and learned about their interests and families as they have mine.

While the Watchung branch is small and yes, run down, it houses an impressive collection of books, CDs, DVDs and is supported by a community that understands the value a library brings to it. I look forward to having a new library facility in Watchung that brings us into the present century but I know it will continue to be the small town, welcoming place that I have...

I’ve used the library many times over the many years that I’ve lived here in Watchung. In addition when my children were living at home they also took a vantage of the library. It’s many resources including DVDs and computer access are extremely important for the people in Watchung. As a member of the Somerset library council we also have access to many books through that organization. You cannot underestimate the value of a library to the people of the community. There are so many smaller communities that have their own rather attractive library and for Watchung not to have one is difficult to imagine. There have been in- numerable articles written over the years by experts who would describe the incalculable advantages for a town to have its own library. Watchung cannot be one of those towns ...