Community Corner

Oct. 13, 1981: Ocean County Library Opens at 101 Washington Street

50,000 foot library was a move from cramped quarters

It was the 1970s and Ocean County's population was exploding. So too, was its demands on the library, which from 1978 to 1981 was the Bishop Building on Washington Street, serving as the entire county library system headquarters as well as housing the circulation catalog and reference library for Toms River.

The Bishop Building wasn't even the first home of the library, having moved from a cottage, a portion of the courthouse and the former gymnasium at St. Joseph's School.

Space was tight and demand was high. And so, a proper library would be erected, to finally provide patrons space for collections of thousands of books but also magazines, films, and music. It would have meeting space, concert space — it would have 50,000 total square feet of space (The library would again expand its size in the 2006 to accommodate additional services).

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The historic Presbyterian Church would house concerts, the library would have entrances facing several parts of the downtown, and in came tables to study at. A statue of a little girl reading would thereafter encourage passersby to join her on a bench.

On Oct. 13, 1981 the Ocean County Library opened its doors at 101 Washington Street — today in Toms River's History.

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