Tenafly Library Society, 1895
Early Library Movement
In 1879, the New Jersey legislature enacted a law that allowed municipalities to levy taxes in the support of library services. However, the first library in Tenafly was a school-based library which opened in 1890 in Tenafly Public School, the first public school in Tenafly (photo 1). The library was not open to the public but used by school children and their parents.
Ralph S. Maugham, Principal of the Tenafly Public School (shown on the left in photo 2) and President of the Board of Education, J. Hull Browning (photo 4: seated in the first row 5th person from the left), gathered a book collection for the school library that grew to 2,000 volumes by 1911.
The library movement continued to grow in the 1890s and the Tenafly Library Society, incorporated March 29, 1895, "was formed for the promotion of learning in the study of literature and art by its members, and the maintaining of a public reading room and library in Tenafly" (Andrews, 1970 p. 4).
The Library Society met in Tenafly Hall on Jay Street and Highwood Ave (photo 3) which was paid for and built by the Tenafly Society, an organization devoted to cultural purposes. Photo 4 shows the interior of Tenafly Hall along with various officials at the time. Library Society Board of Trustee members F. L. Colver, Charles J Everett, H.B. Palmer, Mayor (seated center) and Stephen G. Clarke can also be seen in photo 4.
The Library Society held a variety of programs such as plays, literary lectures and, occaisionally, a costume party or social with the purpose of raising money for the society.
At the time, lectures, plays and other entertainments were held in Tenafly Hall. The second floor housed a 500 seat auditorium.
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More details from this time in the library's history can be found in
The Tenafly Public Library A History: 1891-1970 by F. Emerson Andrews, 1970