February 21, 2018

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Last Thursday, Youth Services reopened on the third floor of Princeton Public Library after a six-week renovation. Serving the needs of the community’s children, teens, and families, the floor now features distinct spaces based on age and activity. Young children and families came to enjoy the Lego table in the Early Literacy Space. There is also an Independent Reader Area, a Collab Space, STEAM Studio, and Living Room.

November 15, 2017

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On Saturday, November 11, parents met with representatives from local preschools at the Preschool Fair in the Princeton Public Library’s Community Room. Teachers, faculty, and parent volunteers talked about school programs, curriculum, philosophy, and the admission process at the annual event. Toys and books were available to all children.

August 22, 2017

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Citizens of Princeton gathered in Palmer Square to view and celebrate the first total solar eclipse visible on mainland US soil since 1979. The event was co-sponsored by the Princeton Public Library and Princeton University’s Astrophysical Science department. While the library was offering cookies, watermelon, and solar glasses, the Astrophysical Science department provided eclipse education, answered questions, and brought a telescope for the general public to look through.

August 4, 2015

shutterstock_111103529Princeton Public Library is accepting applications from authors interested in participating in an Author Fair as part of the library’s seventh annual Local Author Day on October 24, 2015.

Open to authors from Central New Jersey and Bucks County, Pa., with preference given to those who reside within 20 miles of Princeton Public Library, the Author Fair takes place from 1-4 p.m. as the highlight of Local Author Day.

The event is an opportunity for authors to gain exposure while showcasing their work in the highly regarded setting of Princeton Public Library. While the day’s emphasis is on marketing and networking, authors are also given space to display, sign and sell their books during the Author Fair. more

May 22, 2015
From left, Princeton Public Library Executive Director Leslie Burger, Janie Hermann, public programming librarian; and Peggy Birdsall Cadigan, Deputy State Librarian for Innovation & Strategic Partnerships, New Jersey State Library.

From left, Princeton Public Library Executive Director Leslie Burger, Janie Hermann, public programming librarian; and Peggy Birdsall Cadigan, Deputy State Librarian for Innovation & Strategic Partnerships, New Jersey State Library.

Princeton Public Library has received the 2015 Innovation Award from the New Jersey State Library Association for January’s popular how-to festival, “65 Things at 65 Witherspoon.” The daylong program, during which multiple, simultaneous demonstrations of a variety of skills and abilities took place throughout the library, was an opportunity for members of the community to share their talents with others. Library executive director Leslie Burger and public programming librarian Janie Hermann accepted the award last month during the State Librarians Breakfast at the NJLA Annual Conference in Long Branch. “The New Jersey library community is recognized nationwide for being innovative and forward-thinking ” said Hermann. “So to be recognized as innovators among this group, is a wonderful honor indeed.”

July 3, 2013

The doors to the Princeton Public Library’s Community Room aren’t normally open to Hinds Plaza. But on Monday of this week, day seven of no air-conditioning in the building, the doors were flung wide despite the beginnings of a drizzle outside. The few people listening to a man at the lectern sat fanning themselves in the steamy heat.

A 4,200-pound compressor unit is at the root of the problem. The library is replacing the existing compressor in it’s nine-year-old building, a process that is taking longer than expected. But a measure of relief has arrived: Some temporary units were installed Tuesday while work on the compressor continues. And library executive director Leslie Burger is hoping to have the issue resolved by the end of this week.

“Several times last summer, the compressor unit that runs the air conditioning system failed. After doing trouble-shooting and diagnostics, the recommendation from our contractor was to replace it,” she said Tuesday. “So it took a while to secure a commitment of funding, and then to put it out to bid according to state requirements. Once we did all that, then it was 10 weeks to manufacture the part.”

The part finally arrived, and the installers were scheduled. “We knew we’d be running close to cooling season, and then everything took longer than we expected,” Mr. Burger continued. “Last week was when we could get the compressor and the installer in the same place. Unfortunately, that happened to coincide with the worst weather.”

Hours have been curtailed at the library as the temperature and humidity have risen. The building was not open on Sunday except for one program, and closed at 2 p.m. Monday. It was scheduled to remain open until the normal closing time of 9 p.m. on Tuesday.

Attendance was noticeably down on Monday afternoon. The parking garage, normally packed by lunchtime, was filled only to the second level. Fans whirring inside the building were doing little to relieve the heat. But not everyone was bothered.

“When you’re on the computer, you don’t really notice it,” said Archer Ayres, 8, whose mother, Blair, read in a chair nearby. While somewhat more uncomfortable than her son, Ms. Ayres was philosophical about the situation.

“It’s not as bad as it could be,” she said. “It reminds me of being in Manhattan, where I used to live. You just deal with it. This is an amazing library, so how can we complain? We’re spoiled. We can tolerate a little unpleasantness.”

Ms. Burger said the goal, while the work continues, is to keep staff and customers as comfortable as possible. “This was obviously not our plan, but that’s the way it worked out. We could have waited, but then we ran the risk that it could break down. It’s a delicate balance. But people have been very understanding about it.”

—Anne Levin

 
March 27, 2013

Mayor Liz Lempert and members of Princeton Council will meet this Monday, April 1, at 7 p.m. in open session in the Princeton Municipal Building at 400 Witherspoon Street.

Among other agenda items, action is expected on the 2013 budget of the Princeton Public Library, projected as $5,020,025.

This figure includes $4,030,619 in municipal funds, or 80 percent of the library’s total operating expenses. According to the library’s budget request, this amount is “consistent with the ratio of tax support and private support that has been in place for years.”

The balance would be made up by donations from the Friends of the Princeton Public Library, the Princeton Library Foundation, grants and library fees. The Friends, which operate the library’s book-sale and annual benefit, anticipate a donation of $150,000 to the library’s operating budget this year.

According to the library, after holding the
line on budget increases for the last four years, the increase is necessary as a result of increased costs for health benefits, unemployment and disability insurance, and pension contributions.

In addition, the shift from in-house server-based technology to cloud computing has increased operating costs for information technology.

The 2013 budget represents a 4.5 percent increase over last year and includes a 2 percent cost of living adjustment for library employees. It also includes a request for $150,000 from the municipality in support of the up to two hours of free parking in the Spring Street garage that the library provides to Princeton residents.

In addition, the library requests a combined 2012 and 2013 capital allocation of $412,077 to support building and technology improvements, and other miscellaneous projects. Since the library did not receive capital funds in 2012, the budget includes the amount requested in 2012 together with an amount for 2013. The 2012 figure is $195,000; that for 2013 is $217,077.

This money would be used to replace worn carpeting over a three year period ($91,077 for the first year), electrical upgrades to reduce the library’s utility costs ($18,000), the installation of hands free low flow bathroom fixtures to reduce water consumption and paper towel waste ($19,000), furniture and painting ($100,000), and for a replacement vehicle ($30,000).

The Princeton Public Library has become known as Princeton’s “living room.” No more so than during the onslaught of Superstorm Sandy when residents sought shelter by the  Library fireplace, charged up their cellphones and used their computers at a time when many homes were without power and heat. The library has reported serving more than 29,000 people in this way over a six day period.

”The demand for study and seating space in the library continues to grow each year, and it is never more evident than when the library opens in response to a storm,” the budget request states.

Last year the number of visitors using the library, which is open 74 hours a week, was more than 840,000.

Mayor Lempert. a member of the library board, said at the March 19 public board meeting that the issue would come before the municipality on April 1; until then she could not comment. The library’s budget will be introduced as part of the municipal budget.

In a phone interview Monday, Library Director Leslie Burger presented a no-harm-in-asking attitude when questioned about the library’s request for extra funding from the municipality. “It’s merely a request and it’s up to the town to decide at what level it intends to support the library,” she said. “Up until now the library has been a joint agency dealing with the Borough of Princeton and the Township of Princeton. Now we are a single agency and we are feeling our way through that process of change.”

Ms. Burger pointed to decreasing revenues from movie rentals now that library patrons are streaming movies instead of borrowing them. She also acknowledged receiving a number of calls about the issue. Asked if she thought it likely that the request would be approved, Ms. Burger commented that it was in the nature of budget proposals to change.

February 13, 2013

One hundred and fifty years ago, during the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1.

A series of events marking the 150th anniversary of this historic event will take place this month at the Princeton Public Library and Princeton High School Performing Arts Center.

The documentary film, Looking for Lincoln, written by Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., screens tonight, February 13, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Library’s Community Room. The two-hour film reconstructs Lincoln’s complex life with insights gained from re-enactors, relic hunters, past presidents, Lincoln scholars, and historians.

On screen, Mr. Gates tackles the controversies that Lincoln’s life story provokes; issues of race, equality, religion, politics, and depression. Besides numerous Lincoln scholars, among those offering comment in the film are Pulitzer Prize winners Doris Kearns Goodwin and Tony Kushner; and presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Former Ebony editor Lerone Bennett challenges Lincoln’s record on race. Writer Joshua Shenk talks about the president’s depression.

A second documentary, based on Douglas A. Blackmon’s Pulitzer-Prize winning book, Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II, will be shown next Friday, February 22, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., also in the Library’s Community Room. The film challenges the belief that slavery in America ended with the Emancipation Proclamation.

Slavery by Another Name is an indictment of America’s failure to preserve the great moral victory of the Civil War and the mythologies we adopted to hide that failure,” says Mr. Blackmon. “No one group gets the blame. No one group gets to take credit.” Mr. Blackmon argues that both parties failed African-Americans over the span of many decades. To make his case, he evokes events following the Proclamation signing: Lincoln’s successor, Democrat Andrew Johnson, encouraged the return of white supremacist control of the South; Republican Teddy Roosevelt, initially a friend to African-American citizenship, turned against them; Democrat Woodrow Wilson extended Jim Crow segregation throughout the federal government. According to Mr. Blackmon, it was not until the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt, that the first serious and sustained effort to defend the actual freedom and civil rights of blacks began. Even so, those efforts were deeply flawed, he states.

Until joining the Washington Post in 2011, Mr. Blackmon was chief of The Wall Street Journal’s Atlanta bureau and the paper’s senior national correspondent. He has written about or directed coverage of some of the most pivotal stories in American life, including the election of President Barack Obama, the rise of the Tea Party movement and the BP oil spill. He has also written extensively about race in America, from the integration of schools during his childhood in a Mississippi Delta farm town, to the Civil Rights movement and the dilemma of how contemporary society should grapple with a troubled past.

Slavery by Another Name grew out of a Wall Street Journal article revealing the use of forced labor by dozens of U.S. corporations and commercial interests in coal mines, timber camps, factories, and farms in cities and states across the South, beginning after the Civil War and continuing until the beginning of World War II. It was a New York Times bestseller, and received numerous awards including a 2009 American Book Award.

After the film first aired on PBS, Mr. Blackmon coined the term “historical contortionism” to describe some of the responses to his work that would use history as contemporary propaganda: the impulse to “value history only to the degree that bits and pieces can be used as ammunition in some contemporary fight — usually in ways that are irrelevant and ultimately false.”

“Unfortunately, there are also still many people who are desperate to contort every fragment of history that they find into a foundation for a particular political agenda,” says Mr. Blackmon. Democrats wish to “forget their ardent opposition to civil rights for African Americans a century ago” and Republicans wish to “claim credit for passage of the Civil Rights laws of the 1960s, even though the moderate wing of the party that cooperated with Lyndon Johnson in those votes has since been essentially obliterated.”

On Thursday, February 28, from 7 to 9 p.m., Mr. Blackmon will join Princeton historian James M. McPherson and students from Princeton High School in a Community Commemoration of the Emancipation Proclamation at the Princeton High School Performing Arts Center, 151 Moore Street.

Mr. Blackmon and Mr. McPherson will speak and sign copies of their books. The event will also feature readings and songs by PHS students.

McPherson is professor emeritus of United States history at Princeton University and an authority on the Civil War. He won the Pulitzer Prize for his 1989 book Battle Cry of Freedom. His Abraham Lincoln will be the subject of discussion at the Library on Tuesday, February 19, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Library’s Quiet Room.

In addition, a student-led Black History Month celebration: An Evening of Cultural Celebration at Princeton High School will take place on Wednesday, February 27. The event, which is free and open to the public, will features food, dance, music and poetry.

January 16, 2013
TALKING TURKEY: In “My Life as a Turkey,” screening at this year’s Princeton Environmental Film Festival (Saturday, February 2, 1 p.m.), Joe Hutto’s life is changed when a farmer leaves a bowl of eggs on his front porch. After incubating the eggs Mr. Hutto found himself “mother” to a brood of young turkeys which hatched and imprinted on him.

TALKING TURKEY: In “My Life as a Turkey,” screening at this year’s Princeton Environmental Film Festival (Saturday, February 2, 1 p.m.), Joe Hutto’s life is changed when a farmer leaves a bowl of eggs on his front porch. After incubating the eggs Mr. Hutto found himself “mother” to a brood of young turkeys which hatched and imprinted on him.

This year’s Princeton Environmental Film Festival goes beyond film screenings to offer discussions with filmmakers, a celebratory dinner, and an awards ceremony.

The Festival kicks off next Wednesday, January 23, at 7 p.m., with Sustainable Princeton’s Annual Leadership Awards presented to individuals or organizations in recognition of efforts that enhance local sustainability in areas such as green building, healthy eating, buying local, and changing consumer habits. Also this year, a dinner at Mediterra is planned in honor of Emily Driscoll the director/producer of the documentary Shellshocked: Saving Oysters to Save Ourselves, and others involved in the film, following its screening on Wednesday, January 30.

“Having speakers, including filmmakers, associated with the screenings adds a whole other dimension to the experience of watching the films,” said Festival Director and Founder Susan Conlon of the Princeton Public Library. “We have been very lucky since year one to have the filmmakers attend.”

The festival has grown since its early days and has found a winning format in the last couple of years. After experimenting with various schedules, Ms. Conlon reports that it now takes place over three consecutive long weekends, Thursday through Sunday, with most screenings in the evenings. “Part of what makes it work is our proximity here in Princeton and central New Jersey to New York City, Brooklyn, Hudson River Valley, and Philadelphia where many of the filmmakers are based,” said Ms. Conlon, noting the presence of Princeton-based filmmakers too.

As the Library’s Youth Services Team Leader, Ms. Conlon welcomes the involvement of local high school students, three of whom serve on the festival’s planning committee; two attend Princeton High School and one goes to Princeton Day School.

The theme of this year’s festival, “A Sense of Place,” emerged as a common thread. “A mindset of how we feel about and relate to both the natural and built environments of our homes and communities, is the force that drives many of those [individuals] featured in this year’s films,” noted Ms. Conlon.

Planning for the event began last March when, said Ms. Conlon, she realized that the Princeton Environmental Film Festival was a thing sufficient unto itself. “We don’t have to get bigger every year or strive to outdo other festivals.” While the festival remains true to its original focus on films with local as well as regional and international relevance, its director has “a broad view of sustainability” and looks for films that engage people and that might not otherwise be seen. Films are selected by invitation and by submissions via a call for entries. The result is a blend of both.

“Looking back at how our own sense of place was  impacted as we braced for and dealt with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy last fall, it isn’t hard to understand the passion sparked when people feel their personal environment is threatened,” said Ms. Conlon. “That passion is evident in You’ve Been Trumped, our festival opener; The Island President our closing film; and many selections in between including the widely praised feature Beasts of the Southern Wild.” It’s also evident in documentaries Detropia, The House I Live In, Chasing Ice, and The Queen of Versailles. And, of course, in local filmmaker Jared Flesher’s Sourlands, which focuses on the effects of climate change in Central New Jersey. The film premiered to a standing-room only crowd at the Princeton Public Library last July and will be shown again on February 9.

The 35 films include, for children, Wallaby Tales — Traveling Zoo Show with wildlife educator Travis Gale (Saturday, January 26, 11 a.m.) and, for energy conservationists, the story of entrepreneur Jim Gordon’s proposal for 130 wind turbines in Nantucket Sound in Cape Spin: An American Power Struggle (Saturday, January 26, 1 p.m.), and a documentary on passive house design that is believed to achieve reductions of up to 90 percent in the energy required for heating and cooling (Saturday, January 26, 4 p.m.).

On Sunday, January 27, at 4 p.m. there will be a panel discussion on Hurricane Sandy, Climate Change, and the Future of Our Coastline with filmmaker Ben Kalina, film editor Marc D’Agostino, journalist Michael Lemonick (senior staff writer at Climate Central and a former senior science writer at Time magazine), and professional planner and New Jersey Institute of Technology adjunct instructor Tom Dallessio. The discussion will focus on how climate change will factor into the development of coastal communities.

The 2013 Princeton Environmental Film Festival opens Thursday, January 24, at Princeton Public Library, 65 Witherspoon Street, and runs through Sunday, February 10. Sponsored by Church & Dwight Co. Inc., Terra Momo Restaurant Group, and the Whole Earth Center of Princeton, all screenings are free. The dinner at Mediterra is the only festival event for which tickets are necessary. For more information, call (609) 924-9529 or visit: www.princetonlibrary.org. For a complete list of festival films, and updates on speakers, visit: http://commu
nity.princetonlibrary.org/peff/schedule/.

December 26, 2012

Art for Healing Gallery, University Medical Center of Princeton, Route 1, Plainsboro, is showing watercolors by Joel Popadics through January.

Art Times Two Gallery, Princeton Brain and Spine Care, 731 Alexander Road, presents “Energy in Mind: Picturing Consciousness,” works by Jennifer Cadoff, Debra Weier and Andrew Werth, through April. View by appointment. Call (609) 203-4622.

Arts Council of Princeton, Paul Robeson Center, 102 Witherspoon Street, has outdoor sculpture by Mike Gyampo on view through March 30 on the Michael Graves Terrace. Visit www.artscouncilofprinceton.org.

Bank of Princeton Community Art Gallery, 10 Bridge Street, Lambertville, is showing art by The Arc of Mercer and James Fanciano through January 15. A reception is January 11, 5-7 p.m.

Bernstein Gallery at the Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University, has works by political artist Marcia Annenberg through February 14. A reception and artist talk is February 3, 3-5 p.m.

Bray Gallery, 202 North Union Street, Lambertville, shows recent paintings by Joseph Bottari and Malcolm Bray, and photography by Andrew Wilkinson through January 6. Call (609) 397-1858 for information.

D&R Greenway, 1 Preservation Place, has “Urban Landscapes” on view through February 15. Works by Louis Russomanno, Susan Marie Brundage, Jean Childs Buzgo, Wills Kinsley, Leon Rainbow, Thom Lynch, and others are included, along with art by the A-Team Artists from Trenton. Also on view is a photo documentary on dance by Edward Greenblatt. Call (609) 924-4646 before visiting.

Ellarslie, Trenton City Museum in Cadwalader Park, Parkside Avenue, Trenton, is showing “James Rhodes, Trenton Stoneware Potter, 1773-1784” and “Contemporary Art from the TMS Collection” through January 13. On view through January 6 is “Over the River: The Artists of Yardley,” a juried exhibition. From January 12-February 24, “In My View: Stephen Smith, Florence Moonan, William Hogan” is on view. The reception is January 19, 7-9 p.m., and an artists’ talk is February 10, 2 p.m. Call (609) 989-3632 or visit www.ellarslie.org.

Firestone Library at Princeton University, has in its Milberg Gallery “Woodrow Wilson’s Journey to the White House,” through December 28. “First X, Then Y, Now Z: Thematic Maps” runs through February 10 in the main exhibition gallery. “Your True Friend and Enemy: Princeton and the Civil War” shows in the Mudd Manuscript Library Cotsen Children’s Library through July 31. “Into the Woods: A Bicentennial Celebration of the Brothers Grimm” is on view through February 28.

Gallery and Academy of Robert Beck, 204 North Union Street, Lambertville, presents paintings by Alex Cohen through December 28. “Small Captivations” is the title. Call (215) 603-6573.

Gallery at Chapin, 4101 Princeton Pike, has Dan Fanaldi’s oils, “People in My Life,” January 3-13. February 4-28, “Images: Reflections of Adventure” features artists Connie and Ken McIndoe. The reception is February 6, 5-7 p.m. Call (609) 924-7206.

Gourgaud Gallery, Cranbury Town Hall, 23-A Main Street, Cranbury, hosts “Cranbury Art in the Park X” through December 30. From January 6-26, “Art to Curl Up With” is the exhibit, and the reception is January 6, 1-3 p.m. Visit www.cranbury.org.

Grounds for Sculpture, Fairgrounds Road in Hamilton, presents Ming Fay’s “Canutopia” installed in the new East Gallery through February 15. Visit www.groundsforsculpture.org.

Historical Society of Princeton, Bainbridge House, 158 Nassau Street, is showing “Einstein at Home” and “From Princeton to the White House,” which celebrates the 100th anniversary of Woodrow Wilson, through January 13. On December 28 at 11 a.m., “Happy Birthday Woodrow Wilson!” family program includes stories and activities. December 29 at 11 a.m., the family celebration is “USS Constitution,” focused on the story of “Old Ironsides.” For more information visit www.prince
tonhistory.org.

The James A. Michener Art Museum at 138 South Pine Street in Doylestown, Pa., has “Creative Hand, Discerning Heart: Story, Symbol, Self,” through December 30. “Suspended Harmonies: Fiber Art by Ted Hallman” is exhibited through March 3. “The Mind’s Eye: 50 Years of Photography by Jerry Uelsmann” is January 19-April 28. Visit www.michenerart
museum.org.

The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, 71 Hamilton Street, on the Rutgers campus in New Brunswick, has “Lynd Ward Draws Stories: Inspired by Mexico’s History, Mark Twain, and Adventures in the Woods” through June 23, 2013. Through January 6, “Art=Text=Art: Works by Contemporary Artists” will be on view, from the collection of drawing collectors Wynn and Sally Kramarsky. “In the Company of Women: Prints by Mary Cassatt” runs through March 3. “Le Mur’ at the Cabaret des Quat’z Arts is on view through February 24. Works by Russian artist Leonid Sokov are displayed January 26-July 14.

Mariboe Gallery at the Swig Arts Center of The Peddie School, Hightstown, presents “Score,” an exhibit by Shanti Grumbine, January 1-February 8. The opening reception is January 11, 6:30-8 p.m. Visit www.ped
die.org/mariboegallery.

Mercer County Community College Gallery, West Windsor campus, CM Building, presents a show of mostly recent paintings by faculty member Mel Leipzig through December 27. Visit gallery@mccc.edu or www.mccc.edu/gallery.

Morven Museum & Garden, 55 Stockton Street, presents “Portrait of Place: Paintings, Drawings, and Prints of New Jersey, 1761-1898” through January 13. Museum hours are Wednesdays-Fridays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. Group tours of 10 or more can be arranged any day by advance reservation. Visit www.morven.org.

New Jersey State Museum, 205 West State Street, Trenton, has “Size Matters: Small Works from the Fine Art Collection” through December 30. Visit www.newjerseystatemuseum.org.

Plainsboro Library Gallery, 9 Van Doren Street, Plainsboro, presents the clay monoprints of Priscilla Snow Algava through January 2. From January 5-30, oils by Vimala Arunachalam, inspired by architecture, will be on display. The reception is January 13, 2-4 p.m. Call (609) 275-2897 for more information.

Princeton Public Library, 65 Witherspoon Street, is showing photography by Mary Cross (“Egyptland”) and painter Ifat Shatzky through December 31 as part of “The Fertile Crescent: Gender, Art and Society” series taking place in nine area venues. (609) 924-9529 or www.prince
tonlibrary.org.

The Princeton University Art Museum has works by Parastou Forouhar, Mona Hatoum, Sigalit Landau, Shirin Neshat and Laila Shawa on view through January 13 as part of “The Fertile Crescent” project. “Dancing into Dreams: Maya Vase Painting of the Ik’ Kingdom” is on exhibit through February 17. “City of Gold: Tomb and Temple in Ancient Cyprus” is on view through January 20. Museum hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m. Call (609) 258-3788.

Robert Beck Gallery, 204 North Union Street, Lambertville, hosts the 32nd Annual Juried Art Exhibit, “Lambertville and the Surrounding Area,” by the Lambertville Historical Society, February 10-March 28. A reception is February 10, 3-6 p.m. Artists are invited to submit one original painting in all media; subject must be of Lambertville and environs. Call (609) 397-0951 for details.

Straube Center, 108 Straube Center Boulevard, Pennington, presents an exhibit of Ebu-Arts work through January 12. Australian artist Guy Whitby is among the artists. Visit www.ebu-arts.org.

West Windsor Arts Center, 952 Alexander Road, Princeton Junction, presents “Rock, Paper, Scissors,” with work by 18 artists from the local area, January 13-February 24. The opening reception is January 13 at 4 p.m. Call (609) 716-1933.

This year Princeton weathered a major hurricane, opened a spanking new community park and pool, elected a mayor for the new municipality, coped with Route 1 left turn prohibitions, and prepared for consolidation, which officially takes effect on January 1. The University’s proposed Arts and Transit will become a reality, while the future of an AvalonBay development at the hospital’s former site on Witherspoon Street remains uncertain. University President Shirley Tilghman announced her retirement, effective this June, and the Township said good-bye to two retiring officials, Administrator Jim Pascale, and Police Chief Bob Buchanan.

Consolidation

Once voters approved the consolidation of Princeton Borough and Township last year, a Transition Task Force was put in place to guide the merger of two municipalities into one. This highly detailed project involved numerous subcommittees and the participation of citizen volunteers. The committees met with nearly every department in the Borough and Township to determine the most painless way to streamline operations before the new form of government is officially unveiled on January 1.

Both governing bodies named appointees to the Task Force. Led by Chairman Mark Freda, the group of 12 made recommendations on everything from office furniture to pension plans; from shade trees to trash collection. Some of the ideas they advised the governing bodies to approve must ultimately be confirmed by the new Princeton Council to be sworn in January 1. The Task Force held a public forum early this month to help inform citizens of what to expect once the new form of government goes into effect.

Hurricane Sandy

With extensive property damage and long-lasting power outages, it took a while for Princeton residents to dig out from Hurricane Sandy, a “super storm” that hit the East Coast in late October.

In an initiative that boded well for consolidation, Borough and Township police and other personnel joined forces to respond as a single entity to emergencies, issue alerts, and begin the daunting task of picking up the trees and limbs that lined — and often blocked — local streets. In his attempt to take care of a tree on his property, William Sword became the area’s only storm-related fatality.

Princeton Public Library and Princeton United Methodist Church were among the havens of light, warmth, and electricity during the first days after the storm. Opening doors to the front of the library, lobby, and community room at 7 a.m. on Thursday, November 1, the library had a record 8,028 visitors between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m.

Princeton public school children will be attending three additional days of school in 2013 — February 15, April 1, and June 20 — to make up for days lost during the storm. Princeton University had about 50 trees come down on campus as a result of the super storm and Director of Communication Martin Mbugua noted that there were “dozens” of reports of “blocked roads, damaged vehicles, fences, and other property.” In its end-of-year commendations, Princeton Township cited the University for helping with emergency response teams, and, on election day, for making Jadwin Gym available as a polling place.

In the days following the storm, schools, businesses, churches, synagogues, and other organizations held drives that collected much-needed supplies for devastated coastal communities.

The Hospital Move

Amid much fanfare, the University Medical Center of Princeton relocated in May from its longtime headquarters on Witherspoon Street in Princeton Borough to a glittering new facility on Route 1 in Plainsboro. While only a few miles from the old location, the new, $522.7 million hospital is a world away in terms of technology and design. The 636,000-square-foot hospital is the centerpiece of a 171-acre site that includes a nursing home, day care center, a park, and additional facilities. Each of the 231-single-patient rooms have large windows and high-tech capabilities.

Nine years in the making, the new facility is closer to a large percentage of the people the hospital traditionally serves, executive director Barry Rabner said during the opening week. A special open house was held for the community in the days before the official move took place.

Jughandle Closings

Looking for ways to ease traffic congestion on Route 1, the New Jersey Department of Transportation announced in March a decision to implement a 12-week experiment that eliminated left turns for Route 1 northbound motorists at Washington Road and Harrison Street. Protestations from the public and local officials regarding timing — the trial would coincide with the opening of the new hospital near Harrison Street — led the DOT to postpone the program until August. While the trial eased some traffic flow on Route 1, motorists were getting stuck on ancillary roads, and parents in the area were fearful for their children’s safety as cars used their driveways to make U-turns in order to correct routes affected by the jughandle closings. When demonstrations were organized by West Windsor residents on Washington Road, NJDOT Commissioner James Simpson closed down the pilot program two weeks short of its projected finish date.

Arts and Transit

Thanks to a December 18 vote in favor of its $300 million Arts and Transit proposal by the Planning Board, Princeton University can now begin to put its ambitious plan for an arts complex into action. The approval came after many contentious meetings of the governing bodies, nearly all focused on the fact that the terminus of the Dinky, which connects Princeton Borough and Princeton Junction station, will be moved 460 feet south as part of the plan.

Few had problems with the design for the Lewis Center for the Arts, which will include new teaching, rehearsal, performance, and administrative spaces designed by architect Steven Holl in a cluster of village-like buildings. Landscaped open spaces and walking paths that are part of the plan have drawn almost unanimous approval from officials and the public. This year, the University hired architect Rick Joy to design the renovation of the two Dinky station buildings, which will be turned into a restaurant and cafe.

Borough Council passed a resolution in July opposing the plan to move the station stop. And Save the Dinky, a group of citizens opposed to the idea of moving the Dinky, has filed lawsuits related to the contract of sale from 1984, when the University bought the Dinky shuttle line, and to its historical significance. See the story in this issue for details.

AvalonBay

Not satisfied with the plan for a rental complex proposed by the developer AvalonBay Communities, area residents, including those in the neighborhood surrounding the former site of the University Medical Center at Princeton, waged a relentless campaign to convince the governing bodies that it was not right for the town. Their hard work was rewarded on December 19 when the Regional Planning Board voted to deny the application. It remains to be seen what the developer’s next step will be. See the story in this issue for details.

Election

Like the rest of the country, the majority of Princeton voters supported the reelection of President Obama. Democratic Congressman Rush Holt (D-12) won an easy victory over his Republican challenger, Eric A. Beck.

Locally, Princeton voters elected Democrat Liz Lempert over Republican challenger Dick Woodbridge as the new mayor of consolidated Princeton. The six Democrats running for the new Council, Bernie Miller, Patrick Simon, Heather Howard, Jo Butler. Lance Liverman, and Jenny Crumiller were all elected. The sole Republican challenger was Geoff Aton.

Princeton voters also endorsed an open space tax of 1.7 cents per $100 of assessed property value.

Historic District

A six-year dispute over whether to designate 51 properties in the town’s architecturally diverse western section remains undecided. Residents of the homes in an area bounded by portions of Library Place, Bayard Lane, and Hodge Road are divided over the question, and more than one meeting of Borough Council this year became confrontational as the residents aired their views. The Council was scheduled to vote on the issue on December 11, but an injunction filed by those opposed to the designation prevented them from doing so.

Those in favor say the designation will protect the neighborhood from tear-downs and the construction of new homes that don’t fit in with the existing architecture. Those opposed fear the restrictions that historic designation could impose on improvements and repairs to the exteriors of their homes. The question will be carried over to the newly consolidated Council.

Community Park Pool

After months of discussions about what should and should not be included, the new Community Park Pool opened on Memorial Day weekend and won kudos all summer long as record numbers of area residents signed on as members or came on a daily basis.

Improvements to the pool park included a 20 percent expansion of the diving well to accommodate more diving boards and a water slide, a fish-shaped kiddie pool, and a “family pool” adjacent to the lap pool.

Schools

As a result of consolidation, Princeton lost its “regional school district” identity and renamed itself “Princeton Public Schools.” Offered the chance to move the date for school elections to the general election in November, the School Board opted to keep it in April for this year; in December they opted to move the next election to April.

In this year’s April election, voters approved the 2012-13 Princeton Regional school budget that includes a tax levy of $63.4 million, elected new board members Martha Land and Patrick Sullivan, and reelected Rebecca Cox. Superintendent Judy Wilson acknowledged that “voter turnout was not as high as it usually is,” in the April election, but chalked it up to the fact that there was one uncontested race (Mr. Sullivan, in the Township), and a “non-controversial budget.”

In the November election, voters approved an additional infusion of $10.9 million for improvements to all of the schools’ infrastructures.

In the fall, St. Paul’s School learned that it had been awarded a 2012 “Blue Ribbon of Excellence” award, the highest prize the Department of Education can confer.

Libraries

While the Princeton Public Library’s legal status will change with consolidation, the Board of Trustees chose not to proceed with a proposal that would have merged the Friends of the Library with the Princeton Public Library Foundation. In response to board President Katharine McGavern’s suggestion that “a single organization would make more sense from an accounting point of view,” the rest of the board voted to support what former President Claire Jacobus described as “the human capital that exists in the Friends.” This year’s annual Book Sale and Children’s Book Festival were, as usual, shining events for the library.

At Firestone Library on the Princeton University campus, renovations began on a project that is expected to be completed in 2018. The estimated cost is “in the nine figures,” and is being underwritten by the University, “just as they would a new laboratory for scientists,” said University Librarian Karin Trainer.

IAS/Battlefield

It took several contentious public hearings for the Regional Planning Board to come to a decision allowing the Institute for Advanced Study to go forward with a plan for a faculty housing development this past March. In July, the Princeton Battlefield Society filed an appeal in Mercer County Superior Court challenging the approval. Along with some historians, they believe the site is involved in the historic counterattack at the Battle of Princeton during the Revolutionary War, and therefore should not be disturbed.

Despite the legal action, and the June announcement that The National Trust for Historic Preservation had named the Princeton Battlefield to its 2012 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places, the IAS plan for eight townhouses and seven single-family homes on a seven-acre section of the campus is going forward. The development of 15 homes is expected to include a 200-foot buffer zone next to Battlefield Park that will be permanently preserved as open space.


December 19, 2012

UP ON THE ROOF: Photographer, pilot, and architect Alex MacLean has made a career of viewing landscapes from above. Shown here shooting an angle of New York City’s rooftops, he was the most recent speaker at the Princeton Public Library’s “Spotlight on the Humanities” architecture series.

Last Wednesday, people attending a lunchtime lecture at Princeton Public Library were given a rare glimpse of New York City. A bird’s eye view of Manhattan and Brooklyn rooftops, provided by pilot and photographer Alex MacLean, revealed surprising “roofscapes” containing lush gardens and geometric, agricultural patterns. The audience, clearly engaged by Mr. MacLean’s commentary as he projected views from his book Up on the Roof: New York’s Hidden Skyline Spaces, murmured repeatedly in surprise.

The gathering was the most recent in the library’s Spotlight on the Humanities Series focused on architecture. Begun earlier this year with talks by Princeton architecture professor Esther da Costa Meyer, the library’s designer Nicholas Garrison, and architect and dean emeritus of the Princeton University School of Architecture Robert Geddes, the series will continue with University Architect Ronald McCoy on January 17, Princeton based architect Michael Graves on February 13, and author Siobhan Roberts, whose book Wind Wizard is about Alan Davenport, considered the father of modern wind engineering, on February 26.

“It’s a wonderful series,” says Janie Hermann, the library’s programming director, following Mr. MacLean’s presentation. “People were just thrilled. And Alex sold almost a whole box of his books.”

The series is funded by contributions the library receives from the National Endowment for the Humanities. “I came up with the Spotlight on the Humanities because we had been getting requests for more daytime programming,” Ms. Hermann continues. “That’s challenging. But I realized that we would probably attract a crowd if we did scholarly lectures. I thought a lot of people in this town, some of whom are retired and some of whom are working, would hopefully come during their lunch break. And we’ve had a minimum of 40 or 50 people each time.”

Mr. MacLean is an architect who has flown his plane over most of the United States to document the landscape. His talk last week followed one the previous day at New York’s Mid-Manhattan Library. The latest book, published by Princeton Architectural Press, shows how changes to the city’s diverse rooftops are making the city more livable and sustainable. Photographs show not only green spaces but also water towers, swimming pools, tennis courts, restaurants, and sweeping works of art meant to be seen from above.

A committee including Ms. Hermann, Princeton University professor Stanley Katz, and Princeton University Art Museum Curator of Education Caroline Harris helps decide about programming for the series. Ms. Hermann found Mr. MacLean after reading a review of Up on the Roof. “I looked at his website and saw that he did public speaking,” she says. “So I reached out to him and he was happy to come.”

Next up is Mr. McCoy, whose talk is titled “Creating Place at Princeton.” The presentation will focus on “place-making” in architecture and landscape design, and how the Princeton campus balances innovation with a lasting sense of place. Mr. Graves, an internationally known architect whose most prominent local building is the Arts Council of Princeton across the street from the library, will discuss his work when he is featured in the series. Ms. Roberts will talk about her book, which investigates how wind navigates the obstacle course of the earth’s natural and built environments, and how when not properly heeded, causes damage — particularly appropriate considering the recent devastation of Superstorm Sandy.

Audiences meet in the library’s Community Room, where coffee and cookies are served, and attendees are welcome to bring a brown bag lunch. “The idea is to do this once or twice a year, depending on topics and availability,” says Ms. Hermann. “We’re very excited about it and the response has been very positive so far.”


November 28, 2012

If Princeton merchants have their way, the newly consolidated government will include a commission devoted to the business community. Mayor-elect Liz Lempert, who attended a meeting of the Princeton Merchants Association Tuesday morning, told the audience that she was open to that idea, which was suggested by a member of the organization.

The meeting was held at Princeton Public Library’s Community Room. Invited to talk about her future plans regarding the business community, Ms. Lempert listed strong communication, sustainability, and solving traffic problems as some of her major concerns.

“I would really like to focus on having great communication,” she said. “The website should be improved, and I’ve been looking at websites from other towns to see how we can do it better. I’d like us to become more sustainable. We don’t have easy recycling downtown, and I want to work on that, as well as energy efficiency. I want to address the long-standing problems of traffic and parking in the Borough. Whether we use satellite parking or shuttles, I don’t know yet. But it’s something I want to look at.”

Tere Villamil, the owner of La Jolie Salon & Spa, commented that Borough businesses often lose employees to stores in malls because of the high cost of parking in downtown Princeton.

Members also heard reports from Linda Mather and Scott Sillars, members of the Transition Task Force, about how the process of consolidation is progressing. Ms. Mather said that movement in the Borough and Township municipal buildings and some changes in infrastructure are results already in place. Mr. Sillars, who is vice-chair of the Task Force, said that the biggest changes are in administration, finance, public safety, public works, and the clerk’s office.

Praising consolidation, he added, “The change in efficiency and operations in government is going to be magnificent. We saw during Hurricane Sandy how Public Works and the police worked together — magnificently.”

Ms. Lempert encouraged PMA members to attend the goal-setting meetings, open to the public, that she is planning to hold at dates to be announced. The new government is “a window” allowing things that didn’t happen to become things that do happen. “There is a real opportunity to make change,” she said.

Carly Meyer, president of the PMA, said, “We get it and we’re here to play ball.”


November 21, 2012

The focus was on buildings and grounds at last week’s Board of Education meeting.

Superintendent Judy Wilson and other members of the Board reiterated their thanks to the community for passing a September referendum that will support $10.9 million in infrastructure repairs and upgrades to district schools. At the same meeting, which had originally been scheduled for October 30, Ms. Wilson reported that school buildings and playing fields came out of Hurricane Sandy relatively unscathed. The meeting concluded with the presentation by Kip Cherry of a proposed resolution focusing on the disposition of the old section of Valley Road School building.

In her comments about the recent storm, Ms. Wilson described Borough Administrator Robert Bruschi as “tireless, steady, and accurate” in fulfilling his role as “key communicator” between the schools and the public.

The Princeton Public Library was also acknowledged for providing a haven in the days during and after the storm. “Hundreds of our children were sitting on the library floor reading and chatting,” Ms. Wilson reported. “What a sight it was.”

Custodians and maintenance staff, under the leadership of Director of Plant/Operations Gary Weisman, were recognized for putting in as many as 50 hours at a stretch at school buildings over the course of ten to twelve days. “They made a huge difference in our ability to open again,” Ms. Wilson noted.

The only damage sustained by any of the schools was to the roof of the gym at Princeton High School, where repairs are already underway.

Repairing the Valley Road School Building was the subject of Ms. Cherry’s presentation. “I’m not expecting you to vote on it tonight,” she said as she distributed copies of the proposal prepared by by Valley Road Community Center, Inc. “Consider it a draft for your future support.”

Ms. Cherry noted that portions of the building are “in dire need of repair” and “will become an eyesore or safety hazard if not addressed.” The proposal to create a “Valley Road Community Center” is not a new one, but Ms. Cherry reiterated some of its specifics, including the creation of affordable spaces for non-profit theater and arts organizations which will work together in a synergistic environment. Ms. Cherry was careful to note that the purposes of the Center would be consistent with the Princeton Public School’s mission, and that environmental issues would be met in creating it.

The suggestion, this time, that the Board “partner” with the Valley Road Community Center, Inc., may have been a new one. “You haven’t been with us,” Ms. Cherry commented, noting that a partnership would enhance fund-raising opportunities and garner support for the project from the Planning Board and new municipal Council.

Thanking Ms. Cherry for a “thoughtful proposal,” Ms. Wilson reminded everyone about the Board’s “time frame” for considering what to do with the Valley Road building. Since they were committed “to go to work on this issue after the first of this year,” she said, she did not expect “any public discussion on this in next six weeks.”

Ms. Cherry expressed the hope that things would move a little faster, since water is currently leaking into the building. “The building can’t be reused if the water situation is not stabilized,” she noted.

Ms. Wilson responded by saying that Township officials are aware of the water situation.

In non-building related discussions, the Board approved a revised policy that addresses all tobacco use by students. Curriculum changes were made to “align with state requirements,” reported Student Achievement Committee Chair Andrea Spalla, and, at the teachers’ request, A Midsummer Night’s Dream will be taught to sixth graders this year.


November 7, 2012

HOME AWAY FROM HOME: The Princeton Public Library more than lived up to its role as the “Community’s Living Room” for power-starved residents during Sandy’s aftermath. (Photo by Emily Reeves)

As if we didn’t know it already, Princeton Public Library proved, once again, that it is truly this community’s “living room” by serving as a haven for many during Hurricane Sandy.

“We had more than 29,360 customers last week, including the day before the storm, October 28,” reported Communications Director Tim Quinn. “That averages to about 4,200 per day.”

The library conceded to the storm by closing on Monday, October 29, but reopened around 11 a.m. on Tuesday, October 30, remaining open until 9 p.m. Some 4,788 visitors came to the library in a nine-hour period that day.

Instead of waiting until the usual 9 a.m. opening on Thursday, November 1, the library provided a warming station by opening doors to the front of the library, lobby, and community room at 7 a.m. That day saw the largest attendance of the period, with 8,028 visitors in the 14 hours between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. On Friday, November 2, 6,539 people came to the library during roughly the same period.

Mr. Quinn reported that the three-day total number of visitors to the library during the peak of the power outage was 19,355. “By comparison, our average daily door count is 2,500,” he added. Circulation of library materials during this time doubled, and “all computers were in use pretty much every hour we were open,” said Mr. Quinn. “Our Wi-Fi was operating at the maximum capacity throughout,” and intense Wi-FI use prompted frequent announcements asking visitors to turn off the Wi-Fi on 3G and 4G devices, so others could get on the internet. Other announcements kept people up-to-date on school closings, and encouraged them to attend screenings of family-friendly movies like Penguins of Madagascar in the Community Room.

When available seats ran out, library visitors took to sitting side-by-side on the floor. In addition to the usual library activities, there were card games, and impromptu meetings. At least one couple came to see what the latest issue of Consumer Reports had to say about a badly-needed appliance.

Another bright spot for area residents during the storm was McCaffrey’s Market at the Princeton Shopping Center, where a generator kept food fresh and operations humming. People stood patiently in a long line for coffee, often bringing it to the upstairs seating area where they could drink it, eat Halloween-themed pastries, and recharge electrical appliances.

Internet service at McCaffrey’s was spotty, but the lights, warmth, good smells, and happiness at seeing familiar faces more than made up for it. It didn’t feel at all surprising, at one point, to hear the theme from Cheers emanating from McCaffrey’s large screen TV.

Another bright spot was Princeton United Methodist Church (PUMC), where Pastor Jana Purkis-Brash and Music Director Hyosang Park plugged in the coffee pot and posted a sign on the lawn reading, “Come in! Get warm! Charge up and use our Wi-Fi!” On Wednesday two dozen passersby sought brief refuge from the cold, plus nearly 100 people who spent the day, charging their phones and logging onto PUMC’s Wi-Fi. On Wednesdays, PUMC usually serves free meals to all, in partnership with the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, and this last week was no exception. At 4 p.m. the Cornerstone Community Kitchen team converted the space into a dining room, where 73 people enjoyed salad, roast pork and mashed potatoes.


October 24, 2012

Alfa Art Gallery at George Street Playhouse, 9 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, presents “The Message,” a solo exhibition by Vesselin Kourtev, through November 20. Visit www.AlfaArt.org.

Art for Healing Gallery, University Medical Center of Princeton, Route 1, Plainsboro, is showing watercolors by Joel Popadics from October 26 through January. The opening reception is October 26, 5:30-8 p.m.

Art Times Two Gallery, Princeton Brain and Spine Care, 731 Alexander Road, presents “Energy in Mind: Picturing Consciousness,” works by Jennifer Cadoff, Debra Weier and Andrew Werth, November-April. The opening reception is November 8, 5-7 p.m. After that date, view by appointment. Call (609) 203-4622.

Artists’ Gallery, 18 Bridge Street, Lambertville, presents “Patterns & Meaning: Alan J. Klawans and Andrew Werth,” November 9-December 2. Both artists use the computer as a tool in creating their work. The opening reception is November 10, 3-6 p.m. Visit www.lambertvillearts.com.

Arts Council of Princeton, Paul Robeson Center, 102 Witherspoon Street is showing works by Shiva Ahmadi, Monira Al Quadari, Nezaket Ekici, Hayv Kahraman, and Efret Kedem as part of “The Fertile Crescent: Gender, Art and Society” series, through November 21. Outdoor sculpture by Mike Gyampo is on view through March 30 on the Michael Graves Terrace. Visit www.artscouncilof
princeton.org.

Bernstein Gallery at the Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University, has paintings by Hanna von Goeler October 29-December 6. The reception is November 2 from 7-9 p.m.

Bucks County Gallery, 77 West Bridge Street, New Hope, Pa., presents a solo exhibit by Christine Graefe Drewyer through October 28. From November 2-30, five artists including Dot Bunn and John Murdoch will show their paintings. Visit www.buckscountygal
leryart.com.

D&R Greenway, Johnson Education Center, 1 Preservation Place, presents “Sustainable Harvest: Creating Community Through the Land,” a mixed-media show about farmland, iconic farm structures, and new perspectives on crops and creatures, through November 9. Winners of the “Species on the Edge” art and essay contest, devoted to New Jersey’s endangered and threatened species, is in the Olivia Rainbow Gallery, also through November 9.

Ellarslie, Trenton City Museum in Cadwalader Park, Parkside Avenue, Trenton, is showing “Naturally, Man-Made, in Full View: The Art of le Corbeau” through November 4. Showing through January 13 is “James Rhodes, Trenton Stoneware Potter, 1773-1784” and “Contemporary Art from the TMS Collection.” Call (609) 989-3632 or visit www.ellarslie.org.

Firestone Library at Princeton University, has in its Milberg Gallery “Woodrow Wilson’s Journey to the White House,” through December 28. “First X, Then Y, Now Z: Thematic Maps” runs through February 10 in the main exhibition gallery. “Your True Friend and Enemy: Princeton and the Civil War” shows in the Mudd Manuscript Library Cotsen Children’s Library through July 31. “Into the Woods: A Bicentennial Celebration of the Brothers Grimm” is on view through February 28.

Gallery and Academy of Robert Beck, 204 North Union Street, Lambertville, shows paintings by Mr. Beck and hand-wrought clocks by Raymond Mathis through November 18. Visit www.robertbeck.net.

Gallery at Chapin, 4101 Princeton Pike, has drawings and paintings by Dot Bunn through October 26. From November 1-December 14, “Abstract Drawings and Paintings” by Pat Martin will be shown. The opening reception is November 7, 5-7 p.m. Call (609) 924-7206.

Gallery 14, 14 Mercer Street, Hopewell, shows “Nantucket” by India Blake, “Cityscapes” by Charles Miller and Richard Trenner, and “Recent Work” by Kenneth Kaplowitz through November 11. Gallery hours are Saturday and Sunday, noon-5 p.m. or by appointment.

Garden State Watercolor Society presents its 43rd Annual Juried Exhibition through October 28 at Prallsville Mills in Stockton. For times and details on special events, visit www.garden
statewatercolorsociety.net.

Gelavino Gelato Shop at Princeton Shopping Center, North Harrison Street, is showing 12 prints by Princeton High School junior Jane Robertson through October 31.

Gourgaud Gallery, Cranbury Town Hall, 23-A Main Street, Cranbury, hosts Colleen Cahill, who will show her pastels, watercolors and mixed media pieces in a show called “Transitions” through October 28. “Quiet Dignity,” the art of Cyndi Girardet,” is on view November 4-25. The opening reception is November 4, 1-3 p.m. Visit www.cranbury.org.

Grounds for Sculpture, Fairgrounds Road in Hamilton, presents Ming Fay’s “Canutopia” installed in the new East Gallery through February 15. Sculptor Mark Parsons will speak about the inspiration for his work and the process of creating sculpture as a community undertaking on October 27 at 1 p.m. Admission to the talk is $5. Visit www.grounds
forsculpture.org.

Historical Society of Princeton, Bainbridge House, 158 Nassau Street, is showing “Einstein at Home” and “From Princeton to the White House,” which celebrates the 100th anniversary of Woodrow Wilson, through January 13. At the Updike Farmhouse on Quaker Road, “Call to Action: How a President Used Art to Sway a Nation,” World War I posters from the collection, and “A Morning at Updike Farmstead: Photographs by the Princeton Photography Club” are open November 17 and December 15, 12-4 p.m. For more information visit www.princetonhistory.org.

JB Kline Gallery, 25 Bridge Street, Lambertville, is showing “At the Same Place at the Same Time,” paintings by S.L. Baker, through October. Visit www.slbakerpaintings.com.

The James A. Michener Art Museum at 138 South Pine Street in Doylestown, Pa., has “Creative Hand, Discerning Heart: Story, Symbol, Self,” through December 30. “Parting Gifts: Artists Honor Bruce Katsiff” is on view through December 9. Visit www.michener
artmuseum.org.

The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, 71 Hamilton Street, on the Rutgers campus in New Brunswick, has “Lynd Ward Draws Stories: Inspired by Mexico’s History, Mark Twain, and Adventures in the Woods” through June 23, 2013. Through January 6, “Art=Text=Art: Works by Contemporary Artists” will be on view, from the collection of drawing collectors Wynn and Sally Kramarsky. “In the Company of Women: Prints by Mary Cassatt” runs through March 3. “Le Mur’ at the Cabaret des Quat’z Arts” is on view through February 24.

Lawrence Art & Frame Gallery, 2495 US1, Lawrenceville, presents new paintings by Bill Plank November 9-December 9. The artist will work on a new landscape painting in the store window November 9 and 10 from 12-4 p.m.

Lawrenceville School’s Marguerite & James Hutchins Gallery, Gruss Center of Visual Arts, Lawrenceville, has a Faculty Exhibition 2012 through October 27. Visit www.law
renceville.org.

Lewis Center for the Arts’ Lucas Gallery, 185 Nassau Street, opens its season with a drawing show by more than 40 students, through October 26. The gallery is newly renovated and will feature work by ceramics students November 13-21, and by those studying sculpture, graphic design, and photography December 4-14. Free public lectures by faculty members continue with painter Josephine Halverson on November 7, and filmmaker Su Friedrich on December 5. Visit www.princeton.edu/arts.

Mariboe Gallery at Peddie School, Swig Arts Center, Hightstown, presents “Nuits Blanches,” recent paintings by Frank Rivera, through November 12. Visit www.ped
die.org/mariboegallery.

MCCC Gallery, Mercer County Community College, 1200 Old Trenton Road, West Windsor, presents “MCCC Faculty Exhibit 2012” through November 8. Call (609) 570-3589 or visit www.mccc.edu/gallery.

Morven Museum & Garden, 55 Stockton Street, presents “Portrait of Place: Paintings, Drawings, and Prints of New Jersey, 1761-1898” through January 13. Museum hours are Wednesdays-Fridays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. on. Group tours of 10 or more can be arranged any day by advance reservation. There is free on site parking.

New Hope Sidetracks Art Gallery, 2A Stockton Avenue, New Hope, presents its Sixth Annual Naked in New Hope exhibition, a group show about the human body, through November 3.

Outsider Art Gallery, 10 Bridge Street, Suite 4, Frenchtown, has a show of work by artists from the Canary Islands and England through November 1. Additional venues are the first floor of New Hope Arts, next door, and The Raven, New Hope Lodge, 400 West Bridge Street. Call (215) 862-4586.

Plainsboro Library Gallery, 9 Van Doren Street, Plainsboro, presents portraits by artist/architect Pablo Riestra, through October 31. For the month of November, an exhibit of ArtSpace, a program of HomeFront, will be on view. Client artists will be on hand November 11 from 2-4 p.m. to discuss their work at a reception. Call (609) 275-2897 for more information.

Present Day Club, 72 Stockton Street, presents “From Oysters to Artichokes: a new look at still life paintings,” October 29-December 20. Artists Heather Barros, Betty Curtiss, Meg Brinster Michael, Stephen S. Kennedy, and Mary Waltham are in this show. The opening reception is November 2, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Call (609) 430-0897.

Princeton Art Gallery, 20 Nassau Street, will hold a reception for painter Xinle Ma on October 27 from 3-5 p.m. Call (609) 937-5089 for information.

Princeton Day School’s Anne Reid Art Gallery is showing a photography exhibit by Dan Mead and Sally Eagle, “Bhutan: Land of the Thunder Dragon,” through November 11. The school is at 650 Great Road. Visit www.pds.org.

Princeton Public Library, 65 Witherspoon Street, is showing photography by Mary Cross (“Egyptland”) and painter Ifat Shatzky through December 31 as part of “The Fertile Crescent: Gender, Art and Society” series taking place in nine area venues. (609) 924-9529 or www.prince
tonlibrary.org.

The Princeton University Art Museum presents “Root and Branch,” which explores the form of a tree in art and includes several art forms, through November 25. Works by Parastou Forouhar, Mona Hatoum, Sigalit Landau, Shirin Neshat and Laila Shawa are on view through January 13 as part of “The Fertile Crescent” project. “Dancing into Dreams: Maya Vase Painting of the Ik’ Kingdom” is on exhibit through February 17. “City of Gold: Tomb and Temple in Ancient Cyprus” is on view through January 20. Museum hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m. Call (609) 258-3788.

Princeton University League Art Gallery, 171 Broadmead, second floor, shows “Lifeline,” acrylics by Jeanne Calo, November 17 and 18, 1-5 p.m. The opening reception is November 16, 5-8 p.m.

Rider University Art Gallery, Bart Luedeke Center, Rider campus, Lawrenceville, presents “Alterations: A Retrospective,” sculptures by Joan B. Needham, October 25-December 2. The opening reception is October 25 5-7 p.m. Visit www.rider.edu/arts.

Straube Center, 1 Straube Center Boulevard, Pennington is showing “Ataractic Themes,” an exhibit of landscapes, portraits and still life work capturing a sense of calm and tranquility, through December 1. Visit www.straubecenter.com/art_at_straube.php.

Triumph Brewery, 138 Nassau Street, presents a solo exhibit of portraits and abstracts by Jannick Wildberg, through November 25.

West Windsor Library, 333 North Post Road, Princeton Junction, shows a solo exhibit of watercolors and acrylics by Elizabeth Peck during the month of October.

October 10, 2012

Springboard, an after school tutoring and homework help center once housed in the Princeton Public Library, has moved. Its new location is room C-104 at the Walnut Lane entrance of John Witherspoon Middle School.

“For the last five years or so, the library has been underwriting the cost of Springboard, but many of those sources have dried up,” said Executive Director Leslie Burger. Springboard usage statistics, she added, were not encouraging. She expressed delight, however, in the fact that the “Princeton Public Schools found a new home for Springboard.”

“The quality program that you have come to expect and rely on will be the same,” Springboard spokeswoman Joyce Turner reported in a letter to the community announcing Springboard’s new location. The free drop-in program, which does not require appointments, will continue every Monday through Thursday from 3:30 to 6 p.m. when the Princeton Public Schools are open.

In the meantime, the library has created other on-site after-school options, including a new tutoring program, for youngsters. These include a chess club, a Mac lab where students work on collaborative projects, and the addition of laptops to the third-floor teen area. All of these activities, said Ms. Burger, are either subsidized by outside funds, and/or staffed by volunteers.

More traditional after-school homework help from adult community volunteers and college level students is also now available at the library from 4 to 6 p.m. every Monday through Thursday when Princeton Public Schools are in session. Students in all grades from all Princeton schools are welcome, and, like Springboard, registration is not required.

In the past, Springboard estimated that it helped between 10 and 35 students per day. In 2000, the American Library Association honored Springboard with an award for excellence in after-school programming for young adults.

“For over 20 years we loved working with the library,” said Ms. Turner. “The collaboration was just wonderful; the library provided books, and Springboard provided instruction.

“It won’t be the same,” Ms. Turner added. “We’ve sent a letter to the youth services staff at the library, telling them how much we’ll miss them.” The new middle school location now being used was felt to provide the “best balance” for students in all grades.

Ms. Turner said that she was grateful for continued support from the F.I.S.H. Foundation, to staff who took a pay cut, and to the school district for offering a space. “We’re not going to let the program die. Many of the kids who come in have special education needs and come from low-income families.”


September 12, 2012

Nearly a decade ago, there was considerable debate among Princeton residents about whether the Princeton Public Library should rebuild on its Witherspoon Street corner site or relocate to Princeton Shopping Center. Betty Wold Johnson, one of the library’s most generous supporters, was all for the latter option.

“I didn’t want it in Princeton at all,” Mrs. Johnson recalled last week during a telephone conversation. “In the shopping center, [where the library relocated during its rebuild] I could go to the library and do my shopping at the same time. I thought it would have been just great.”

The library stayed on its corner footprint, replacing its 1966 structure with a state-of-the-art building that has become one of the busiest public libraries in New Jersey. And Mrs. Johnson soon came around to the idea. Starting with a $1 million gift for the capital campaign, she has since donated challenge grants for the endowment campaign of $2 million. Her latest is another $1 million in challenge grant funds, to build a new endowment for maintenance and upkeep of the building, now eight years old.

“The most important thing about Betty Johnson is that she is quietly philanthropic, in a way that has significantly changed not just Princeton Public Library, but many organizations,” said Leslie Burger, PPL’s director. “She is very unassuming. She asks incredibly smart questions. What she has done has been quietly transformational.”

In recognition of her staunch support, Mrs. Johnson is the honorary chair of “Beyond Words,” this year’s fundraiser for Friends of the Princeton Public Library. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jeffrey Eugenides is the featured speaker at the Saturday, September 29 event, which begins with his talk at Richardson Auditorium and follows with a cocktail reception, silent auction, and dinner in the library.

The widow of Johnson & Johnson heir Robert Wood Johnson III [and later Douglas Bushnell], Mrs. Johnson first began contributing to the library in the early 1990’s. “She started in 1991 to support the attempt to keep the library open during Sundays and some holidays,” Mr. Burger said. “She provided that support for many years.”

Ms. Burger isn’t sure just how, when, or why Mrs. Johnson became an advocate for rebuilding the library on its existing footprint. But once she made the switch, she was firmly committed.

“Betty was a doubter,” Ms. Burger said. “She wanted the library to stay at the shopping center. But for whatever reason, she was here the day we were moving the books in. I put a hard hat on her and said, ‘Here, let’s get to work.’ And she jumped right in.”

Mrs. Johnson remembers the day well. “I happened to be there that first day that the books came in,” she said. “Leslie handed me a dust rag and we got to work. That’s also the day I found out she baked cookies, because she had brought them in for everyone.

“This is how I’ve come to know Leslie,” Mrs. Johnson continued during a phone interview, proceeding to read something she had written about Ms. Burger. “When Leslie Burger came to Princeton to our library, we didn’t know what we were getting. It wasn’t long before we discovered we had hired a cleaning lady who baked cookies for workers, an arranger of books and a mover of furniture, and an accountant who notices when the water bill goes up. She’s our CEO and beloved librarian.”

Donations from Mrs. Johnson to the library come from two sources: the Robert Wood Johnson 1962 Charitable Trust, and the Williard T.C. Johnson Foundation Inc. There are three areas of the library named for Mrs. Johnson: the Teen Center, the Terrace Garden, and the Afterschool Study Center.

“Her gifts to the centennial campaign were instrumental in helping us reach our goal of $10 million,” said Ms. Burger. “She is a huge library supporter. We couldn’t be where we are without her.”


April 11, 2012

It was an auspicious day at the Princeton Public Library. Not only did April 2 mark the 207th birthday of the beloved creator of classic fairy tales, Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875); it was children’s librarian Lucia Acosta’s birthday as well. To celebrate the occasion, Ms. Acosta led a special Story Time program for youngsters in the third-floor Story Room located just off the the library’s children’s section.

“There are lots of different versions with different pictures,” explained Ms. Acosta to the dozen or so youngsters who arrived with parents, grandparents, and caretakers. While the Danish author’s fairy tales — The Little Mermaid, The Emperor’s New Clothes, and The Tinderbox, to name just a few — have been translated into many languages (not to mention receiving the Disney treatment) — Ms. Acosta reassured her audience that “it’s still the same story.”

These same stories, albeit in more rarified formats, are also housed at Princeton University’s Firestone Library, where a collection of more than 1,000 Danish editions, early translations, and important reprints of Hans Christian Andersen’s works was placed on deposit in 1995 by Lloyd E. Cotsen and later gifted to the library. In 2005, the Cotsen Children’s Library, in Firestone Library, observed the bicentenary of Andersen’s birthday with several months’ worth of events that included an exhibition, an academic conference, excerpts from a children’s opera, storytelling, and screenings of various film adaptations of Andersen’s tales.

At last week’s public library program, Ms. Acosta read from simplified versions of The Ugly Duckling, and The Princess and the Pea. The ten ducks in the first story provided a natural lead-in for having everyone count their own ten fingers, and the five ducks in the second version provided a great opportunity to break into song (“Five little ducks went out one day/Over the hill and far away/Mother Duck said ‘quack quack quack, quack/But only four little ducks came back …”).

Later, the discrepancy between the number of mattresses on the cover of a library copy version of The Princess and the Pea (13), and the number used in an inside illustration (20), may have provided a lesson about life’s inconsistencies. “They didn’t count, did they?” observed Ms. Acosta.

After thanking each other with their “hands and feet” and getting “stamped,” the children were invited to visit a display of just a few recent versions of Mr. Andersen’s stories.

March 7, 2012

A recent public program to discuss residents’ rights under New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act (OPRA) and the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) attracted a particularly engaged audience in the Community Room at the Princeton Public Library Saturday.

“We thought it would be helpful to offer training for residents on their rights under OPRA and OPMA” (more commonly known as the “Sunshine Law”), said Planet Princeton publisher Krystal Knapp, who along with the library and the non-partisan Citizens Campaign, sponsored the morning program.

While lawyer Walter Luers, a public records expert who has successfully represented many New Jersey residents in public records and public meetings cases, came prepared to do most of the talking, audience members eagerly took him up on his offer to answer their questions as he went along. Mr. Luers, an attorney from Oxford, N.J., who is the president of the New Jersey Foundation for Open Government (www.njfog.org), never made it to the end of his notes.

Veterans of the Princeton Fair Tax-Revaluation Group and others concerned with the transparency of meetings held by the Transition Task Force and its subcommittees asked and learned about the proper way to request documents under OPRA, and what does and does not constitute a policy-making meeting under OPMA rules. “There’s not a more powerful tool than the Sunshine Law,” observed Heather Taylor, board member of the American Civil Liberties Union-New Jersey, who was present at the meeting.

OPRA is a New Jersey law that governs public access to government records maintained by public agencies in the state. The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey defines a “government record” as “any record that has been made, maintained, or kept on file in the course of official public business, or that has been received in the course of official public business.” Government records come in many formats, including paper records, electronic files, and audio recordings.

Like the Freedom of Information Act, which operates at the federal level, requests for state and local information under OPRA must be made in writing. Typically they should be addressed to a municipality’s “Records Custodian,” or, as a fallback, to the municipal clerk, who is required to forward the request to the appropriate staff member, or tell the resident seeking information who that person is. Once they have received the request, records custodians have seven business days in which to respond by telling the information-seeker whether their request will be filled immediately, or if it requires more time.

Mr. Luers suggested that “more time” could extend to about a month, but not much more than that. He emphasized the importance of using the correct wording in making the original request (including describing the format in which you want to receive the records), and he advised those who find themselves waiting for their requests to be filled not to send in daily requests that will only inundate (and probably aggravate) records custodians. He discouraged the use of the word “information” in a request as too vague, and encouraged listeners to be specific about the time frame they’re asking about.

Mr. Luers counseled using common sense rather than resorting to all-or-nothing anger when working with municipal staff members. Getting at least some of the documents one has requested is “a foot in the door,” and the documents in-hand may often lead to other pertinent records, he noted.

Mr. Luers also reported that obtaining copies of a municipality’s financial register over a period of years is a good way “to see where the money is going.”

Borough Mayor Yina Moore and Township Mayor Chad Goerner will probably be glad to know that Mr. Luers nixed a suggestion that municipal mayors be required to review incoming OPRA requests, saying that it would be an inordinate, and inappropriate, amount of work for them. “Be careful not to burn out your public officials because they’ll tune you out,” he observed. Not riling public officials also means, he said, refraining from using petitions or “four-page emails” to make a request.

The Sunshine Law

“You cannot hold meetings by email,” said Mr. Luers in response to a question about New Jersey’s OPMA. “Coming to a consensus by email is against the law.”

New Jersey‘s OPMA is designed to ensure that decision-making government bodies in the state conduct their businesses in public except in specific circumstances where exclusion of the public is needed to protect the privacy of individuals, the safety of the public, or the effectiveness of government in such areas as negotiations or investigations of individual members. Every public body must publish its meeting schedule by January 10 or within seven days of its annual organization’s meeting, whichever is later. A 48-hour written notice must also be given for any regular, special, adjourned, or unscheduled meeting.

Mr. Luers will lead another discussion on maximizing the use of New Jersey’s OPRA and OPMA in a free “webinar” on Tuesday, March 13, from 6 to 7 p.m. To register, visit http://thecitizenscampaign.com/eventlist/125-webinar.


February 22, 2012

EMERGENCY MEASURES: Panelists at a recent meeting of Princeton Future were, from left: Jamie Chebra of Capital Health, Dean Raymond of Mercer County, Dann Dingle and Pam Hersh of the University Medical Center of Princeton, Paul Ominsky of Princeton University, Princeton Borough Police Lieutenant Robert Currier, Frank Setnicky of PFARS, Bob Gregory of Princeton Emergency Services, and Mark Freda of the Transition Task Force.

Coping with storms such as last year’s Hurricane Irene and other emergencies was the focus of an open meeting held at Princeton Public Library last Saturday by Princeton Future. About 50 people attended the forum, which began with presentations by representatives of local police and fire departments, hospitals, and first responders, and concluded with brief breakout discussions led by the representatives.

Preparedness was a recurring theme. Paul Ominsky, Princeton University’s Director of Public Safety, used the example of Hurricane Irene to illustrate how important it is to plan ahead. “We met several days before the storm,” he said, which averted major disruptions. The 30 volunteer firefighters who come from the University’s staff, as well as the students who work with PFARS (Princeton First Aid & Rescue), were part of “a pretty seamless system,” he added. “We’re actually the third police department in town. We have sworn campus police officers, a dispatch center, communications officers, security officers, a fire marshal, and an event staff of 22 retired police officers. The University tries to be self-sufficient so that we’re not taking up municipal resources.”

The widespread use of mobile phones and constantly improving technology has considerably changed the system of emergency response, said the forum moderator, Bill Metro. Unlike with land lines, mobiles don’t indicate a caller’s location. So those fielding the calls have to take the time to ask where the emergency is happening. “There is a greater volume of calls coming into 911 dispatchers, because so many people at a scene might be calling at once,” he said. “In some ways, 911 centers are going backwards in terms of efficiency. But they’re doing the best they can.”

The speakers described emergency management at different levels, starting with the local officers and moving to the county, state, and federal departments. Dean Raymond, Mercer County Emergency Management Coordinator, also stressed the importance of personal preparedness. Individuals should have an emergency contact who can care for pets and keep an eye on the house should a medical emergency arise.

The consolidation of Princeton Borough and Township will improve response to emergencies, more than one of the presenters said. Frank Setnicky of PFARS said the number of calls for assistance has increased by about five percent each year. “We know it will increase more in 2013, but there is no way to know how much,” he said, referring to the opening of the University Medical Center at Princeton’s new facility on U.S. Route 1 in Plainsboro.

Pam Hersh, vice president for Government and Community Affairs for Princeton Healthcare System, which operates the hospital, stressed that the move will not clog traffic on the highway, as many fear. Since 70 percent of those served by the hospital come from areas on the other side of Route 1, an extra turning lane has been added to the Harrison Street exit, and the hospital has paid for a system that will allow responders from PFARS and Princeton University to change the traffic light during an emergency, the transition is expected to go smoothly, she said.

Dann Doyle, Director of Security and Emergency Management at UMCP added that all of the hospitals in the county, including the new Capital Health facility that recently opened in Hopewell Township, have made an effort to coordinate with the use of emergency equipment. “Yes, we compete,” he said. “But behind the scenes, I’ve got each of these guys on speed dial.”

February 15, 2012
Stony Brook pedestrian bridge

STRAIGHTENING UP: The 125-foot long Stony Brook pedestrian bridge that came down during Hurricane Irene was recently reinstalled. Township Engineering Assistant Anthony E. Soriano, Jr., reported that while the original bridge was used in the repair, the reinstallation should ensure that it will “withstand a similar storm in the future.” Federal Emergency Management Agency funds covered 75 percent of the repair work. Additional landscaping and pathway work is being covered by the Township, according to Mr. Soriano.

People munched on bananas, banana bread, and banana muffins; drank fair trade coffee and tea; and tossed their drinks, plates, and cups into bins that said “Please compost here” at Sustainable Princeton’s “Great Ideas” breakfast last week in the Community Room of the Princeton Public Library. “This is a zero-waste event” boasted Sustainable Princeton, and they weren’t kidding: there weren’t even any hand-outs.

The occasion was the unveiling of Sustainable Princeton’s Green Map Project, “Green Connections,” an interactive map featuring green spots in Princeton. The work-in-progress will identify Princeton’s green resources, including parks and woodlands, tree-lined streets, farmer’s markets, school gardens, and more. Township Engineer Bob Kiser, librarian Susan Conlon, and Deputy Township Mayor Liz Lempert were on hand for the event.

Sustainable Princeton was created in 2009 as an initiative of the Princeton Environmental Commission. The organization is currently applying for 501c(3) non-profit status. Its motto is “change a habit, change the world.”

Sustainability success, noted coordinator Diane Landis on Friday morning, is achieved by addressing the environmental, local economic, and diversity-related aspects of going green. She reported that a number of municipalities around the country have already adopted their own “green map systems.”

To celebrate the introduction of the map, several local speakers were invited to give “flash talks” about sustainability efforts being made at their respective stores. and agencies. Labyrinth Books owner Dorothea Von Moltke began by asking the audience for advice on how the store could improve its campaign to collect five cents on every book sold to offset the carbon imprint made by its production. “It’s not doing well,” Ms. Von Moltke said of the effort, noting that the main difficulty had to do with “implicit moralizing” and the wish to not send people on “guilt trips” by asking them for the money.

Ms. Von Moltke cited Chilean economist Nieves Valdes as her inspiration for the belief that learning, adapting, and change is “where all the promise lies.” The goal isn’t to be bigger, Ms. Von Moltke observed, but to “be better” at responding to changes in the community and, in Labyrinth’s case, the book industry.

McCaffrey’s Steve Carney received a round of applause when he announced that the store would be using biodegradable take-out containers by March 1. More applause followed, as he described how McCaffrey’s has recently installed high efficiency refrigeration and cut traditional waste by over 55 per cent since 2008. Collaborating with six area food banks is a win-win situation that results in less trash for landfills while helping those in need. “It was a very easy transition for us,” said Mr. Carney. McCaffrey’s, he said, is striving to be a “zero waste store.”

InFini-T Cafe, Spice Souk, McCaffrey’s, Olsson’s Fine Foods, and Whole Earth Center were thanked for donating food, drinks, plates, and cups and to the Princeton Public Library Environmental Film Festival and this event.


January 9, 2012

For the past four years, William H. Scheide has celebrated his birthday by indulging two of his passions: Music and philanthropy. This year, the noted nonegenarian (he turns 98 January 6), adds another of his interests to the mix. Mr. Scheide is a famed bibliophile, and he and his wife Judith McCartin Scheide will donate the proceeds of this year’s birthday concert on Friday, January 27, to the Princeton Public Library.

“It’s a perfect fit,” says Linda David Pizzico, who is producing the concert. “It’s a marriage between his love of books and his love of music.”

Tickets are $35 for the 8 p.m. concert, which will be led by Mark Laycock, former conductor of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, with stellar soloists Jaime Laredo on violin and Sharon Robinson on cello. The Vienna Chamber Orchestra and the Russian Chamber Chorus of New York complete the bill, which will feature the Overture to Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro, Brahms’s Concerto for Violin and Cello in A Minor, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 and Mr. Laycock’s special birthday arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.

Mr. and Mrs. Scheide are longtime benefactors of the Princeton Public Library. Books have been a passion for Mr. Scheide since childhood. His family founded the Scheide Library, which includes books and manuscripts collected by three generations. Today, the Scheide Library is housed at Princeton University’s Firestone Library, and it contains copies of the first four Bibles ever printed, materials on the invention and history of printing, and prized musical manuscripts by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, and Wagner, to name a few.

Mr. Scheide has also made gifts to libraries at Princeton Theological Seminary, Westminster Choir College, and the Seed School in Washington, D.C. as well as the Bodleian libraries at Oxford University.

Music came into Mr. Scheide’s life early. His father played piano and his mother sang. He began piano lessons at age six, and soon took up the organ as well. He graduated from Princeton University in 1936 and earned a master’s degree at Columbia University four years later. His thesis topic was “What Happened to Bach’s Music in the First Century After his Death.” Mr. Scheide taught at Cornell University for two years, playing the oboe with a group of amateur musicians who performed an all-Bach repertory. He founded the Bach Aria Group in 1946 to bring some of his music that was virtually unknown to a wider audience, and was its director until 1980.

A concern for human rights has also figured highly in Mr. Scheide’s life. He played a vital role in advancing the goals of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Past concerts honoring his birthday have benefitted Princeton Healthcare System, the Arts Council of Princeton, Centurion Ministries and Isles, Inc.

The Scheides don’t limit their sponsorship of arts events to the annual January concerts. The couple also host musical events each summer. But the birthday concert is clearly a highlight and a focus. “They do this instead of throwing a birthday bash, and every year a community organization is selected as a recipient,” says Ms. Pizzico. “This is going to be a great concert, with a packed stage. We’re hoping for packed seating as well.”

Sam Wang, associate professor of neuroscience at Princeton University and co-author of Welcome to Your Child’s Brain: How the Mind Grows From Conception to College, will launch Princeton Public Library’s “Inside a Child’s Mind” series Wednesday, January 18 at 7 p.m.

In their book, Mr. Wang and co-author Sandra Aamodt challenge popular myths and misinformation about brain development and how children think. During his appearance, Mr. Wang will discuss the book’s surprising revelations and offer practical advice backed by real, reliable science about issues such as sleep problems, ADHD, language learning, gender differences and autism.

The series continues at the library on February 15 at 7 p.m. when Christiane Fellbaum presents “Language Acquisition and the Bilingual Child.” Ms. Fellbaum, a Princeton University professor, will review recent findings comparing the linguistic and cognitive development of monolingual and bilingual children and examining the nature of the “Bilingual advantage” from a range of different perspectives.

“Conversations with Autism” is the March 8 segment of the series and features a discussion with Outreach Specialist Michelle Brooks of Eden Autism Services and Sean Fitzmaurice, a junior at Hunterdon Central Regional High School, who is living with autism and is interested in a career that involves helping and advocating for students with disabilities. The discussion takes place at 7 p.m.

The series concludes Wednesday, April 18, when children’s librarian and literacy expert Kapila Love presents “Reading the World and Other Miraculous Feats for People Big and Small” at 7 p.m. Ms. Love, editor of the Collaborative Summer Library Program’s Early Literacy Manual, will focus on “the fundamentals: a way to look at reading, and children’s reading particularly, that is compassionate, humanistic and downright magical.”

Professional development credits are available for educators who attend programs in the Inside a Child’s Mind series, all of which take place in the library’s Community Room.

 

SALINGER BIOGRAPHER: Kenneth Slawenski, author of “J.D. Salinger: A Life” and creator of the Salinger website Dead Caulfields, will be talking and answering questions about Salinger in the Community Room of the Princeton Public Library on Tuesday, January 10 at 7 p.m.

By Stuart Mitchner

Kenneth Slawenski, author of J.D. Salinger: A Life and creator of the Salinger website Dead Caulfields, will speak and sign copies of his book on Tuesday, January 10 at 7 p.m. at Princeton Public Library. His appearance in the library’s Community Room will largely be a question and answer session, and attendees will be welcome to share their insights.

Mr. Slawennski will also be speaking to Princeton High School students in the PHS Performing Arts Center earlier that same day, January 10 at 1:30 p.m.

The Princeton event will mark the official launch of the paperback edition of J.D. Salinger: A Life, which appeared in hardcover a year after Salinger’s death on January 27, 2010, at the age of 91. Mr. Slawenski’s biography of the reclusive author of The Catcher in the Rye was a Book of the Month Club selection. The English edition was reviewed by Peter Ackroyd, who found the book “well-written, energetic and magnificently researched.” A review in The Spectator pointed out the “love and zest” with which Mr. Slawenski “sets about his task.”

In citing the biography’s focus on the impact of Salinger’s combat experience in World War II, the Town Topics review (Jan. 26 2011) quoted a passage describing Salinger’s state of mind on completing The Catcher in the Rye in the autumn of 1950:

“Holden Caulfield, and the pages that contained him, had been the author’s constant companion for most of his adult years. Those pages were so precious to Salinger that he carried them on his person throughout the war. In 1944 he confessed … that he needed them with him for support and inspiration. Pages of The Catcher in the Rye had stormed the beach at Normandy; they had paraded down the streets of Paris, been present at the deaths of countless solders in countless places, and been carried through the death camps of Nazi Germany.”

Mr. Slawenski’s website deadcaulfields.com currently features birthday celebrations of The Catcher in the Rye’s 60th and Franny and Zooey’s 50th. The site offers everything from a timeline and photos, to a comprehensive inventory of Salinger’s unpublished fiction.

All Princeton Public Library programs are free and open to the public. If programs require registration, preference is given to library cardholders. The physically challenged should contact the library at (609) 924-9529 48 hoursbefore any program with questions about special accommodations.

The library is in the Sands Library Building at 65 Witherspoon St. in Princeton Borough. Parking is available on neighboring streets and in the borough-operated Spring Street Garage, which is adjacent to the library. For more information about library programs and services, call (609) 924-9529 or visit www.princetonlibrary.org