Montclair’s library system is getting a $36.6 million renovation, funded through state tax credits and it wants to hear from residents before design work begins. The Montclair Public Library survey asks a simple set of questions: how do you use the library, why don’t you and what do you wish you could do there.
That money comes through New Jersey’s Cultural and Arts Facilities Expansion Program, known as CAFE, a state program that awards tax credits rather than cash for cultural facility projects. It’s the largest single investment New Jersey has made in a public library system. What’s new is the ask: the library wants specific, personal input before the renovation moves from concept to design.
How to take the Montclair Public Library survey
Three separate surveys are running right now. One covers the Main Library at 50 South Fullerton Avenue. A second covers the Bellevue Avenue Branch. A third collects general feedback for anyone who doesn’t want to fill out a building-specific form. All three live on the library’s renovation page and take a few minutes each to complete.
As an incentive, the library is offering a $50 Watchung Booksellers gift card for every 100 survey responses received, with entries drawn from names and emails submitted at the end of the survey.
Library Director Radwa Ali said the goal is volume, not just sentiment. “This input is incredibly valuable and the more we can collect, the stronger a base…” she wrote in an email. The library plans to move from surveys to public sessions and focus groups once it has enough responses to work from, but those sessions haven’t been scheduled yet.
What’s planned for the South Fullerton Avenue and Bellevue Avenue branches
The Main Library will get what’s known as a gut renovation. Crews will rebuild its mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems from the studs out, floor by floor, while keeping the collection in place throughout. The Bellevue Avenue Branch, a Carnegie building that opened in 1914, will grow by 5,600 square feet, more than doubling its size, and gain the building’s first ADA-compliant entrance and elevator, meeting federal accessibility standards for people with disabilities.
The library issued a request for proposals from architecture firms this summer, received 21 submissions and expects to choose a firm by October. JoAnn McCullough, president of the library’s Board of Trustees, said the state’s investment lets the library “address longstanding infrastructure challenges…” while also looking beyond routine repairs.
When construction starts, and what residents should know now
Construction is set to begin in 2027. Both branches will close during the work, with reopening projected for 2030. Library officials say any closures or service changes will be announced well ahead of time. Until then, both buildings keep running on their usual hours, seven days a week at the Main Library and six at Bellevue.
Take the survey for the Main Library or the Bellevue Avenue Branch, or leave general feedback if you use both. If you feel like having a deep dive on the renovations, you can visit the Library’s dedicated page.
Image credit: Montclair Public Library
