Edison's Clara Barton Library closed to prepare for move to new location

EDISON - The Clara Barton Branch Library on Hoover Avenue was temporarily closed Dec. 29 to prepare to relocate the facility to Amboy Avenue once a lease for the new space has been signed.

The library, which residents said dates to about 1969, was closed by the Library Board, according to Edison Chief of Staff Robert Diehl, who said the township administration planned to keep the library branch open until Jan. 6.

The temporary closing sets the stage for the library building at 141 Hoover Ave. to be converted into a facility for youth with special needs, a project touted by Mayor Sam Joshi but opposed by some residents who view the building as more than a library, but the neighborhood's community center.

Residents will have a chance to meet with Joshi about the planned changes during a meeting 7 p.m. Jan. 12 at the Clara Barton First Aid Squad building, 1079 Amboy Ave.

"The mayor needs to explain what's happening. We're not closing the library, we're moving the library. Our data shows it has never been heavily used and as a result we thought the best use for the building itself would be a special needs recreational facility which we are in the process of putting together," Diehl said.

Diehl said by relocating the library to Amboy Avenue, it's like hitting a refresh button.

"It's an easily findable location and we would incorporate maybe some new programs with that. It's kind of a new start for the library to revitalize it," Diehl said. "This is a neighborhood library and we don't want to move it out of the neighborhood."

He said the Amboy Avenue library location is less than a two-minute walk from the existing library.

During Wednesday's Township Council meeting, Council President Joseph Coyle expressed interest in the library remaining open until after the mayor meets with residents and questions are resolved. Coyle also suggested the Stelton Community Center on Plainfield Avenue might be a better location to house a special needs program.

Diehl, however, said the library temporary closing will allow time for all the books, equipment and material to be packed and moved to the new location.

Unanswered questions about the plan also led to council members tabling a resolution to start the process to put a bid out for a third party to run the special needs facility in the township-owned building.

"We want to get this going as soon as possible. We can probably move the library quickly. The creation of a sensory gym will take a little longer," said Diehl, adding the mayor is looking to have special needs children using the planned sensory gym by the summer.

Diehl expects the resolution to be back on the agenda for the Jan. 11 Township Council meeting.

Councilman Richard Brescher said special needs programs are needed in the township but doesn't believe it should be Edison's responsibility. He said the school district has buildings that are vacant after hours and staff knowledgeable about special needs children.

"To make this change at this time is wrong," he said.

During the fall Joshi announced a partnership with the Edison Library Board to repurpose the Clara Barton Branch Library building into a facility serving youth with disabilities and move library operations to a rental space along nearby Amboy Avenue between Woodbridge Avenue and Route 1.

The plans call for the facility to allow children and young adults with disabilities, especially those on the autism spectrum, multiple disabilities and other health impairments, to socialize, play and build life skills at the facility. The facility is envisioned as a program space, not a school, officials said.

The second floor of the building is slated to be converted into a sensory gym with equipment that includes trampolines, tactile features and more to create an educational and stimulating space for programming and free play for students with disabilities.

"We believe we can create a beautiful, almost state-of-the-art sensory gym for children of different ages for use at different times," Diehl said. "We know especially with autism and a lot of special needs early intervention is very important and very successful."

After school, weekend and summer programs also are expected to be held at the facility.

Neighborhood residents, however, have said they were unaware of the plans to relocate the library.

"The people who are most impacted were not told anything. It's a community center, it's not just a library. All the community things in my area are being taken away and yet I see an expansion of the North Edison library," said Jeanne Martin, a Clara Barton neighborhood resident at Wednesday's meeting.

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"This was a big surprise to everyone. This is something the mayor wants to do. If we can find a place for a library we can find a place for a (special needs) learning center," added Sue Malone Barber, another Clara Barton neighborhood resident.

Other residents suggested space in Raritan Center might be better suited for a special needs facility.

Diehl said a lease agreement is being negotiated by the Library Board to rent two offices in a four-office building on Amboy Avenue, about 300 feet from the existing library and next to the New Jersey Turnpike. The 2,900 square-foot space has parking in the back, he said.

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Once the lease is signed, work will begin to get the new location ready with paint and floor work. He's hoping the new library location could be ready in a month or two.

Malone Barber, however, said the ceilings are low, the space is small and walls would have to be knocked down at the Amboy Avenue space to make it suitable for a library.

"I think the plan is ill conceived on where the library will be. I don't think it's a suitable space," she said. "So as of this week Clara Barton is without a library for an indefinite period of time."

Email: srussell@gannettnj.com

Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

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This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Edison's Clara Barton Library closed to prepare for move to new location