Union City Public Library welcomes you! The Library is glad to serve Union City citizens and the general public, regardless of domicile. Learn more about Union City.
The Main Library, established in 1904, is a 1905 Carnegie Library. In 2004, the state-of-the-art Summit Avenue Branch Library (at 18th Street) opened. The José Mart STEM Academy, a Union City, public school, is also housed on the site. The Branch Library takes the place of the 15th Street Library. In addition, a Carnegie Library erected in 1903 currently houses the Union City Museum.
Boy and Girl Reading (also known as Children Reading) is a life-size cast-stone monument constructed by artist Enid Bell Palanchian (Enid Bell) at the Union City Public Library Park, near the Main Library on 43rd Street, from 1936-to 1939. The US Treasury Art Project commissioned the artwork located at site 79 on the New Jersey Women’s Heritage Trail.
A massive stained glass window in the form of a keystone, designed by artist Joseph Sloman in 1938, can be seen on the second level of the Library. Sloman was a Union City inhabitant who was born in 1883 in Philadelphia. Stained glass artwork was also erected in churches in Hoboken, New York, Boston, and Athens, Georgia. The stained glass window shows historical people from business, literature, science, the fine arts, and music. “Read not to disagree and confute, nor to believe and take for granted, nor to find debate and discourse; but to weigh and think,” are carved at the bottom of the stained glass. Of Studies, a 1625 essay by Francis Bacon, contains this statement.
Wooden sculptures of writers Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Mark Twain and steamboat pioneer Robert Fulton and musician Stephen Foster may be seen in the Main Library. The statues of Longfellow and Twain are signed “P. Beneduce, 1936.”
Library Policies
PANDEMIC POLICIES RELATED TO COVID-19
Although the Union City Public Library is dedicated to providing a safe and healthy environment, it is the public’s shared obligation to follow safe hygiene, respiratory etiquette, social distance, and other CDC guidelines to prevent the virus from spreading.
CODE OF CONDUCT FOR PATRONS
Each patron should maintain essential and suitable standards of conduct to defend their rights and the rights and privileges of other customers. If a patron breaches the Library Code of Conduct, that person’s access to the library and use of library facilities may be limited. In addition, those who refuse to leave or do not depart within a reasonable length of time after being told to do so by employees may face legal consequences.
POLICY FOR CHILDREN
The Union City Public Library encourages young children to attend, and we want to make this crucial visit memorable and fun for them. Staff members are not expected to take responsibility for unattended youngsters in the library.
POLICY ON COMPUTER USE
At all Union City Public Library locations, the public has free self-service access to the Internet, electronic databases, word processing, and other software programs. In addition, laptops may be loaned for in-library usage exclusively at the Main Library location and various desktop computers. Only adult Union City residents in good standing are eligible for this program.
Learn more about the library’s policy. For further inquiries, contact them at 201-866-7503. Another great post.