The New Jersey Economic Development Authority recently voted to approve a $36.6 million tax credit that will fund the renovation and expansion of the Montclair Public Library. The award, granted through the EDA’s Cultural and Arts Facilities Expansion Program, will fund the renovation of the downtown branch at 50 South Fullerton Avenue and the expansion and renovation of the Bellevue Avenue branch.
A prepared statement from the EDA says the project will encompass a full reconfiguration of the main library. The roof will be renovated and upgraded to include solar panels.
A common area with a teaching kitchen, an auditorium, art exhibition galleries and an outdoor terrace is planned for the first floor of the library. The second floor will serve as an architectural history and digital preservation space, a center for workforce development, digital equity, adult learning with classrooms and a fabrication lab, and the Montclair Jazz Library.
The third floor will be reconfigured to serve the city’s youths and will include podcasting and media studios as well as a sensory room.
The Bellevue Avenue branch will be upgraded to be ADA compliant, while the children’s and teen spaces will be expanded. The release says a community room will be added and the front plaza will be redesigned for outdoor programming.
A press release from the Montclair Public Library says the local government allocated $5 million in capital funds in 2025 as part of a 20% equity requirement. The Montclair Public Library Foundation also raised funds toward the equity requirement.
A 2018 report in Montclair Local says the Montclair Public Library has been operating as a public, tax-supported library for 133 years. The library existed as a subscription library founded by Israel Crain in 1869 and as an association library in 1871. The main library at 50 South Fullerton Avenue was completed in 1955 using resources from the Davella Mills Foundation and was renovated in 1996.
Montclair’s Adult School was integrated into the library system in 2014.
The Bellevue Avenue branch, the report says, was previously located in a room in John Mancini’s real estate office on Bellevue Avenue. Construction of the current branch building was funded by the Carnegie Corporation in 1914. That branch was renovated in 1985.
Due to its long history in the city and the state, the library system was the subject of a 1940 documentary titled “Portrait of a Library.”
