Mission
The mission of Piscataway Public Library’s Local History Department is to be a primary resource for information on historical events, people, and locations related to the greater Piscataway area. We support this mission by:
- Welcoming local community members, as well as remote and visiting researchers, to explore our collections in person and online
- Ensuring that our collections grow to represent the rich diversity of our community
- Encouraging partnerships with local organizations and individuals who wish to contribute materials and/or funding with the express wish of increasing the historical value of the collections and their accessibility to the widest possible number of researchers
- Employing specialists in the field to best serve the collections and researchers
- Making research time available by appointment (please email ask@piscatawaylibrary.org to make an appointment)
In the Local History Room at Kennedy Library, you will find files on the following subjects:
- Founding Families
- Municipal History
- Historic Houses
- Societies
- Churches
- Schools
- Roads
- Fire Departments
- Library History
- Application for National Register of Historical Places
Accessing the Local History Room
Local History Collection materials may not leave Kennedy Library. Cataloged items, such as Piscataway High School yearbooks, can be brought out of the room by a librarian to look at elsewhere inside the Library. You can search our catalog for Local History Collection items here. If you would like to look at a cataloged item, you can ask the librarian at the Adult Information Desk.
An appointment is required for access to uncataloged and unprocessed material such as our subject files, or to do thorough research within the Local History Room. Please email ask@piscatawaylibrary.org to make an appointment with the librarian or archivist.
Are you interested in consulting our historical materials for research purposes, but don’t know where to start? Drop by anytime during Local History Collection Open Hours to casually browse the collection with the help of a librarian! Due to limited space, access during Open Hours is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Each party will receive a 20-minute one-on-one session with the librarian. Registration is not required; however, if you are interested in a specific topic/item you can specify upon registering.
IN AN EFFORT TO DEEPEN OUR UNDERSTANDING of our community and the world, Piscataway Public Library embarked on a year-long community history project culminating in this book, written by the local residents. Our mission was to gather stories from the community about their experiences during major historical events of the late 20th and early 21st centuries and to preserve those stories at the Library. The involvement of current Piscataway residents has helped the Library to engage in an ongoing effort to enhance our local history collections and add information and materials that reflect contemporary Piscataway.
History is always happening, and we hope this book sheds some light on the stories of the individuals who lived it.