History:
In April 1965, after five years of planning and dedicated efforts by a group of concerned citizens, The Brick Township Branch of the Ocean County Library was opened on Cedar Bridge Road. This was the result of an agreement among three groups: the Ocean County Library, which provided materials and staff; the Township of Brick, which provided the land and building; and the Friends of the Brick Library, headed by Irene Alznauer, who raised funds to furnish the library.
Brick Branch, the second branch of the Ocean County Library, occupied 3,600 square feet and offered a collection of 5,000 volumes to its population of 24,000. The library was open for 32 hours a week. By the end of the first year, there were 5,766 registered borrowers, a circulation of almost 54,000 items, and the collection exceeded 10,000 volumes.
The population of Brick continued to grow, as did the library. The Branch was moved to the new municipal complex which was completed in 1975. The new quarters for the library were opened to the public on January 26, 1976. These were located in the below ground level of the complex in 9,000 square feet, with a capacity for 85,000 volumes. The library remained in this location for 14 years. While shelving space was adequate for the foreseeable future, facilities for programming were lacking.
Impetus for the new building was provided by the adoption of the Ocean County Library Master Plan in 1986. Negotiations, which included a transfer of a 325 acre tract of Township land to the County of Ocean in exchange for the new library building and a golf course, were concluded in 1987.
Groundbreaking ceremonies were held in June 1988. Construction was expected to be completed by July 1989, but delays caused the Grand Opening Ceremony to be postponed until August 24, 1990. The new building comprised 18,691 square feet on two floors, with a meeting room that seated 90 people. The collection had grown to more than 72,000 items, as the population of Brick Township continued to grow. The branch expanded its hours to 64 per week, the first branch in the system to open the same number of hours as the Headquarters location in Toms River.
As part of the 2005-2010 Facilities Plan of the Ocean County Library, the Brick Township Branch of the Ocean County Library was scheduled undergo a major expansion and renovation in order to meet the needs of a growing population of 81,500. By 2007 the economic recession brought about the closure of this project.
In early 2012 the Ocean County Board of Freeholders along with the Ocean County Library Commission agreed to a $1.2 million dollar major renovation of the facility to help meet the future needs of the service area. The renovation was completed in October 2012. The interior design project included new carpeting, painting, and furniture, energy-efficient lighting, a dedicated teen area, improvements to the children’s area, including the creation of a story corner, and creation of new community spaces for the public within the branch. These community spaces included study and meeting rooms, and a conference room that may be transformed into a computer training lab for job training and other classes through the use of wireless technology and portable laptops.
