Congressman Rush Holt Tours NJ State Library

United States Representative Rush Holt (NJ-12) visited the New Jersey State Library on Monday, March 19th, for a tour of the resources and historical documents available. 

Starting in the main level lobby, John Shaw (above left), reference librarian and manager of the State Library's Genealogy Collection, showed Holt some of the earliest documents in the State Library’s collection, dating from 1704 to 1796, and include the first book, The Journals of All The Parliaments during the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, presented by Governor Lewis Morris in 1738.

After receiving a brief overview of the Law Library by Tom O’Malley, head of that section, it was on to the second floor vault and map preservation area with Deborah Mercer, documents librarian for the State Library, where she told Holt of The Day of Two Noons. (Read it on Deborah’s blog at http://njdocslibrarian.wordpress.com/2011/11/18/november-18-1883-the-day-of-two-noons.)

Holt then met with NJSL staff, and expressed how impressed he was with the operation of the library and how important he felt libraries were.  Holt, who is interested in the colonial history of central NJ, especially the Proprietorship of West Jersey, also hinted he might come back to do some research.

Congressman Holt serves on the Committee on Education and the Workforce, as well as the subcommittees on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education and Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions. In 2011, he sponsored the Workforce Investments through Local Libraries Act, which allows public libraries to contract with the one-stop delivery system to deliver intensive services for employment and training for job seekers.

See all the photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/njlibraryevents/sets/72157629636151643/