State Librarian's Update - March 2025 | New Jersey State Library

Published on February 24, 2025

It is both an exciting time and a time for reflection at the NJ State Library (NJSL). We’re reflecting on the retirement of long-time staff member Michele Stricker (March 1) as well as the celebration of Gary Zonderwyk’s 50^th anniversary of working for the New Jersey Talking Book and Braille Center. I am so grateful that NJSL has staff who are committed to their work and willing to stay for the long haul. We are a fortunate organization to have such institutional memory among us.

In exciting news, this week we are kicking off the Freedom to Read Policy Development process. Working in collaboration with the New Jersey Library Association, we are bringing together a diverse group of librarians and trustees from across the state to participate. Our goal is to have the policy and related documents created by the end of the summer, in plenty of time for review before adoption by December 2025. We’ll report periodically on the work of the group, but if you’re interested in learning more, please contact me (jnelson@njstatelib.org) or Brett Bonfield (director@njla.org).

And finally, NJSL is hosting a two-day convening as part of its Teaching Information Literacy, IMLS-funded grant. We are excited to welcome colleagues from the New Jersey Department of Education, LibraryLink NJ, AIR Inc., and Everett Evaluation to examine the intellectual underpinnings of the project and better understand the role of each partner. If you’re interested in learning more, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me (jnelson@njstatelib.org) or Sharon Rawlins (srawlins@njstatelib.org).

Jen Nelson
State Librarian