Library celebrates 75th anniversary

VERNON — According to the Dorothy Henry Library time line display, the Sussex County Library opened in the Sussex County Hall of Records basement on May 15, 1942.
By year’s end, the new library totaled 8,000 books and by 1950 almost 5,000 more books were added.
It’s been 75 years of educating residents with books, magazines, film, archives and later video, DVDs, audio books and computers.
The Dorothy Henry Library threw a remembrance party on May 16 complete with displays timelining the growth of the system over the years. Black-and-white photographs featured the traveling bookmobile, the first stationary library and Sussex County’s first librarian Dorothy Henry, the McAfee branch library’s namesake.
The creative staff of the library cleverly constructed several other displays noting 1942 best sellers. Some were Pearl S. Buck’s "Dragon Seed", The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck and Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne du Maurier. Children’s books included the old favorites by Golden Books, The Poky, Little Puppy and something called Gobbolino the Witch’s Cat.
Music favorites were crooner Bing Crosby and the song Paper Doll by the Mills Brothers. Top movies were Disney’s Bambi, Casablanca, the fantasy flick The Cat People and The Fighting Tigers starring John Wayne. Another fun titled display titled Guess What it Cost in 1942, caught the eye of several library patrons. Sirloin steak was an unbelievable 31 cents per pound, while dog food was a bargain at three cans for 23 cents. House needed painting? You couldn’t beat the $3.25 a gallon price tag. One patron was overheard saying, ”We thought those prices were high back then, look at today’s comparisons.”
Today, the 2017 Sussex County Library System employs 60 employees, has 328,048 volumes, 59,000 patrons and growing daily and the system received an award for Best Practice in Early Literacy from the New Jersey State Library.
The party goers enjoyed birthday cake, cookies and lemonade.