Ocean County Librarian Receives NAACP Community Service Award

The Toms River Branch of the NAACP presented Ocean County Library librarian Zarita Mattox with its Community Service Award on April 29. Mattox serves as the principal librarian of outreach and branch services at the Lakewood branch, allowing the library to partner with various community organizations such as tutoring groups and teenage parentings. In addition, she has helped revitalize the Black Librarians Caucus of New Jersey and is active on the New Jersey Library Association Professional Development Committee.

Ocean County Library Grant from Gates Foundation

Bill and Melinda Gates Library Foundation awarded a $5,300 grant to the Lakewood branch of the Ocean County Library. The grant provides funding for the upgrade and updating of personal computers that the branch received through a prior grant from the Gates Foundation.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is dedicated to improving people’s lives by sharing advances in health and learning with the global community. The foundation was created in January 2000 through the merger of the Gates Learning Foundation, which focused on expanding access to technology through public libraries, and the William H. Gates Foundation, which focused on improving global health. Led by Bill Gates’ father, William H. Gates Sr., and Patty Stonesifer, the Seattle-based foundation has an endowment of approximately $24 billion.

Ocean County Library awarded Lewis & Clark Grant

Ocean County Library was awarded a special grant to exhibit Lewis & Clark and the Indian Country.This is a traveling exhibition sponsored by the American Library Association and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The exhibit will bring public audiences a new set of ideas about the encounters of Native Americans with the United States Corps of Discovery between 1804 and 1806 and will trace the dramatic impact of those encounters during the subsequent two centuries.  Ocean County Library is one of 23 libraries nationwide to host the exhibit.  Display dates will be June 22 through August 19, 2011.

Ocean County Library Awarded Grant From New Jersey Council for the Humanities

The New Jersey Council for the Humanities awarded a $500 grant to the Ocean County Library Toms River branch to celebrate National Arts and Humanities Month this October.

The lecture series To Our Shores: The Immigrant Experience in Ocean County will serve as a catalyst for thought and discussion.  With The Melting Pot vs. the Salad Bowl: Strategies for Ethnic Survival (October 1) and Diversity and Integration in New Jersey (October 15), there will be ample time for community members to and integrate their experiences and learning from the lecture series in a discussion after the programs.

A potluck supper will be the culminating celebration for the month’s celebration of the immigrant experience in Ocean County.  Participants will share not only food but ideas and opinions at the celebration supper.  It will serve as a public forum for the free exchange of ideas, and an opportunity for diverse segments of the community to join together in a fun, informal way that may provide a lasting strengthening of the community as a whole.

New Jersey State Library Awards Ocean County Library

The New Jersey State Library awarded Ocean County Library with a $25,000 Statewide Diversity Leadership Grant. OCL will use this grant to further its diversity initiative and continue to expand its services to every member of the community.

Ocean County Library Receives John Cotton Dana Award

Ocean County Library received the John Cotton Dana Award, one of the most prestigious awards given by the American Library Association. The award honors libraries that have made outstanding achievements in public relations.

The award recognized Ocean County’s work for its “Hurricane Katrina--Partners in Caring” project. In an immediate response to the devastation, the library raised more than $120,000 to help restore services and established a lifelong bond with the Hancock County Library in Mississippi. Using a variety of creative methods and an aggressive public relations campaign, Ocean County’s initiative and outreach brought staff of both libraries and the two shore communities together to make a difference.

Assistant director Mary Ellen Pellington and principal librarian Glynis Wray received the award at the American Library Association annual conference in Washington, DC.

Ocean County Library Awarded Grants For Bookfest

Ocean County Library was awarded with two grants for its annual BookFest. The theme of the 2007 festival was “Something’s Cooking At The Ocean County Library: The Bookfest With Literary Taste.” The Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders and Ocean County Tourism donated $600 for the event. OceanFirst Foundation also donated $3,500 to the Ocean County Library Foundation.