Mary Jacobs Library in Rocky Hill will continue to operate after new library is built in Montgomery

Mary Jacobs Library
The Mary Jacobs Library

The Mary Jacobs Library, located at 64 Washington Street in Rocky Hill, will remain open after a new library is built in Montgomery Township.

The Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders, the Somerset County Library System, the Mary Jacobs Library Foundation, Montgomery Township, and Rocky Hill recently came to an agreement that will save the library in Rocky Hill.

Officials said the agreement allows Somerset County to provide continuous library services to Montgomery and Rocky Hill residents without moving locations or having a gap in services, while supporting longer-term library services in Rocky Hill. The agreement extends services beyond the previous contract’s December 2020 end date.

Back in 2018, Montgomery Township officials announced that a new Somerset County Library System library would be built in conjunction with the planned new municipal complex on Route 206. The Somerset County Library System announced that after the new Montgomery library opened, library services would no longer be provided at the Mary Jacobs Library branch in Rocky Hill.

Under the new agreement, library services will continue at the Mary Jacobs Library branch as usual while the new library in Montgomery is being built. Montgomery Township will contribute $120,000 annually to a fund that will be used to maintain the library, and Rocky Hill Borough will pay $10,000 annually to fund the library.

After the new library is built, Somerset County will continue to provide smaller-scale library services for about two years. Montgomery will no longer contribute to the operational fund for the library in Rocky Hill, and Rocky Hill will continue to make an annual contribution to the library of $10,000. The library space will be scaled back to about a third of its current size. One full-time staff member will work 35 to 37.5 hours. Programming for children and adults will be offered, and library patrons will still be able to check out physical materials including books, newspapers, and magazines.