Spotlight on The Frenchtown Public Library
For more than a century, Frenchtownʼs public library has quietly served as one of the boroughʼs most beloved civic anchors. Like many municipal libraries in Hunterdon County, early efforts to establish a public reading room in Frenchtown relied on volunteers and donations from local civic groups and residents. Throughout the early 20th century, community members rallied to secure a dedicated shelf space for shared books, and organized book drives and small-scale fundraising events.
As the collection grew during the mid-20th century, the library moved through several locations in town, including dedicated storefronts. In 1938, the library secured a stable home on Second St. (initially operating out of 27 Second St. before establishing its permanent home next door at 29 Second St.).
The library is an affiliate, but not a branch, of the Hunterdon County Library system. In fact, the only two libraries in the county that are branches of the main library on Rt. 12 in Flemington are the North County Branch in Clinton and the South County Branch in East Amwell. The Frenchtown library operates independently from the county library with the borough supporting the salary of library staff as well as owning the building in which the library resides; a 2022 grant to the Borough supported repairs to the library interior. The Frenchtown library maintains its own collection while providing patrons access to county-wide resources, interlibrary loans and shared catalog systems through which residents can request books from the county library be delivered to the Frenchtown library.
As a member of the Main Library Alliance—a network encompassing dozens of public libraries across Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset, Union and Warren counties—the Frenchtown library offers local readers access to hundreds of thousands of physical books, audiobooks, digital downloads, e-books and research databases with a single library card.
To learn more about the library, visit the website which is hosted on the boroughʼs main website: https://frenchtownboro.com/library/. Library hours are:
- Monday: 3:30 – 7 p.m.
- Tuesday: 3:30 – 7 p.m.
- Wednesday: 9:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
- Thursday: 9:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
- Closed on Friday, Saturday and Sunday