About the Library

Get a library card

Anyone who lives, owns property, or works in Keyport can get a library card. Just show proof of residency or employment in Keyport. Children younger than 18 require a parent’s permission. Non-residents, not in the LMxAC consortium may purchase library cards for $10, renewed annually.

Checking out materials 

The Library has books, audio books, magazines, DVDs, and electronic resources to check out. Most items are checked our for 3 weeks (in the case of books) and others vary based on what they are. We are a fine free library so just make sure your check outs make it back.

Programs

There are programs for adults, teens, and children. Please take a look at our programming calendar.

OPRA Requests

The library's Open Public Records Act request form is available online.

The History of the Keyport Free Public Library

The corner stone of the Keyport Free Public Library building was laid “with impressive Masonic ceremonies” on June 17, 1913. Nine months later, the new Library building was opened and formally dedicated on March 31, 1914. Yet the story behind the building’s construction is an unusual one and involves a case where a new tax exemption, some creative accounting, and a legal loophole led to the eventual establishment of an arsenal of books where there once was an arsenal of weapons. Indeed, to look at the building’s facade, which remains unchanged today, is to be a bit perplexed. For it does not say “Keyport Free Public Library.” Instead, it reads “Raritan Guard Public Library” and includes not just the year 1913, but the year 1861. Here is the story behind the mystery.

It starts with the Raritan Guard, or Company G of the Third Regiment Infantry, National Guard, who were called to duty for 13 days during the railroad riots of 1877. One year later, by an act of the 1878 legislature, each man was paid $1 a day for his service. With this “extra” money, the members of Company G decided to each contribute their share to purchase a lot and build an armory on First Street in Keyport. Businessmen contributed money and materials, farmers donated trees, and the women’s auxiliary held fairs and suppers. Though the armory was built largely through volunteer efforts, the building became burdened with financial shortages due to a mortgage, insurance and taxation. So on March 20, 1885, the Military and Armory Association, under clever legal advice, became incorporated under the title “Raritan Guard Library and Military Association” to take advantage of an 1884 act that exempted Public Library Associations in NJ from taxation. To comply with the spirit of the law, a small library of state archives, agricultural records, and a few gifts were collected and housed in an assembly hall over the armory’s entrance, but “no attempt was made to purchase or circulate books and the public took no interest in it.” Sadly, on March 28, 1909, the building as well as all its furnishings and books was destroyed by fire.

Two years later, a separate group, the Keyport Improvement Association (KIA), opened  the first Keyport Free Public Library on October 1, 1911. It was housed in a small room on the second floor of a building on the corner of Main and Front streets. Regularly circulating books, it was financed by the KIA and run with volunteer members. At a public meeting on December 11 at the First Baptist Church, a 95-member Free Public Library Association was established, with an annual membership fee of $1. Nine trustees were elected and the organization was later incorporated. The Library was so immediately popular that by January it had outgrown its small room was relocated to a three-room apartment on First Street. In September 1912, the first librarian was hired and soon even the larger space became overcrowded.

Meanwhile, after the fire destroyed the Raritan Guard’s armory, legal questions arose as to how to handle proceeds from sale of the land. It was determined that unless the Raritan Guard Library and Military Association essentially proceeded with their stated original intent as a partial “library,” they would owe back taxes from 1885. As a result, the First Street property was sold in September 1912 and the current property at the corner of Broad and Third Streets was purchased. On January 6, 1914 the trustees of the Raritan Guard Library and Military Association formally offered use of the building to the trustees of the Free Public Library. By April 7, the Free Public Library Association moved its books and $750 in furnishings it had bought through fundraising into the building. At an election that November, residents voted for transfer of ownership of the books and furniture to go to the Borough of Keyport. The Raritan Guard Association still owned the building and was willing to turn over the title to the Borough but a mortgage had been incurred in the construction that the Borough was unwilling to take on. As a result, an annual rent of $300 was agreed upon in addition to the insurance the Borough paid for the building. But by 1917 the financial burdens of ownership soon became too acute for the Raritan Guard Association. Eventually, through efforts of the Mayor and Council, the Free Public Library Association, and the Women’s Auxiliary enough funds were raised to clear the Raritan Guard Association’s debt. As a result, the trustees were merged with a majority vote going to the Borough Library board, and the title of the library building was transferred to the Borough in February of 1920.

Tablets were erected on the Library grounds in memorium of  Keyport boys who had served in the military,  including the Civil War and Spanish-American War, “thus giving proper, though belated recognition to the veterans of 1861-65 and 1898” without whom the Borough might not enjoy the Library building it has today. Next time one visits the Library, look up. In stained glass over the entrance it reads, “In Omnia Parati.” This means literally “prepared for all things,” or more conversationally, “ready for anything.” It is a fitting tribute to the men of Company G who were the foundation of the Keyport Free Public Library and it is still an apt statement for the Borough of Keyport today.

- As complied by the Keyport Historical Society