Historic 1901 Mount Tabor Parsippany Library Faces Closure

The Parsippany Library Director, Melissa Kuzma, made a recommendation to the Library Board at the October meeting to close the Mount Tabor Branch Library. The Library Board approved the recommendation.

The building has been a community library since 1901, and is part of the Parsippany library system. The 120+ year old library has historic architectural features, noted by the Mount Tabor Historical Society. Prior to the site’s enclosure, creating a permanent structure, it was a prayer tent beginning in 1869. Approximate estimates for staffing and operating the Mount Tabor library branch are $75,000 - $100,000 per year, which is 3% of the library's total annual budget, however the overall argument is that the cost outweighs its usage.

Parsippany’s library system services approximately 56,000 township residents. Mount Tabor itself consists of around 350 homes, over 200 of which are in the historical district, with a population of around 550 people. Of that group, the library reports 364 active library cardholders, and the small population accounts for 3% of total library cardholders within the system. The library system notes an increasing overall budget of 6% for 2023.

Mount Tabor is a small, historic section of Parsippany that began in as a Methodist camp after the Civil War. The homes remain “land lease” meaning that the properties are owned by an association, and the actual houses are owned by individuals. The Town is on the NJ Historical registry, displaying American architecture from the last quarter of the 19th-century and first few decades of the 20th-century and hosts historical walks throughout the year.

As part of the Morris County library system, all libraries within the broader system are broadly accessible through (The Morris Automated Information Network (MAIN), a consortium of 38 public libraries located in Morris, Somerset and Warren Counties. So, Mount Tabor library items and events are open to the general public.

Mount Tabor residents were concerned about the Library director’s recommendation and had a public meeting this past Saturday where over
80 people were in attendance. Information and ideas were shared of how to save their walkable community library. The concerned Mount Tabor residents are appealing to the Parsippany Town Council and the Library Board to reopen the Mount Tabor branch.