Library Board of Trustees Meeting
Wednesday, October 28 @ 5:45 PM at the DeMott Lane Branch (Robert S. Mettler Historical Room).
This meeting is open to the public. For minutes and recordings of previous meetings please click here.
PUBLIC NOTICE is hereby given that sealed Bids will be received by the Franklin Township Public Library Board of Trustees (hereinafter called the Owner), at the Director’s Office, located at 485 DeMott Lane, Somerset, NJ in Somerset County, State of New Jersey, on Friday, November 20, 2026 at 11:00AM prevailing time. Bids shall be enclosed in a sealed envelope bearing the name and address of the Bidder and labeled “FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP PUBLIC LIBRARY – MAIN LIBRARY RENOVATIONS”. Bidsmay be delivered by mail, messenger, courier, overnight service or by hand. All Bids will be opened publicly and read aloud at that time. The Owner may reject all bids pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40A:11-13.2 and any bid that is non-responsive or submitted by a bidder that is not responsible.
Separate sealed bids for:
GENERAL CONTRACT: FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP PUBLIC LIBRARY – MAIN LIBRARY RENOVATIONS
All work incidental thereto, including but not limited to the Main Library Renovations and as required in accordance with the Project Manual.
A non-mandatory pre-bid meeting shall be held on Thursday, October 29, 2026 at 1:00PM at the Franklin Township Public Library located at 485 DeMott Lane, Somerset, NJ.
The Bid Documents may be obtained directly from the Architect’s office as an electronic PDF document. Bidders must request bid documents via email at office@aiarchs.com. All questions regarding the project should be directed to the Architect and received in writing only via email to: office@aiarchs.com. All questions or Requests for Information are to be submitted no later than 12:00pm on November 9, 2026.
Bidders electing to receive the specifications from a third party, or any other service or entity assume the responsibility of ensuring they receive any issued revisions or addenda.
Bids must be accompanied by a guarantee in the amount of 10% of the bid total, but not in excess of $20,000.00, in the form of a certified check, cashier’s check made payable to “Franklin Township Public Library” or bid bond.
Bids must be accompanied by consent of surety regardless of whether a check or Bid Bond is submitted. The Successful Bidder will be required to furnish an acceptable Performance and Labor and Material Payment Bond.
Bidders must be authorized to do business in New Jersey. Any Bidder which is a corporation not chartered under the laws of the State of New Jersey, must submit an affidavit certifying that said corporation is authorized to do business in the State of New Jersey.
Bidders must be registered with the Department of Labor and are required to comply with the requirements of Public Law 1999, c.238, “The Public Works Contractor Registration Act”, which became effective on April 11, 2000.
Bidders and their subcontractors must comply with the New Jersey Business Registration requirements.
Bidders shall comply with the requirements of N.J.S.A. 40A:11-2.1 and N.J.S.A. 52:32-55 et seq. (P.L. 2022, c.3) respecting the disclosure of prohibited Russia-Belarus & Iran Investment Activities.
Bidders are required to comply with the requirements of Public Law 1975, c. 127 which pertains to “Non-Discrimination” and “Affirmative Actions”, and Public Law 1977, c. 33, which requires a Statement of Corporate Ownership.
Bidders are required to comply with the requirements of N.J.S.A. 10:5-31 et. seq. and N.J.A.C. 17:27.
Contractor shall maintain all documentation related to products, transactions or services under this contract for a period of five (5) years from the date of final payment. Such records shall be made available to the New Jersey Office of the State Comptroller upon request. N.J.A.C. 17:44-2.2.
New Jersey law requires public work contractor registration and payroll certification for public work projects to be completed online at https://njwages.nj.gov/. In addition to receiving certified payrolls via the Hub, agencies must still receive certified payroll via hard copy from contractors and subcontractors. See N.J.S.A. 34:11-56.51, N.J. S.A 34:11-56.29.
January Adams, Director
Franklin Township Public Library
485 DeMott Lane
Somerset, NJ 08873
Franklin Township Public Library patrons now have access to free passes for the Montclair Art Museum! Available at the DeMott Lane and Franklin Park locations, each pass includes:
Click here to read more about our museum passes and make reservations!
“Among the first U.S. museums devoted to collecting American art, Montclair Art Museum was founded in 1914 with two parallel collections of Native and non-Native work, each with dedicated gallery space. Our continually evolving collection—today numbering more than 14,000 objects—has been widely recognized for its quality and depth. It features work by a range of artists from across the United States and Native North America dating from the eighteenth to the twenty-first centuries. Highlights include landscapes by Montclair-based George Inness, basketry, regalia, beadwork, and more. Works from the permanent collection rotate regularly in our galleries.” –monctlairartmuseum.org
Click here to take a look at the collection.
For any questions about our museum passes, please leave a comment below or call the reference desk at 732-873-8700 opt.3.
Thanks for reading,
George, FTPL
Join us for all sorts of Halloween events in the Children’s Department at DeMott Lane!
Check out our Children’s Events listing for all our children’s programs!
The winners of the 2026 Manhattan Short Film Festival have been been announced! After a week of screenings held around the world, votes from FTPL viewers have been added to the global tally that will decide which movie, actor, and screenplay take home the gold this year. Here is how the viewers at FTPL voted:
| Never Give Up | 33 |
| When the Sea Was Calm | 32 |
| Hai Davai | 20 |
| Life Goes On | 20 |
| Mary is Missing | 17 |
| Small Talk | 11 |
| Candy Bar | 10 |
| Vultures | 3 |
| Norheimsund | 1 |
| Pickup | 0 |
| Jose Maria Gomez | 65 |
| David Bradley | 56 |
| Edwin Van Walt | 14 |
| Paula Macovoz | 4 |
| Yaite Ruiz | 4 |
Without any further ado, the winners are:
Did one of your favorites get picked for the final list? Are there any that you think should be on it? Let us know in the comments below!
Thank you for another great Manhattan Short Film Festival! We are already looking forward to next year.
Thanks for reading,
George
Banned Books Week was created in 1982 in response to an increase in calls to censor and removes books in public libraries and schools. In 2025, the American Library Association documented the second highest level of book censorship attempts ever: 4,235 unique titles were challenged in 713 distinct censorship incidents[1].
Most book challenges are brought forward by pressure groups and government entities (such as elected officials, board members, and administrators). In 2024, 72% of all book challenges in school and public libraries were initiated by these groups; in 2025, that number jumped to 92%[2].
Almost half of all challenges occur in public libraries, followed by school libraries[3].
Of the unique titles challenged in 2025, 1,671 (39%) represent the lived experiences of LGBT people and people of color.[4].
In total, 5,668 books were banned from libraries (66% of the total challenged) in 2025. An additional 920 books were censored through access restrictions such as relocation or requiring parental permission. This is both the highest number of titles censored in one year and the highest rate of challenges resulting in censorship from 1990–2025 [5].
The above are the top 11 most frequently challenged books of 2025 between both public and school libraries [6].
Everyone can help fight censorship! Here are some suggestions from the ALA of ways you can help fight against book bans [7]. If you’re looking for banned books, we have a display at the Demott lane branch, or ask one of the Reference Librarians at any of our branches!
We have a full calendar of events planned at all library locations for this upcoming month, October 2026! Click here for our full calendar, which also includes young adult and children’s programs.
Join film lovers from around the world for the 29th annual MANHATTAN SHORT Film Festival. Audiences in over 500 cities spanning 6 continents unite for one week to view and judge the work of the next generation of filmmakers from around the world. Attendees will view the films before voting for their choice for best film and best actor at the conclusion of the program. Please note that some or all of the films may contain adult content or language not intended for children. Learn more about the festival here.
The library will host four screenings, and each showing is the same. The non-English films are shown with subtitles. The room will open approximately 15 minutes before showtime. There is a ten minute intermission halfway through the films.
Registration is required but walk-ins are welcome as long as there is space. This is an on-site, in-person program. If you have any questions regarding the library’s policies and programming, please call us at 732-873-8700 x 111. The library reserves the right to reschedule programs.
Register for 10/2 at 1pm | Register for 10/3 at 11am.
Meditation will be instructor-led and begin with centering and light movement (mainly of the spine), pranayama (a breathing practice), and then a deeper dive into a meditation experience together. Various concepts will be introduced throughout different classes. There’s strong energy meditating in community. Let’s down-regulate our nervous systems together!
Learn how high cholesterol and blood pressure affect heart disease and how to make heart-healthy lifestyle changes. This includes strategies like regular exercise and a healthy diet to maintain good cholesterol and blood pressure levels.
A presentation from the HealthEASE Health Education Curriculum from NJ Department of Human Services, Division of Aging Services. Visit the Somerset County Department of Health website here.
Registration is appreciated but not required to attend!
Stop by the Community Room for information about Community In Crisis, a local organization whose mission is to “reduce the incidence and consequences of the misuse of substances through education, prevention and holistic support, free of stigma.”
They will be distributing flyers with information about upcoming events and recovery meetings, as well as the following items:
Experience the dynamic, centuries-old technique of bobbin lace making.
Join the Cranberry Lacemakers to experience and learn the fun, dynamic centuries-old technique of bobbin lace making. The group is actively seeking new members who would like to learn and preserve this craft. Email Celeste for more information about the group or if you would like to try a pattern.
No registration required, walk-ins welcome!
Join us for a discussion of Wade in the Water by Nyaneba Nkrumah. A limited number of copies of the book will be available for pick up at the Franklin Park Branch Library beginning September 10. Registration is not required.
The New Yorker Short Story Club invites readers to come together for lively, thoughtful conversations about short fiction featured in The New Yorker.
Open to all, registration is not required.
You can access the story here through Pressreader, or by checking out the magazine from the library. See us at the Franklin Park Branch if you need help getting a copy of the story.
The Revolution did not end at Yorktown. In the extraordinary months of 1783, the Confederation Congress met at Nassau Hall in Princeton, the definitive Treaty of Paris was signed, and George Washington kept his final wartime headquarters at Rockingham, the Berrien farm overlooking the Millstone River Valley in Franklin Township. That same treaty carried Article VII, which barred the departing British from “carrying away any Negroes or other Property,” and forced the new nation to confront whether Black men, women, and children were persons entitled to liberty or property subject to return. Tens of thousands had already claimed their own freedom by crossing into British lines during the war, and Britain refused to return them.
Historian Timothy Messer-Kruse argues that the constitutional crisis that followed became one of the forces that led the founders to abandon the Articles of Confederation and draft a stronger federal Constitution. The conversation begun in the autumn of 1783 is one America has never finished having.
For any questions about upcoming library events, please call the reference desk at 732-873-8700 opt. 3 or leave a comment below.
Thanks for reading,
George, FTPL
George Washington Jonson is determined to forge a new life. After growing up in one of Atlanta’s poorest housing projects, he enlists in the U.S. Army and finds some relief serving abroad. When events lead him back home, he joins the police force. It’s 1992, and Jonson is patrolling the streets he grew up on alongside his new partner, a shady legacy cop and self-described “redneck” who takes Jonson under his wing.
After a decade on the job, Jonson has fashioned a new life in an affluent suburb with his white wife and stepson, though he’s still policing his old neighborhood, and now tasked with training hot-headed rookie recruits. One night on patrol a split-second confrontation with a white teenager takes a violent turn. That single gunshot sets into motion a series of escalating lies.
When the white-washed veneer of Jonson’s life begins to crack, the story splits, presenting two contrasting versions of the American experience as he’s forced to confront the history that shaped him and the compromises required of a good man in a broken system.
PEN/Faulkner finalist and National Book Award longlisted author, T. Geronimo Johnson weaves together a witty and unpredictable story about race, police violence, and identity. Want another book that touches on racism in a homicide investigation? Try The Trees.
Nate Yellow Tail is one of the survivors of the deadly revenge murders of Stephen Graham Jones’s The Only Good Indians. Five years after the massacre on the Blackfeet reservation, Nate finds himself in the hospital after a terrible accident that should’ve killed him and that nearly killed his best friend Sebby, who is hanging onto life in a room a few doors down. Given the chance to reset his life, Nate steps up–and into a camper van with three older Blackfeet, to find the bones of the lone boy who died at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, and repatriate him home. The problem is, when they get the bones, something terrible has escaped with them.
Fresh off winning a Nebula Award, a Locus Award, and a Stoker Award for 2025’s The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, one of the most important voices in modern horror today returns to the story of Nate Yellow Tail.
Other Worlds Than These is the story of Jack Sawyer, whom readers first met when he was twelve, crossing America and “the territories” to save his mother’s life, and met again in Black House, where Jack faces a child killer and the Crimson King (among other evils). In Other Worlds Than These, Jack must stop a rampaging gang of infected teenagers from America-side, and the forces of the mysterious Gullet at the edge of Mid-World, before it destroys our world and all worlds. Jack is older now; his Ka-tet (echoing the world of Roland) is fraying; and his task, nearly impossible.
Stephen King returns to finish the work he started with the late Peter Straub in 1984’s The Talisman and 2001’s Black House.
Find the receiver. Make it real.
At 5:35 p.m. on September 3, 1988, Dallas weatherman Ray “Can You Say Sunshine” Davino makes passing reference to Public Access Afterworld during a rambling monologue, right before he puts a gun to his head on live television and pulls the trigger.
On June 12, 2009, David Sawyer and Erin Morrison, two lonely, TV-obsessed suburban teens who might be falling in love, gather in Erin’s basement to watch TV’s analog-to-digital transition. But in the static that follows, Erin witnesses surreal broadcasts from a pirate TV network called Public Access Afterworld, and their lives are changed forever.
Seventeen years later, Bethany Peters toils through the night shift at megacorp GlobalVill’s bleak Austin campus. A trans content moderator, she spends her evenings reviewing an endless stream of horrific videos. But then a young streamer begins to crop up in her feed calling out to Public Access Afterworld.
But what is Public Access Afterworld?
From the filmmaker who made I Saw the TV Glow comes a decades spanning novel sure to spook readers. Want more creepy TV horror? Try Kiersten White’s Mister Magic.
Being a killer comes easy to Dani. So easy that it’s getting boring. When she happens across a Help Wanted ad looking for a killer…she’s intrigued. Jeika wants to die. Preferably, before the cops who are on her tail find the evidence to prove what she did. Except the only one who can help her do that is also the one who’s starting to make her life interesting again. The last thing Dani expects is to fall for her next victim through the secret emails they share. But before they can decide if their new love is enough to change their very opposite fates, a twisted vigilante starts stalking them both. They may not be ready to fight for themselves, but how far will they go to save each other?
This romance-thriller mash-up is sure entertain. Looking for a similar read? Try Tess Sharpe’s No Body No Crime.
Professional thief and inveterate trickster Kinch Na Shannack has always enjoyed a good book. But now his life, and the future of all of Manreach, depends on him deciphering a very bad book indeed; a stolen, sentient tome that tries to kill him every time he opens it—and often when it’s closed.
This sequel to Buehlman’s The Blacktongue Thief is sure to be another exciting journey.
A year ago, Cass, Peter, and Dandy were strangers in the seaside town of Maple Bay, Nova Scotia, who teamed up to search for a missing stash of pirate jewels. Though they didn’t find the goods, Cass wrote a book about the experience. The night before it’s set to publish, Dandy’s cousin, Cookie, tells Dandy and Cass that she knows about more lost treasure on nearby Breakneck Island. The MacLeary family took care of Breakneck’s lighthouse for generations before disappearing in 1932, Cookie says, and rumors claim they left behind a fortune. The next morning, Cookie is found dead at home. Meanwhile, Peter becomes involved with a colleague, who asks Peter to explore Breakneck Island with him one-on-one. Everyone winds up landing on the shores of the island on the same day, only to discover they have some ruthless competition for the MacLeary family’s lost fortune.
Ryan’s sequel to The Treasure Hunters Club promises to be another thrilling adventure with the characters from the first book.
When a fallen tree causes a five-car pileup on a dark, forested road, the occupants seek refuge in the only place around: a near-empty dive bar. With no cell service and a storm raging outside, the five strangers are forced to wait it out together. But something is off about the woman sitting alone at the bar. One of the drivers swears they saw her standing in the road right before the crash, and there’s something about the woods outside that fills them with an unnatural dread. As psychological unease creeps in and tensions escalate, the group becomes desperate to unravel the threads that tie them together before facing whatever waits for them outside in the night.
Final Destination meets The Twilight Zone in this supernatural horror tale. For a similar read, check out The Midnight Knock.
Whether it’s a local indie bookshop, an online megaretailer, or a chain bookstore, the place we buy books is an essential part of our reading lives. Bookstores connect books to potential buyers and convert idle browsers into committed readers. Yet, as historian Andrew Pettegree reveals, it took more than five centuries after Gutenberg for bookstores as we know them to emerge.
The Bookshop tells a sweeping history of the bookstore. It celebrates the ingenuity of booksellers, from the smugglers who carried contraband books across borders, to the innovators who created the global distribution networks that define books and bookselling today. Even though few bookshops lasted more than a few years during the best of times, booksellers relentlessly sought new ways to get books to readers. Innovators like the squabbling dealers who invented the secondhand bookstore, or Victorian capitalists like W. H. Smith, who built an empire of railroad station book stalls to serve idle passengers, made bookselling what it is today.
A global history of bookstores, from the time before the printing press all the way to our present. Want more bookstore history? Check out The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore.
The Franklin Township Public Library is proud to host four separate screenings of the 29th annual Manhattan Short Film Festival! This festival is a worldwide event, taking place in over 500 venues across six continents between September 30th and October 3rd, 2026! Beginning on the 30th, attendees will join film lovers from around the world to simultaneously watch and vote for their favorite short film at the end of each screening.
Please click on one of the following dates to register. Please note: each individual screening below features all ten short films; you only need to sign up for one date to view all of the finalists!
Wednesday, 9/30 at 4:30 p.m.
Thursday, 10/1 at 10:30 a.m.
Friday, 10/2 at 1 p.m.
Saturday, 10/3 at 11 a.m.
To see this year’s list of film finalists and to learn more about the festival, please click here.
All films are shown with subtitles.
For questions about the Manhattan Short Film Festival, please leave a comment below or call the reference desk at 732-873-8700 opt. 3.
We hope to see you there!
-George, FTPL
Teens ages 12-17 are invited to join us for an hour of crafting at which they will earn volunteer time. Our next meeting is Wednesday, September 16 at 4pm at our DeMott Lane library. Snacks will be served! Kindness Club meets monthly and new students are always welcome! Please register at www.franklintwp.org/ or click here