By Sunayana Prabhu
LITTLE SILVER – The “Small Town. Big Stories” tag line of Little Silver Free Public Library holds true as it celebrates a century in existence. Born from the vision of Eleanor Randall and Mrs. Robert Rothwell in 1926, the history of this Shore town library is anything but small.
‘Founding Mothers’
In 1926, America was in the midst of a great age of libraries. In Los Angeles, workers were preparing to open the magnificent new Central Library. In Boston, visitors climbed the grand staircases of the Boston Public Library, ogling its famous marble lions, already icons of the institution. And along the Jersey Shore, in the town of Little Silver, two women – surnames Randall and Rothwell – put a bookshelf in a firehouse, igniting a century of community with free access to knowledge.
One hundred years later, the Little Silver Public Library has become one of the town’s most enduring institutions.
Library director Anita O’Brien refers to the pioneering women as “founding mothers.”
“It was women that started all this, the library. They were from the Woman’s Club 100 years ago. They’re the ones that had the idea to start the library,” O’Brien said.
The library’s 100th anniversary celebration was June 22; the Little Silver Free Public Library was formally established by resolution of the mayor and council on that date in 1926. The effort was spearheaded by Randall, who was county librarian then, and Rothwell, who was the principal of the Little Silver School. The two women appeared before local officials to advocate for the creation of a public library.
As the library celebrates a century, O’Brien also recalled the dedication of other women: Emily A. Borden, the library’s earliest volunteer, who devoted two years of service to the institution; Eleanor Kenyon became the first paid librarian in 1931 and would guide the library through nearly three decades of growth.
The first library was tucked away on the second floor of the old firehouse at 16 Church St. It opened for only three hours a week, one day at a time, O’Brien said.
Yet even in that modest space, something remarkable began to take root.
The Woman’s Club of Little Silver adopted the library as a community project, supplying volunteers and gathering donated books. What started as a bookshelf and a few donated volumes quickly became a valued space for the community.
According to the library’s history as detailed on its website, in 1931, library circulation totaled roughly 2,500 books. Just three years later, circulation had nearly doubled to 4,500. By 1964, annual circulation exceeded 33,000 books.
The library that had once opened for only a few hours each week was serving readers nearly every day.
An Evolution
As Little Silver grew, so did its library.
Organized in 1958, the nonprofit Friends of the Little Silver Library has financially supported the library for decades.
“Through the years, we’ve moved from across the street in the old firehouse over to borough hall, and then finally in the ’60s, we came here,” O’Brien said. “This was the borough garage.”
Construction began in 1964 and, by 1965, it had been converted into a dedicated library building. A federal grant helped fund an additional wing in 1969, ensuring that the institution could continue meeting the needs of future generations.
The library continued to evolve with the times. Computer access arrived in 1990. Connections to the Monmouth County Library system followed in 1994. Internet access was added in 1998. By 2003, circulation and checkout functions were fully computerized.
That same year, a major expansion transformed the library once again, creating dedicated children’s spaces, technology resources, quiet reading areas, and a more accessible facility for residents of all ages.
Today, the Little Silver Free Public Library has a technology center, study space, community gathering place, and educational resources. Students use Chromebooks after school. Residents access Wi-Fi, scanners, computers, newsletters and digital resources. Programs fill the calendar and bring residents together.
Across Generations
Yet perhaps the library’s greatest achievement cannot be measured in circulation statistics, square footage, or technology upgrades, but in generations.
“We’re a small town. There’s only 6,000 people in Little Silver. That’s the beauty of it,” O’Brien said. “We have a beautiful library, people come in, we know them by their name, it’s just like a big family.”
From being pushed in a stroller to story time to now preparing for a career in radiology science, 18-year-old resident Samantha Kirk said the library has been “a comforting corner” that has shaped her childhood, education and future.
“I came here to get SAT tutored. I would come get books for school and for projects,” Kirk said as she prepares to attend Ohio State University in the fall. “I think what’s just the most special for me is that I’ve had this space as an opportunity my whole life.”
For O’Brien, one of the greatest rewards of leading the library is watching children grow up within its walls.
“You see the little ones,” she said. “When they’re babies and they’re toddlers, they come in for story time. Then, you see them coming in to get their first library card when they get to kindergarten in town. You follow the children through the years.”
The librarians recently participated in Student Government Day at Markham Place School and spoke with the eighth graders. O’Brien observed that when some of them come back to the library, “if they’re in high school or college, you just can’t believe how they’ve grown up.”
One hundred years later, the legacy of the “founding mothers” lives on every time a child receives a first library card, a student finds a place to study, or a neighbor walks through the door and is greeted by name.
The article originally appeared in the July 2 – 8, 2026 print edition of The Two River Times.
