What's Happening in Northvale, NJ…

More than a third of Northvale residents want a full-time, professionally run library, if efforts to get such a measure on the November ballot are any indication.

A group of locals has spent months campaigning in favor of the library, and were rewarded by gathering enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. The city council apparently agreed, and approved the measure in a 5-0 vote earlier this month.

The population of Northvale is about 4,500, and the group collected more than 1,700 signatures. Currently, Northvale's library is small, open only on a limited basis, and has a staff of volunteers. It is not part of the countywide system, known as the Bergen County Cooperative Library System (BCCLS). A BCCLS-run library was located in Northvale, but shut down in 2011. Northvale residents have indicated they want a full-time, professionally staffed library run by the BCCLS.

Although some of the council members expressed uncertainty about the proposal, they will hire an expert to evaluate the project. Residents expressed their dissatisfaction with this idea, saying they felt that with nearly a third of the population on record as wanting a library, further studies were unnecessary. The November vote will be binding, and require approval of at least 50% of residents.

Residents who support the idea could consider working with brochure printers to create a mailer that has a rendering of a new library, featuring its amenities.