Long Branch Free Public Library Purchases Slocum House

Long Branch Free Public Libray Director Tonya Garcia stands in front of the house at 14 Slocum Place that now belongs to the library.

By Patty Booth O’Neill

“You can see it, can’t you? You can see the vision?” Tonya Garcia, Director of the Long Branch Free Public Library said pointing at an old, dilapidated house.

I could absolutely see her vision and feel her excitement. Whenever you talk to Tonya, her enthusiasm is contagious. And she is full of ideas.

The house she was talking about was located at 14 Slocum Place, abutting the library property. It was in foreclosure, and one day the library staff noticed a for sale sign had gone up on the property.

Tonya said she overheard City Historian Janice Grace and Tara Sullivan, Manager of the Elberon Branch Library, speaking about a house that had just been put up for sale that they referred to as the “library house”.  “I wasn’t part of the conversation, Tonya said. “I was in the room looking for something, but when they referred to the property as the library house, it caught my attention.”

Tonya knew the house they spoke of and it was in a bad state of disrepair. “At first I thought, well that’s nice, someone will fix it up. But then I heard “library house” so I asked what they were talking about.” 

Tonya at her desk coming up with her next big idea.

Tara said that the Slocum family, whose estate went all the way to the ocean, owned a house that was located where the library is now. They allowed the library to use for a few months, and then it was rolled off the Slocum homestead to make room for the new library, after they received the Carnegie grant in 1917. 

How sure are we that it’s the library house, Tonya asked. “We are 95% sure it’s the house,” Tara said.  Volunteer historian Will Snell had also looked into the history of the house.

“Then we should buy it,” Tonya replied. They all started laughing, but Tonya has already made up her mind. “No I’m serious, we should buy that house! How many opportunities are we going to have to buy properties in Long Branch?”

She called Mayor John Pallone for his opinion, but didn’t tell him what she was thinking over the phone. “I have a crazy idea,” she told him. “Can you come over to the library? He walked over and liked the idea right from the start.”

Tonya said that it couldn’t hurt to own the property even if the house has to be torn down. “But my dream is to preserve it if it can be. It’s in really bad shape, so I’m not expecting anything from the building.” But, she said if it can be saved she would really like to see it as a Long Branch museum. “There is so much history in the city and so many people we can gather oral history from.”

The library board unanimously approved, but where do you go from there? You still have a house with a for sale sign on it. 

Tonya said they called the realtor, Danielle Arena, who at first said, “Well you know there’s a lot of interest in the property.” Then asked Tonya why the library would want to buy it? “So we started talking and she was so interested and asked if she could pass the information on to the owner, who did call me!” Tonya said.

The owner of the property was intrigued. “I’m very interested in history, but what would you want to do with it?”  Tonya told him her dream for the house to become a museum if it could be saved, and her dream for the Slocum property remaining a part of Long Branch history.

“If you’re serious about it, I’ll stop the bidding right now. I would love to do this for Long Branch,” he said. The bidding was up to $299,000 and had just begun. “I’ll stop the bidding for you and I would really like for it to go to the library and for you to have that piece of history.”

“He did, he stopped the bidding, and now the library owns that piece of property,” Tonya said. That was three months ago. Upon inspection the foundation shows that the house indeed has been moved. “We’re sure it’s the house but the inside is much worse than the outside,” she admitted. “But even without the house the property will be a well maintained open area.”

“The City is thrilled to have assisted the library with their purchase of the property adjacent to the main library,” Mayor John Pallone said. “The structure on the property has significant ties to the library’s rich history.  Our hope is that future generations will be able use this for even more open public space, as opportunities like this do not come often. This all would not have been possible without the Director of the Library, Tonya Garcia,” he said.