Did you ask if Hackensack NJ has a good public library? It sure does! When we asked our friend Tara Cooper, the Director of the Johnson Public Library to answer this question for us, here’s what she said:

From Tara Cooper, Director of Hackensack’s Johnson Public Library

In 2018, I was hired as the Director of Hackensack’s Johnson Public Library after living in Richmond, VA for nearly six years. I was excited to move back to Northern NJ, where I grew up, and work for a vibrant downtown Library. Before my first interview for the position, I dove deep into what had been happening in Hackensack. I studied the City’s Master Plan and Redevelopment Plan. They seemed ambitious at best, bordering on unrealistic. I’ve always liked Hackensack, and had spent lots of time as a young person at our iconic Sears as well as Bowler City. However, from my observation, Hackensack hadn’t changed much in the 20 previous years. What was different now?

Over the last five years, Hackensack has undergone a massive shift. It was sparking off during my early days at the Library (the building vibrating nearly every day with jackhammering), but the post-COVID years have been quite dramatic, if I’m being honest. I jog around Hackensack a lot, and from my favorite spot in the back of Foshini Park, along the Hackensack River boardwalk, I can spot no fewer than six sparkling new residential buildings. I often thought to myself, who exactly is going to move into all of these new apartments? It turns out, the answer is everyone.

How are these changes happening?

These changes aren’t happening by accident. The City has done an excellent job attracting developers to Hackensack, and businesses are following. The ambitious-at-best Redevelopment Plan that I read years ago is coming to fruition. Businesses new and old are being supported by The Main Street Business Alliance, helping keep their services and offerings vibrant and relevant. There are new and exciting restaurants, bars, and coffee shops.  The streetscape is beautiful, and community events on the Green and at the HacPac and drawing in folks from near and far. 

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t brag about the Library as well. Last year, we were voted Best Library in 201 Magazine’s Best of Bergen. We see thousands of visitors a month from all walks of life. The Library offers digital and streaming services, museum passes, lendable hotspots, business services (such as faxing, copying, scanning), genealogy resources as well as classes for children, teens, families, new Americans, small businesses, crafters, writers, readers and more. During COVID, we worked to transform a previously unused space into a beautiful art gallery, and invite you to our monthly openings on the first Thursday of each month at 6:30pm. Thanks to the County of Bergen, we were able to renovate our Children’s Department to include an accessible family restroom this year, and hope to start construction on a brand new lower-level Teen Space in 2025. We, of course, also still have all of the traditional media to borrow and enjoy as well.

So, if you, like me, are wondering to yourself, “what could have possibly changed?”, about either Downtown Hackensack or our beautiful Johnson Public Library, I invite you to see for yourself. 

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More Info on the Hackensack NJ Public Library

Be sure to check out the Johnson Public Library page on our Downtown Hackensack partner section: https://downtownhackensack.org/partners/johnson-public-library/

You can also visit the Hackensack NJ Public Library site directly.