the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Public Library (RPL)Pub Trivia: Scrubs (TV show), Monday, September 21, 7pm. Well, I know what you’ve been told. You gotta work to feed the soul. But you can’t do this all on your own…so we welcome you to join us virtually for our next pub trivia, Scrubs. Register at www.ridgewoodlibrary.org by clicking on ‘Event Schedule and Registration’ button. Zoom link will be sent closer to event. For ages 18+. Questions? Please email rplpubtrivia@gmail.com.
Parenting Program: Managing Middle-School Stress, Monday, September 21, 7-8:30pm. Dr. Kevin Giangrasso, clinical psychologist, discusses managing new school stress. Register at www.ridgewoodlibrary.org by clicking on ‘Event Schedule and Registration’ button. Zoom link will be sent morning of the event.
Homespun Handcrafts @ Home: Needle Felted Strawberries, Wednesday, September 23, 7pm. We provide kits with all materials and meet via Zoom. Kit available for pickup Monday, September 14. Register at www.ridgewoodlibrary.org by clicking on ‘Event Schedule and Registration’ button. Zoom link will be sent morning of the event.
It’s Time to Quit Fast Fashion, Wednesday, September 30, 7-8pm. RPL’s Sustainability Series launches with talk by environmentalist and sustainable fashion blogger Michelle Tyler on why fast fashion harms people and the planet. All welcome. Register at www.ridgewoodlibrary.org by clicking on ‘Event Schedule and Registration’ button. Zoom link will be sent morning of the event. Questions? Roberta at RPanjwani@ridgewoodlibrary.org or 201-670-5600, ext. 132.
Now available: Contactless, self checkout
To better serve our patrons, the RPL is offering meeScan, a smartphone app that allows you to check out your own items, view your library account information, and more. Visit www.ridgewoodlibrary.org/borrowing-rules or ask a staff member to learn how.
*NEW* Voting page
Election Day is coming soon and registered voters have multiple safe options for casting their ballots this year. Learn more about New Jersey’s vote-by-mail system at
www.ridgewoodlibrary.org/voting.
COVID-19 page
The Ridgewood Public Library is committed to ensuring that you can make informed decisions. We hope that the resources linked on www.ridgewoodlibrary.org/coronavirus-information will help you and your family weather the unprecedented medical, financial, and psychological effects of this pandemic.
Stories Shared
Read stories from your neighbors about living in real-time history at www.ridgewoodlibrary.org/covid19-storiesshared.
And submit your own recollections at www.ridgewoodlibrary.org/stories-from-covid-19 or send an email to heritagecenter@ridgewoodlibrary.org.
Visit Storytellers @RPL on our website. We have 32 stories ready for listening and more on the way. With funding from a 2016 grant through the Bergen County Historical & Cultural Affairs Department, we’ve launched an oral history project. Its mission: to capture Ridgewood stories to preserve our history for future generations. We’re recording people’s stories, making them available on our website and maintaining them in our local archive. Interested in being interviewed or becoming an interviewer? Please contact Local History librarian Sarah Kiefer at HeritageCenter@ridgewoodlibrary.org or call 201-670-5600, ext. 135.
2020 Census
Complete your 2020 Census questionnaire online at my2020census.gov and make sure New Jersey gets its fair share of the $1.5 trillion that will be allocated each year based on 2020 Census data.
Ridgewood Library Valley Hospital Wellness Partnership
Is It Your Thyroid?, Wednesday, September 30, 7-8:30pm. Join us to learn about the thyroid’s functions and common health problems associated with this gland. Speaker: Vanessa Narwani, MD, endocrinology. Program will be virtual and an email address is needed at time of registration. To register, call 1-800-825-5391 or visit ValleyHealth.com/Events.
Local History and Genealogy
The Ridgewood News Digitized, Tuesday, September 22, 3pm or Wednesday, September 30, 11am. Learn how to search The Ridgewood News from 1891-present day on Newspapers.com. Find an obituary, sports news, or headlines from different time periods. Registration required. Register at www.ridgewoodlibrary.org by clicking on ‘Event Schedule and Registration’ button. Zoom link will be sent closer to date of class. Contact Sarah Kiefer at skiefer@ridgewoodlibrary.org or 201-670-5600, ext. 135 with questions.
Secrets of the US Federal Census: How Did Enumeration Really Work?, Monday, September 28, 7pm. Speaker: Thomas McEntee, genealogy blogger, educator, author. Monthly meeting of the Genealogical Society of Bergen County (GSBC). All welcome, registration required. Visit www.njgsbc.org to register. Contact Sarah Kiefer at skiefer@ridgewoodlibrary.org or 201-670-5600, ext. 135 with questions.
Genealogy Resources at the Newark Public Library, Monday, October 5, 2pm. Learn about the resources available at the Newark Public Library, one of the top repositories for genealogical information in the state. Presented by the Genealogical Society of Bergen County (GSBC). All welcome. Visit www.njgsbc.org to register. Contact Sarah Kiefer at skiefer@ridgewoodlibrary.org or 201-670-5600, ext. 135 with questions.
Genealogy consultant appointments:
Have you hit a genealogical brick wall? Or just started your research? Genealogical Society of Bergen County (GSBC) volunteers are available for one-to-one assistance via Zoom. To make an appointment, email the Society at gsbc.queries@gmail.com.
Read The Ridgewood News at home.
RPL cardholders now have remote access to Newspapers.com to access The Ridgewood News (1891-present day). You can now research, save, print or download newspaper clippings from The Ridgewood News, Ridgewood Herald, Ridgewood Herald-News and the Sunday News. Email ask@ridgewoodlibrary.org or contact us through the chat feature on www.ridgewoodlibrary.org to get login information.
Ancestry L.E. remote access
Ancestry L.E. (Library Edition) and the Newspaper Archives are now accessible from home! To access either/both, email ask@ridgewoodlibrary.org or send a chat message through our home page, www.ridgewoodlibrary.org. Please include which database you are interested in, your first and last name and your RPL card number. Upon receipt, one of our Reference librarians will send login information.
Send us your stories, your pictures.
For those who live or work in Ridgewood: One day we’ll look back and this time, fortunately, will be history. With that in mind, the Bolger Heritage Center of the Ridgewood Library would like to start collecting some of the moments you’re experiencing now in real time. Maybe you have something to say about what you’re doing or what you’ve seen (and hopefully you’ve seen some good stuff too—people helping people). Could be a sentence, or a story.
Or maybe you have a picture you could send: the kids being home-schooled, your favorite store closed, an empty sidewalk or grocery shelf, your instant home office.
If you have anything you’d like to share, please send it to heritagecenter@ridgewoodlibrary.org. And if you have any reflections once this is over,