July 13, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 7 Ridgewood Bolger Heritage Center is history, genealogy fulcrum Heritage Center are not available anywhere else short of state or university collections – and some items are only found in Ridgewood’s collection. While Norris, her husband, Ridgewood Historian Joe Suplicki, and Ridgewood Public Schools publicity volunteer Bill Carbone were among the key players in getting the Bolger Center constructed, Norris said The Bolger Foundation was the key financial player and provided the lion’s share of the money needed to turn what was once a somewhat dusty archive into a comfortable, sunlit room with ample lighting, reading and note-taking tables, and conventional stacks loaned to the gunnels with books of unconventional value. “If it weren’t for (Library Director) Nancy Greene, none of this could have happened,” Norris said, noting that Greene’s patience and persistence focused a long-term project to the point where it achieved success. She credited David Bolger and Dan and Maureen Cummings as significant financial backers of the project, and said donations from a number of other residents were also involved. The Ridgewood Public Library Foundation, which is involved in fundraising, will hold a “Stetson Style” event on Oct. 1 from 7 p.m. until midnight at the library and adjacent sports field. The cowboythemed event is open to people who register in advance. Interested persons may stop at the reference desk or check with Programs Director Barbara Hand. The Bolger Heritage Center is open The new archive room at the Bolger Heritage Center. by John Koster The New Bolger Heritage Center at the Ridgewood Public Library is now serving residents and scholars who want to conduct serious research into the history of Ridgewood and the backgrounds of their own families with the aid of trained professionals and one of the best collections of rare books and old magazines in New Jersey. “The Bolger Center puts people on the staff and volunteers in touch with people who want to do research into the collec- tions, and allows for the collaboration in a space we did not have before, and where we have room to expand,” said Local History Librarian Peggy Norris, the chief advisor on research above and beyond the usual student projects. People who want to delve into their own family histories, or into the history of Ridgewood and the surrounding area may now have access to an important collection of books and papers in a room where quiet reading and note-taking are facilitated by contact with library staffers as needed. Most of the books stored in the Bolger during all the hours the library is open, and users may sign in with a BCCLS library card, a membership card from the Genealogical Society of Bergen County, or with a guest ID available at the reference desk on the second floor. Patron assistants from the Genealogical Society of Bergen County are available for consultation and assistance with using databases and the Ridgewood Library’s own collections. Databases, shipping lists, census records, and military records from colonial times through World War II can help residents track down and document ancestors or other famous or historical figures. Ridgewood City Directories from 1897, 1904-1914, and 1926-1973 are also available, along with church and cemetery records and microfilm copies of the Ridgewood News as far back as 1891, the Bergen County Republican from 1873 through 1938, the Hackensack Democrat from 1873 through 1938, and The Record since 1970. The New York Times is available in mircofilm from 1851, and topics may also be accessed online with the help of reference staffers. Many publications on the topic of genealogy are also available through the library’s subscriptions, and a number of books long out of print are filed in the stacks of the Bolger Center. The Ridgewood Library has long been a regional center for research into genealogy and The Bolger Heritage Center now provides a pleasant, used-friendly location for the storage and access of materials to trace the history of the region and of individual families.