If you’ve visited the library in the past month or so, you may have noticed a massive pit where the main entrance once stood. After navigating the construction fence and ascending the temporary ramp, you now enter through previously locked doors into a different building than you may be used to: an older structure from a bygone era.

That building is the original Trenton Free Public Library, which opened its doors in 1902. It served the city well for decades, but by the 1970s, the main branch at 120 Academy Street was becoming overcrowded. An expansion beyond the 1915 Reading Room was desperately needed.

To make room for a modern facility, the city demolished the dilapidated Old Joseph Wood School (1857–1932). At the time, it was a three-story brick structure and the oldest public school building still standing in the city; however, it was in need of costly repairs. During its final years, it had served the library as an additional space for children’s services and adult education. The fierce debate over the school’s preservation versus its destruction is a fascinating tale, but one I must leave for another day.

Instead, I would like to share these incredible archival photographs from the Trentoniana Collection. They document the construction of what we now call the Bicentennial Wing. Added in 1976, its face is currently being transformed by the improvements to our entrance to the betterment of all who pass through its doors.

May these images show that despite the passage of time, this library in the heart of Trenton is still changing and growing to better serve our community, and will continue to do so for generations to come.