• Library receives $1.2 million in grant funding
    for Building Community Project

    NJ State Library LogoThe New Jersey State Library, an affiliate of Thomas Edison State University, has awarded the Atlantic City Free Public Library (ACFPL) and other organizations in the state grant funding as part of its Community Center Digital Connect Program – a community resilience project that will address disparities in access to education, employment, and health services by investing in capital improvements at community facilities. The ACFPL will receive $1.283 million in grant funding for its Building Community Project. Click here to read more.
  • Film Society recruitment slide

  • Library joins NJCH Community History Program

    NJCH CommunityHistoryThe Atlantic City Free Public Library is one of nine organizations — each from a different New Jersey county — to have been accepted into the 2024 cohort of the New Jersey Council for the Humanities’ Community History Program. In the program, the organizations will receive free, expert training on public history practices and develop projects in collaboration with their local communities to learn about and share their untold stories. In addition to the training, each organization will receive $5,000 in funding from NJCH to develop and launch projects that showcase their work. Click here to read more.

  • Work on new Main Library
    HVAC system begins March 11

    taken 11.29.23Construction is scheduled to begin Monday, March 11, to replace the HVAC system at the Main Library – located at 1 North Tennessee Ave. The project is expected to take approximately two months to complete. The library asks for the public’s patience. It is anticipated there will be increased noise inside the Main Library at times due to the ongoing work, and certain phases of the construction might require closing the Main Library temporarily. Click here to read more.
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First Responders & 9/11 Memorial

 Statues are located on the Boardwalk at St. James Place. 

On December 5, 2014, the City of Atlantic City dedicated a new monument in honor of firefighters, police officers, and K9 officers, along with a complimentary monument created especially in the memory of those lost while responding to the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The monuments were part of a $145,000 CRDA revitalization project of Boardwalk space at the end of St. James Place, which had previously been damaged by a fire.

The dedication ceremony began with a mass at the St. Nicholas of Tolentine church, followed by a procession of policemen and firefighters from Atlantic City and Jersey City. The ceremony concluded with the playing of Taps and the unveiling of the monuments.

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 Police Officers and Firefighters gather for the dedication ceremony of the Memorial on the Boardwalk at St. James Place. (ACFPL staff photo)

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The First Responders monument features three bronze statues - a policeman, a firefighter, and a K9 dog. The police officer statue is modeled after Melvin Vincent Santiago, a police officer from Jersey City who was killed in the line of duty in July 2014. The statues were designed by sculptor Brian Hanlon, who had previously designed the statue of Miss America in front of Boardwalk Hall and the Leavander Johnson statue in City Center Park.

Hanlon Sculpture Studio also designed the adjacent 9/11 Memorial, which features two seven-foot tall granite towers, representing the World Trade Center, into which are chiseled a fireman’s helmet and a police shield. At a later date, existing plaques which honor Atlantic City natives who died on September 11th will be moved to accompany the St. James memorial.

The memorial was a joint effort by the City of Atlantic City, the CRDA, and Cathy Burke, owner of the Irish Pub on St. James Place. Burke was the project’s catalyst, wanting to give back in some way to the police officers and firefighters who patronize her business.
"First Responders" by Brian Hanlon, Hanlon Sculpture Studio.

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9/11 Memorial by Brian Hanlon, Hanlon Sculpture Studio.
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