The Newark Public Library (NPL) has transformed a second floor space into the home of the Philip Roth Personal Library (PRPL), an installation that captures the author’s engagement with reading, writing and Newark.
With many of Roth’s books on display (often with annotations and marginalia) and exhibits about the author, the Philip Roth Personal Library provides a window into his mind and imagination and conveys how reading shaped his intellect and writing. A ribbon cutting will be held June 7 and the PRPL will open to the public starting in June for limited visits and small group tours, adhering to current COVID protocols.
In 2016 Roth announced he was leaving his personal collection of 7,000 books, from his Manhattan and Connecticut homes, to the Newark Public Library. A Newark native, Roth benefited from NPL’s collections as a youth and a student and drew on his life in Newark to inform several of his novels, including Goodbye, Columbus; American Pastoral; andNemesis. “As a librarian I am thrilled with this incomparable gift of books that mattered to him — books he read, wrote, loved, even disliked,” said Joslyn Bowling Dixon, director of the library. She added, “He believed in the power of reading to educate, inspire and transport, and he wanted to share this with the people of Newark and others interested in his works.”
At his death in 2018, Roth’s estate created two endowments at the Community Foundation of New Jersey for the benefit of the Newark Public Library. Roth directed that interest from these endowments be used to support programs and services at both the Main Library and branches. Dixon said that interest from the endowments was already being used to meet community needs. “E-books have been incredibly popular and necessary during the pandemic and we foresee that usage only increasing. We have been able to acquire a digital media service (Hoopla) that will greatly expand our e-book offerings. Funds will also support library programs in general and those related specifically to the Philip Roth Personal Library.”
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka commented, “Philip Roth wanted the Newark Public Library to thrive for the good of our community and he believed that through these major gifts he could best demonstrate his lifelong connection to Newark and its people. This gift will enable our library and our city to become an even more important global literary destination, encouraging people to visit Newark — many for the first time — as they discover the power of his words on his own native soil.”
Lauren Wells, president of the library’s board of trustees, said, “Philip Roth’s gifts to the Newark Public Library will create many new opportunities for us to be a vital public space for local and statewide dialogue across race, culture, and class and to build our collections in ways that grow our reach and appeal. The Roth Personal Library will draw new patrons to our library and city, and our rich programming will keep them engaged beyond their visit.”
