James E. (“Ned”) Bryan Papers

Series

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection documents Bryan's work as Assistant Director and then Director of the Newark Public Library from 1943 until 1972, along with his various activities in professional library associations and community organizations. These administrative files are arranged according to the following series: I. Professional and Biographical Information; II. Writings, including articles and essays, reports and studies, and notes and drafts; III. Administrative Matters, including annual reports, budget information, building maintenance and modernization; IV. Library Subjects and related working papers, arranged alphabetically; V. papers dealing with the 75th Anniversary of NPL in 1963; VI. papers dealing with the 1969 Crisis when the Municipal Council threatened to close the library; VII. Bryan’s work with the American Library Association; and VIII. his work with other organizations, including New Jersey Library Association, Newark’s Historic Sites and Building Committee, and Project 300 – Newark Tercentennial, IX. his work as a consultant on library buildings throughout New Jersey and elsewhere; and X. speeches and talks.

Dates

1846 - 2019

Creator

Bryan, James E. (James Edmund) (Person)

Biographical / Historical

James Edmund ("Ned") Bryan was the Assistant Director of the Newark Public Library from 1943 to 1958, and the Director from 1958 to 1972.

He was born in Easton, PA on July 11, 1909. After attending public schools, he earned his BA and BLS degrees at Drexel Institute of Technology and his MA at American University (1937). He married the former Helen E. Lamb and the couple had two sons, James, Jr. and Arthur.

Bryan began work as a library assistant at the Washington, D.C., Public Library and became Librarian of the Easton Public Library in 1936. He was Head of the Adult Lending Department at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh from 1938 to 1943. In 1943 he came to the Newark Public Library as Assistant Director to John B. Kaiser; he succeeded Kaiser as Director in 1958 and retired in 1972.

Bryan was extremely active in professional organizations and as an advisor and consultant to libraries, specializing in buildings and sites studies. Among his papers are notes on the Friends Group of the Mt. Hermon Public Library, as well as schematic drawings for the Tenafly Public Library. He served as President of the New Jersey Library Association, President of the Public Library Association, and Vice-President and President of the American Library Association. He was active as an advisory to the Drexel Institute of Technology’s Library School and the Rutgers University’s Graduate Library School. In 1966 he was appointed to the National Advisory Committee on Libraries by President Johnson. In Newark, he served on the Historic Sites and Buildings Committee, Committee to Rebuild Newark, Committee for a Unified Newark, Cultural Committee of the Greater Newark Development Council and the Greater Newark Chamber of Commerce, Newark Commission on Human Aspects and Urban Renewal, Newark Economic Development Committee, and Newark Human Rights Commission. He was a member of the Newark Chamber Music Society, a commissioner of the Robert Treat Council of the Boy Scouts, a board member of the Community Nursing Service of Essex and West Hudson, and an elder at Forest Hill Presbyterian Church.

Extent

25 Linear Feet (59 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

James Edmund (“Ned”) Bryan was the Assistant Director of the Newark Public Library from 1943 to 1958, and the Director from 1958 to 1972. The collection documents Bryan’s work as Assistant Director and then Director of the Newark Public Library from 1943 until 1972, along with his various activities in professional library associations and community organizations.