Founder Of Woodbridge Library System, Ed Beckerman, Dies At 94

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — The Woodbridge library system is a place for many: A place for parents to take small children. A place to work. A place to borrow books, movies and CDs. A place to study, a place to tutor, a place to learn.

And the man who created this entire social network — before virtual social networking existed — died Oct. 29.

Edwin Paul Beckerman, the library director who helped transform a patchwork of small, unaffiliated book rooms into the modern Woodbridge Library System, died Saturday Oct. 29 at age 94. He had been a Princeton resident since 1968.

"He was the Garibaldi of our system," said his daughter-in-law, Wendi Rottweiler, the current coordinator of the Woodbridge Main Library, who has been with the system since 1989. "He brought everything together, and brought it into the modern age."

Ed, as he preferred to be known, was also an author, teacher and past president of the New Jersey Library Association (1970-1971) whose ideas about library construction and management had an influence that went beyond New Jersey.

He was a trustee of the Princeton Public Library for more than a decade, and did consulting work for more than 100 libraries in the tri-state area and beyond. His 1994 book "Administration of the Public Library," written with Alice Gertzog, has become a standard text.

"He always had wisdom to share with us, and he was so generous with his time," recalled Leslie Burger, past president of the American Library Association, who was mentored by Beckerman. "He was respected by everybody."

When Beckerman arrived in Woodbridge, in 1964, each section of the sprawling township had its own independent library − stocked with a motley assortment of donated books. Of some 70,000 books in the eight sites, he later recalled, maybe 20,000 were worth keeping. One chemistry book dated back to 1913.

Beckerman knit the system together, turning the independent libraries into branches, hiring qualified personnel and bringing in a flood of new − and properly vetted − books and periodicals.

Four new branch libraries were built during his 26-year-tenure: in Iselin, Fords, Port Reading and Colonia. In 1974, he cut the ribbon on the new $2.9 million Woodbridge Main Library on Rt. 35. Its collection included 175,000 books, 500 films, and 900 periodicals. When he'd arrived, the total number of subscriptions − between all eight township libraries − had been 20.

"He had the ability to see the future," Burger said.

Ed, the son of Morris and Elizabeth Beckerman, grew up in the Bronx, in the shadow of Yankee stadium. From their building, they could literally see into it. "We used to be able to go up to the roof of my house, take a radio, and see the game," he recalled in 1990.

It was a neighborhood of immigrants and strivers. Future singer Eydie Gormé was a local. So was Stanley Kubrick, Ed's classmate (and occasional ping-pong partner) at William Howard Taft High School. Ed's brother, Bernard Beckerman, was to become a noted Shakespeare scholar. Ed had been active in theater himself, but a hearing impairment led him away from the stage, and into library work.

After getting a BA from the University of Missouri and and MLS degree from Columbia, he found work as a consultant for the New York Public Library − with special emphasis on outreach. He helped pioneer bookmobile programs for underserved communities, and worked in Harlem in the mid-1950s. Social justice was important to him: one of his proudest achievements, in Woodbridge, was the creation of Middlesex County's first Head Start program.

Ed married librarian Jean Friedburg in 1954. They had three children: James, Lee and Peter. Jean died in June, 2020.

In 1963, in Woodbridge, there was a referendum. Should those scattered, antiquated libraries be brought into the 20th century? They should. Beckerman was by then known in the field: he had worked at the Leicester City Public Library in England (as part of a Department of State exchange program) and was assistant director of the Yonkers N.Y. Public Library. He was tapped for the job.

Ed had a mandate. But that wasn't enough. One of his key insights was that library management was a political job. Funding depended on the good will of elected officials − some of whom might have little interest in books.

So he made himself a familiar figure in Woodbridge. He hobnobbed with mayors, and advocated for libraries at town council meetings and Rotary Club gettogethers. "Politics and The American Public Library: Creating Political Support for Library Goals," published in 1996, was his master class on the subject.

How right he was became apparent in 1965, when he faced strong headwinds from critics.

Book bans are headline news today. But they aren't new. Two novels, the bawdy satire "Candy" and the grimly realistic "Last Exit to Brooklyn," were causing a stir. "Obscene and rotten filth," one former councilman called them. Beckerman had both books on his shelves. Worse, he had actually spoken at a Rutgers symposium on censorship, co-sponsored by the ACLU. There were some who wanted his head.

But Ed had laid the groundwork. He had allies in city hall. He also had a knack for bridge-building, for patiently explaining his beliefs. "The question of the value of the material is disagreed upon among the critics," he said. He himself found "Last Exit" "brilliant, revolting." But shouldn't people be allowed to make up their own minds? In a unanimous vote, the library board of trustees reaffirmed the book selection and gave Beckerman their full backing.

"Tact," read a plaque on Ed's desk — it was a paraphrase of Churchill — "is when you tell someone to go to hell, and they can't wait to get there." Ed Beckerman was a very tactful man.

Another example of his tact − and decency − was recalled by his son Lee. They were eating at a New York cafeteria, and saw a homeless man collecting scraps. Ed quietly dropped a bill on the ground, then picked it up and handed it to the man, saying, "I think you dropped this."

"To me, not only the empathy to recognize a person in need, but the ability to help without assaulting the other person's dignity, was masterful," Lee said.

Ed was a lifelong Yankee fan, Civil War enthusiast, theater aficionado, Mozart lover and folk music buff who had been playing guitar since age 20. He was known to his neighbors at Brandywine Living, his home since 2017, for playing in the weekly jam sessions with other residents.

He was a kind, gentle, generous man who will be missed by his sons Jim, Lee and Peter and their spouses, Tom, Wendi, and Eileen, his grandchildren Max, Amelia, Kai and Lydia, his niece Susan Braun, and his nephews Michael Beckerman, Jonathan Beckerman and Michael Braun. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the New Jersey Library Association scholarship fund at njla.org or the ACLU at aclu.org