New Jersey Reference Collection
(Jerseyana Collection)
 The New Jersey Reference Collection comprises a broad selection of New Jersey materials containing 2260 monographs, pamphlets, periodicals and serials covering state, county and municipal history, government, education, genealogy, technology and literature.
Our collection also includes New Jersey State Documents. As a partial depository for state documents since 1968, Plainfield Public holds many government items concerning our area and its population. Parts of this collection are not catalogued, including the New Jersey and the Plainfield clipping files. Other clipping collections are to be found in the original scrapbooks of the library. The originals of the Plainfield clippings can be seen in the Archives. Copies are available for viewing in the Reference Department.
United States History Collection
 This extensive collection contains unique missives and serials from the Revolutionary War, Civil War, War of 1812, World War I, and World War II. Serials and texts from both the Union and the Confederacy give an in-depth perspective of the period. We also hold many volumes documenting all of the presidents, particularly Theodore Roosevelt.
Some volumes document the history of specific branches of the Armed Forces and their involvement in the conflicts. Related items include recruitment posters from the First and Second World Wars (image above). Periodicals from the 19th century through the middle of the 20th century include Harper's, Railway Age, Scientific American, St. Nicholas, the Journals of the Continental Congress, War of the Rebellion and Antiques.
 The Library's Fine Arts Collection includes two original works by Winslow Homer, two early Audubon prints, two oils by John F. Carlson and one by Jonas Lie.
The library also owns works by Plainfield artists Riva Helfond, Arnold Schmidt, and Alonzo Adams (above), as well as original sketches, drawings and watercolors by various noted children's illustrators. In all there are thirty important works. A Cloisonné and Porcelain Collection was donated by the library's founder Job Male.
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Diversity Studies Collection
 The Library began development of its Diversity Studies Collection in 2003 to gather and preserve research materials on the minority groups of Plainfield. The collection scope includes published and unpublished resources on the history, culture and literature of African Americans, the Gay and Lesbian community, the Hispanic community and the Caribbean community. Resources include oral histories, monographs, periodicals, folios, sheet music, and photographs.
In October 2009, the Plainfield Public Library received the Community Change Award from the New Jersey Black Issues Convention for the development of our Diversity Studies Collection.
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Oral History Collection
The library’s collection previously included 33 oral histories recorded in 1975 for the Plainfield Remembered project. This project was done in preparation for the forthcoming United States Bicentennial. The interviews were taped at the Senior Citizens Center and Richmond Towers in Plainfield.
In early 2007 the Plainfield Public Library was asked to host two days of oral-history interviews, conducted by StoryCorps, a not-for-profit company that conducts oral histories nationwide. As part of StoryCorps’ Griot project, a Plainfield historian arranged to capture the stories of African-Americans in Union County. Our library received copies of the 17 Plainfield interviews, which it later transcribed through funding from a Union County History Grant.
Latinos in Conversation, our second oral history program, was developed to be our key Hispanic Heritage Month event in October 2007. Working with StoryCorps, we conducted 11interviews in two days. The participants represented 8 countries: Bolivia, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Peru, and Puerto Rico. These interviews were also transcribed through a Union County History Grant.
In 2009, the library was invited by StoryCorps to participate in a nationwide project called Historias. This was a special initiative to record the stories of Latinos in the United States. Working with the Plainfield Hispanic community, the library conducted eight interviews in February 2010. Countries not previously represented in our 2007 project were Cuba, Ecuador, Argentina, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua.
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