What’s New at
March 2006:
The Newark Museum/EIRC Partnership
One the state’s little known treasures is the Newark Museum. Located near the New Jersey Turnpike, it is connected to and a part of what was once the Ballantine family mansion. The museum houses one of the largest lending libraries in the country.
Yes, you read that correctly…it is a lending library. Teachers may borrow items such as a Civil War uniform or ancient Egyptian ceramic ware and use the artifacts in their classrooms. The obvious problem preventing widespread use of this great resource is distance. Consequently, southern New Jersey teachers have had little if any access to the 15,000 artifacts housed at the Newark Museum.
EIRC wants to solve the distance problem for southern New Jersey teachers this fall. Throughout April and May, the center is piloting a delivery system, using 6 volunteer school district teachers and librarians from six southern New Jersey counties. Next fall, this service should be available for all southern New Jersey school districts to utilize. Teachers will simply make online requests for up to four artifacts each. EIRC will pick up and deliver all requested artifacts. About two weeks later EIRC will pick up and return the artifacts when the process for the next delivery starts all over again.
Be sure to watch for more Newark Museum updates in our summer and fall brochures, which will be posted at www.eirc.org