The Society's library is open to the public. Access is free for society members; there is a $3.00 fee for non-members. It contains extensive materials for genealogical and historical research. It maintains historic books, manuscripts, documents, scrapbooks, photographs and a microfilm library of old newspapers from throughout the county. There is a complete file of the Historic American Buildings Survey of Salem County architecture and an oral and pictorial history collection.

A staff librarian and several knowledgeable volunteers are on hand to assist you. These same people are able to provide assistance to those in remote locations in the country who write or make telephone calls to the Society for genealogical reference information.

Books on the history of Salem County and its people are available for purchase along with maps, postcards, Society publications, and several types of stationery.

The library is the center of activity in the Alexander Grant House. It is a bright and cheerful place to work. Large glass paned doubled doors give the visitor a view of the colonial garden behind the museum.

The facilities include a microfilm reader and a copy machine. There is a discount on the cost of copies for Society members.

The Library Collections
The collections of the Josephine Jaquett Memorial Library constitute one of southern New Jersey’s most important genealogical and local history resources. Begun over a century ago, the collection includes primary and secondary resources from the 17th to the 20th centuries reflecting the civic, cultural, social and family history of Salem County, NJ — site of the oldest permanent English-speaking settlement in the Delaware Valley.

The collections include:
Deeds (17th - 20th c.; unrecorded and recorded) Surveys and survey maps (17th - 20th c.) Legal documents (1674-1941) Diaries and journals (17th -20th c) Quaker records (17th - 20th c.) Business and organization records (18th - 20th c) Church and cemetery records (18th - 20th c) U.S. Census records (1830-1920) Salem County newspapers (microfilm; 19th -20th c) Photography collections (19th - 20th c) Koehler-Morton Genealogy Collection Indexed scrapbooks (19th-20th c) Maps (18th-20th c.) Directories (19th-20th c) Family files (genealogies; Bible records; photographs) Family indexes (marriages; deaths) Subject files of local topics Secondary sources including ship passenger lists, vital statistics, wills, court records Publications of the New Jersey Archives, New Jersey Historical Society, New Jersey Genealogical Society, Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Friends Historical Society, Holland Society of New York.

Books for Sale