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National Transportation Knowledge Network (NTKN): Blog

NTKN Member Spotlight - Eric Schwarz

by Cara Marcus on May 1st, 2023 in Libraries, National Transportation Knowledge Network | 0 Comments

Eric Schwarz in the NJ DOT Library

Eric Schwarz, NJDOT research librarian, points to a May 1944
article and photos on the State Highway Department’s new library.

 

Tell us a little bit about your library and yourself.

Eric Schwarz is the Research Librarian for the New Jersey Department of Transportation Research Library, which operates as an affiliate of the New Jersey State Library and serves New Jersey state government employees and members of the general public. The library’s collection contains about 10,000 items, including about 4,000 periodical issues.  The original New Jersey State Highway Department’s Technical Reference Library was founded in the early 1940s.  Since 1962, the library has been operated by the Bureau of Research, which was then part of the State Highway Department. The Highway Department was renamed the New Jersey Department of Transportation in 1966. Eric works with another librarian from the New Jersey State Library who is a cataloging librarian, although Eric does some copy cataloging himself.

He started working there in July of 2022, which he will always remember because it was right after the 4th of July.  Eric graduated from Rutgers University – twice!  He received his bachelor’s degree in journalism/mass media and English, and his master’s degree in library and information science.  He worked in the library as an undergraduate at Rutgers and loved it, and that experience led him back to library school at Rutgers more than a decade later. Eric also works part-time as a reference librarian at a public library. He has worked in various academic and public libraries for the past five years since leaving a corporate job. 

This talented, up-and-coming 21st century librarian is talented in other ways too.  He sings classical and pop music with a local chorus. He’s also a big fan of I Love Lucy. Two of his prized pieces of Lucille Ball memorabilia are a TV movie poster and a portrait photo, both personally signed “Love, Lucy.” And the photo itself says “For Eric.” He never met her, but he bought those items in charity events run by her fan club.

Eric and his husband enjoy travelling and have been to Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Germany.NJ DOT Research Library


What are some of the gems in your collection?  

The NJDOT Library contains no shortage of gems!  The Highway was an employee newspaper published from 1942 to 1950 containing articles and photographs that tell the story of World War II and the post-war years in New Jersey. The last issue had several interesting articles on the front page -- the opening of what New Jersey considered its first parkway, Route 4 (which a few years later was incorporated into the new Garden State Parkway) and the opening of the new State Highway Building, which is now called the Main Office Building and is the home of the library.  Other gems include The Highwayman (from the early 1920s) and annual reports of the NJDOT and its predecessors going all the way back to 1895.


What is your most memorable reference question?


Someone asked about the name of a building on the NJDOT campus in Ewing, New Jersey. Eric found out that the Foran Building was named for Arthur Foran, not his son, Walter (to whom it had been attributed).  However, both Forans were New Jersey legislators. 


What is your most interesting project?


While reading through all those archival highway newsletters, Eric noticed that four employees, who died while in active duty on the job, were never memorialized on the employee memorial wall, which he saw every day outside his office window.  Now the NJDOT leadership is planning on memorializing the other past employees and Eric can help with any additional research needed related to this project.


What is your superpower?


Eric is immensely curious and will not stop researching a topic until he gets to the heart of it and uncovers everything the requester needs to know.


How has NTKN helped you?


Eric found NTKN and its mentoring program soon after he began his new job at NJDOT. There is a lot of mentoring and knowledge sharing (of course) throughout NTKN, between all-member meetings and personal outreach.  He is very grateful to everyone at NTKN who has helped him and appreciates his mentor, Cara Marcus of National RTAP – he has learned a lot so far through their 1:1 meetings.  Someday he hopes to become a mentor himself!
 


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