Constructed from 1935 to 1937 under the direction of architect Aylin Pierson, the Metuchen Public Library is a Key Contributing site in the Middlesex Avenue-Woodwild Park Historic District, listed in the New Jersey & National Registers of Historic Places in 2017. Built using a combination of funds from the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) and donations from the public, this Colonial Revival building is an excellent example of a federally-sponsored construction project intended to relieve the widespread unemployment brought on by the Great Depression. In the early 1970s, a modern addition designed by architect Charles Fitch was constructed, set back on the west side of the building, largely under the direction of Metuchen resident and Poet Laureate John Ciardi, who lived nearby on Middlesex Avenue and was very involved with the Library operations at the time. It remains one of Metuchen’s most important local cultural institutions in the “Brainy Borough.”