It has been skillfully designed to meet all the requirements of the most efficient modern library work.”[1] During the laying of the cornerstone ceremony, several items were deposited in the corner stone, including; a photograph of Mrs. Mary E. Ryle, an engraved portrait of the late Charles Danforth, a scrap-book with outlines of the history of both the old and new Danforth Libraries, the Great Fire of 1902 and the Great Floods of 1902 and 1903, silver coins on 1902-1903, and others.

[12] A formal dedication ceremony was held on April 29, 1905 where native-Patersonian and former Governor of New Jersey / former member of President William McKinley’s cabinet, John W. Griggs remarked, “Out of the ashes of the old has risen the new nobler structure, an ornament as well as a utility to our city, a building to rejoice over, to behold with admiration and to regard with civic pride.”[1] The Danforth Memorial Library officially opened to the public on May 1, 1905 to a crowd of thousands who jumped on the first opportunity to visit the building.

[13] In 1925, the wife of Vice-President Garrett A. Hobart, gifted a valuable collection of paintings as a memorial to her late-husband to be hung as a permanent exhibit within the library.

[16] In November, 2022, the city announced it was selling the North Main Street library location to a Paterson-based nonprofit group that planned to convert the building into a resource center that would provide mental health counseling, job training and reentry services.

Danforth Memorial Library opened the Community Learning Center in 1986, and it has increased its African American and Spanish language collection.

Inside, visitors will find a large bronze tablet which commemorates the building’s donor, Mrs. Mary E. Ryle (Charles Danforth’s daughter), depicting her as an angel-like figure in bas-relief completed by sculptor Evelyn Beatrice Longman (who also worked with Bacon on the sculpturing of the Lincoln Memorial).

The bronze tablet was added to the library entrance in November of 1907 after a citizen movement begun pushing for a suitable memorial to be erected in Mrs. Ryle’s honor.

[1] In 2020, the Governor of New Jersey, Phil Murphy, granted $734,812 to rehabilitate the historic landmark; this fund came from the Library Construction Bond Act.

The rehabilitation project consists of renovating the Children's Department and the Community Literacy Center, modifying the elevator to American with Disabilities standards, replacing the library's roof, and repairing the retaining wall.