Bridgewater Library Now Offers Notary Public Services

Bridgewater, NJ -- Bridgewater Township Library, along with all 10 library branches of the Somerset County Library System of New Jersey, now offer Notary Public services to county residents as a courtesy.

Those libraries include Bound Brook, Bridgewater, Hillsborough, Manville, North Plainfield, Peapack & Gladstone, Rocky Hill at Mary Jacobs Memorial Library, Somerville, Warren Township and Watchung.

The library system now has more than 30 staff members who have been sworn in as Notaries Public. As Notaries Public, the appointed SCLSNJ staff members serve as impartial witnesses in performing a variety of official fraud-deterrent acts related to the signing of important documents.

SCLSNJ Notary Service Guidelines

• Valid photo identification is required of any customer seeking Notary Service.
• All documents to be notarized must be signed in the presence of a Notary.
• Notaries must be able to read the language in which the document is written.
• In accordance with New Jersey Notarial Law, Notaries will not provide service if the customer, document, or circumstances of the request for Notary Service raises any issue of authenticity, ambiguity, doubt or uncertainty for the Notary. In this event, the Notary may, at his or her sole discretion, decline to provide notary service.
• Notary Service is not available for the first 30 minutes after the library opens or the last 30 minutes before it closes.
• An appointment is recommended; customers seeking Notary Service can call the specific SCLSNJ library branch prior to their visit. Notary Service may not always be available due to variable staff schedules.
• Notary Service is provided on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Notary Service is provided free of charge. Donations to the library are welcome.
• Notary Service is limited to three documents per person, per visit.
• The library will not provide witnesses, and witnesses may not be solicited from customers using the library. In order to serve as a witness, the witness must personally know the person whose document is being notarized and must be in possession of valid photo identification.
• New Jersey law requires that a Notary and the customer seeking notarization be able to communicate directly with each other. Notaries are not permitted to make use of a translator to communicate with a Notary Service customer.
• Notary Service is not available for deeds, wills, living wills, living trusts, codicils, depositions, adoptions, mortgages, or other real estate closing documents.
• Certain public documents cannot be copied and notarized. Examples of these are birth certificates, death certificates and marriage certificates.

For more information, visit SCLSNJ.org or contact Bridgewater Township Library at 1 Vogt Dr or call (908) 526-4016 or visit www.somerset.lib.nj.us/bridgewater.htm

(Photo provided: Suzanne Ridzy (foreground) will serve as a notary public at SCLSNJ’s Mary Jacobs Memorial Library branch in Rocky Hill. Behind Ridzy are (left to right) Barbara Madak, Jackeline Garcia, Veronica Tkach, Nanette Peterson, and Krista Cardenas, who will also serve as notaries public at other SCLSNJ library branches.)