The Hoboken Public Library is a small but handsome Beaux-Arts building of 1897, with a colonnaded limestone façade and a wood-panelled reading room that has barely changed in a century. It sits a block off Washington Street and is open to anyone passing through.
The building was a Carnegie-era gift from one of the city's industrialists — Mathias Plum — and the original glass-fronted bookcases and stained-glass dome are intact. Free Wi-Fi, a small local-history collection, and a comfortable corner for a wet afternoon between sights.