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Boardwalk Empire, the HBO series set on the Atlantic City boardwalk during the 1920′s, garnered rave reviews from its first airing and boasts some of Hollywood’s top talent. Along with the contributions of director Martin Scorsese, writer Terence Winter and actor Steve Buscemi, the valuable skills of a local librarian were called upon to help authenticate the details of Prohibition-era Atlantic City. Heather Halpin Perez, an archivist for the historical Alfred M. Heston Collection at the Atlantic City Free Public Library, was contacted by the show’s lead researcher. “I was one of the historical consultants who was working at providing details about some of the sets and costumes,” she tells American Libraries. The series, which centers around Nucky Thompson, a fictionalized version of real-life crime boss Enoch “Nucky” Johnson, combines fiction with historical fact, and draws on the library’s archives to accurately re-create set pieces such as newspapers and boardwalk attractions. Read more…