Library Features: What's New @ The Library
East Brunswick Public Library Rolls Out SmartAlec Printing Service
East Brunswick Public Library now offers library customers the SmartALEC wireless printing service. With SmartALEC, customers can print documents at the library using their laptops, smartphones and tablets.
SmartALEC works when customers create an account with SmartALEC and can upload documents to the library's wireless printing website. In addition, customers can download SmartALEC apps from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for their mobile devices.
“Our customers have been looking for a way to print documents from their own devices,” said Alpesh Shah, Information Technology Manager. “With Smart Alec, we can finally provide this service to them.”
The library charges $0.15 per page for black and white printouts and $0.50 per page for color printouts. Click here to start using SmartALEC.
Get Ready To Garden With EB Grow
With local gardeners getting ready to start their spring plantings, East Brunswick Public Library is opening its EB Grow seed library to the public for a second season.
EB Grow began in 2018 as a joint project between the library and the Friends of the East Brunswick Environmental Commission. Housed at the library, the goal of the seed library is to introduce residents to gardening, provide education on seed-saving, and encourage patrons to develop a passion for sustainability and hands-on learning.
“EB Grow has over 100 members popular since we introduced it last spring,” said Melissa Hozik, Adult Programming Librarian. “Our seed collection has grown, thanks to donations from plant companies like Burpee and Seed Savers Exchange, as well as from members of the community.”
Gardeners can view the seed library catalog online at www.ebpl.org/ebgrow. This collection includes easy-to-grow seeds that do well in New Jersey’s climate. Requests can be made for up to ten different seeds a year, and library staff package the seeds for customer pick up.
“You do not have to be a resident of East Brunswick to use the seed library,” Hozik added. “Our only request is that gardeners save seeds from their own crops or donate unused seed packets back to ensure the collection for future gardeners.”
In addition to the EB Grow seed library, East Brunswick Public Library circulates special gardening kits through the EB Create lending kit program to its cardholders. They can can borrow a curated gardening kit that includes grow lights and heating mats to help jumpstart plants. Kits can be borrowed by library cardholders for two weeks.
The library is also hosting three upcoming gardening programs, including “Introduction to Composting with the Middlesex County Master Gardeners on Thursday, April 25, “Introduction to Home Landscape Design with Rutgers Gardens director Bruce Crawford on Thursday, March 21, and “Horticultural Therapy” with Laura DePrado on Tuesday, May 28. All programs are held at the library, and they are free and open to the public.
East Brunswick Public Library also has a teaching plot of land at the East Brunswick Community Garden (next to the East Brunswick Municipal complex on Rues Lane), which will be used for library projects and programs throughout the growing season.