FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions- How do I get a copy of my birth certificate?
- How do I get a marriage license?
- How do I get a dog license?
- Do I need a building permit? How do I get one?
- When will they pick up my trash?
- How can I find out about tax sales?
- How can I reach the Mayor's office?
- How do I register to vote?
- Where can I pay a traffic ticket?
- When and where does the City Council Meet?
- How do I obtain information about beach badges?
- Why isn't the Long Branch Library a member of the County Library System?
Birth certificates are not available online. In order to receive a certified copy of a birth certificate, please have all information available and call the Health Department at 732-571-5665. They will be able to give you all the information you need, including the cost of obtaining a birth certificate copy.
How do I get a marriage license?Marriage licenses are not available online. Please call the Health Department at 732-571-5665.
How do I get a dog license?Dog licenses are not available online. Please call the Health Department at 732-571-5665.
Do I need a building permit? How do I get one??In order to find out whether or not you need a building permit, please call the Office of the Construction Official, Mr. Stanley Midose, at 732-571-5690. That office will be able to advise you regarding applicable permits and their cost.
When will they pick up my trash?Normal trash collection days are Mondays and Thursdays for all residents south of Broadway, and Tuesday and Friday for all residents north of Broadway. Bulk pickup is made each week on Wednesday in all areas of the city, unless there is a holiday on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. For recycling information, please click here. For additional information, including regular & holiday garbage pick-up schedules, please visit our Department of Public Works page or call them at 732-571-6520.
How can I find out about tax sales?Tax sales are administered by the Office of the Tax Collector. Please call Mr. Ed Mazzacco at 732-571-5657 for further information.
How can I reach the Mayor's office?To reach the Mayor's office, please call 732-222-7000, ext. 5270. To reach other officials, view our City Directory.
How do I register to vote?To register to vote, download the Voter Registration Form (you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed) or contact the Office of the City Clerk at 732-571-5686.
Where can I pay a traffic ticket? Parking tickets must be paid at the Municipal Court, which is located at 279 Broadway. Please use the Fifth Avenue entrance. For more information, please call the Municipal Court at 732-571-6500. When and where does the City Council meet?The City Council meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month, unless that day is a holiday. They meet in the Council Chambers, 344 Broadway, Long Branch, NJ. The workshop session begins at 6:00 PM (this session is open to the public, but there is no public participation), and the general session begins at 8 PM. For more information, please call the City Clerk's office at 732-222-7000, ext. 5201. City Council agendas, ordinances and resolutions can be found here.
How do I obtain information about beach badges?The beaches are operated by the Recreation Department. For information about the types of badges available, the cost of badges, and where to obtain them, please call or email the Department of Recreation and Human Services at 732-571-6545.
Why isn't the Long Branch Library a member of the County Library System?Ingrid Bruck, Library Director, explains:
I am the Library Director. I will try to explain why Long Branch Free Public Library is a member of LMxAC (not Monmouth County Library System). Libraries of Middlesex Automation Consortium is a non-profit organization and not an agency of Middlesex County. Membership in a non-profit consortium confers the subtle distinction between independence or County system membership.
When planning how to chart the library's future back in 1998, Long Branch Public Library worked with library consultant, Edwin Beckerman. Mr Beckerman conducted a library needs assessment and recommended that Long Branch Public Library join the consortium, LMxAC - Libraries of Middlesex Automation Consortium. We needed to automate the library in order to modernize it and Monmouth County was not a candidate because it was not automated, did not provide service beyond the wall, and provided no planning assistance to keep up with changing technology.
By the way, Mr. Beckerman is the same consultant who worked at Lakewood PL and managed the migration to Ocean County System. For Lakewood PL, OC Library system proved to be the best match. For Long Branch PL, LMxAC membership proved to be the best match.
LMxAC membership has been good for Long Branch Public Library. Our consortium affiliation with LMxAC provides this library and its patrons with the same resources, plus far more resources and services than we would have if we were a Monmouth County member library. LMxAC consortium membership provides us with a shared online catalog, web hosting service, email, match cataloging services, internet service, technicians who make library calls as part of the cost of service, access to reciprocal borrowing from a network of 27 member libraries, a quality online catalog to track and make available all of our books and materials for patron online reserve on a 24 x 7 basis - plus our consortium keeps us abreast of changing technology so we can take advantage of these for better public library service.
When you compare our status as an independent public library and consortium member in LMxAC, I think you will see that we provide our patrons with ALL of the service advantages of Monmouth County Library System, plus more. We offer ALL of the same services – reciprocal borrowing with a different lender base, the same statewide databases, statewide interlibrary loan, state subsidized interlibrary reserves in NJ, and state subsidized delivery of books and materials from libraries all over the state. On the side of MORE services, our library has a state of the art technology infrastructure, technical support on site and from our consortium, unique database subscriptions to LearnATest, Wilson Biographies, NetLibrary, 24 public computers to help bridge the digital divide, a Gates computer lab, a branch of service in Elberon (we would NOT have a Branch if we were a member of the County System), and very popular and active adult and children's programs provided by a Children's Manager and a Computer Lab Supervisor. (Children's Manager and a Computer Lab Supervisor are positions this library would NOT have if the library belonged to Monmouth County.)
Although the library does not have an extensive Reference materials budget, it does provide an online connection to Q&ANJ with 24 hour reference assistance online seven days a week. We also have access to the NJ State wide Reference Center for backup to answer reference questions involving resources that we cannot afford. In addition at times we have contacted the Newark Public Library and other Libraries with special collections of materials on behalf of customers looking for answers. Our Library maintains a Library Homepage that is available anywhere anytime and it contains selected reputable web sites available online in many subject areas. The library provides remote access to several electronic databases and books. If you have search our online catalog of holdings, you can place a book reserve online. If you do not find what you want in the online catalog, you can call the library at 732-222-3900 and ask for the reference desk. If you prefer, you can always come into Main Library or Elberon Branch to ask for help. The staff will be glad to guide you through the process of borrowing books and materials from other libraries.
We are very proud of the quality of service that Long Branch Public Library provides to the Long Branch community. Performance figures show that we are delivering great service. Loans of materials, visits and attendance have all increased annually during the 6 years the library has belonged to LMxAC - library circulation, library visits and program attendance compare to that of other cities up to double our size. We are working hard to modernize and renovate our outdated library facilities - Elberon Branch renovation/addition work has begun and we hope to fund the Main Library shortage and begin work soon there as well. This library is a work in progress trying to keep in step with City redevelopment.
City Council periodically evaluates the cost to the city for library services. There is a general perception that county library membership would be free to the City. This is not true. There is a significant cost to the City to relinquish library control to the county. In the figures reported in 2001 Abstract of Ratables, the City of Long Branch paid 0.036 for library services. Cities with a comparable tax base but much smaller population paid a similar average rate of 0.030 to the county. Moreover, the City is required to pay for repairs and improvements library building, an added cost to the City of no little cost. When you take a comparable cost to the City for County Library Membership together with the significant loss in library services (book buying allotment cut by 75% or more, the children’s librarian position eliminated, Elberon Branch closed), the consensus reached is that the library gets the greatest amount of services for dollars spent by belonging to LMxAC.
If you have more questions about our library's services or suggestions about services you think we should provide, please email me. I will do my best to answer you. To get an overview of our library's services, I suggest you logon to the Library's Homepage at www.lmxac.org/longbranch I also invite you to give me a call to set up a library tour and learn more about our services.
Sincerely,
Ingrid Bruck, Director
Long Branch Free Public Library
328 Broadway
Long Branch NJ 07740
www.lmxac.org/longbranch
Voice: 732-222-3900
Fax: 732-222-3799