Community Gaming: East Brunswick Public Library

East Brunswick Public Library (EPBL) isn’t just your typical library. Every so often, when the teens get a break or vacation from school, EBPL hosts bracket-style League of Legends tournaments. In January 8, 2016 from 5pm-9pm, EBPL’s community leaders coordinated their 7th community gaming event that consisted of more than 70 gamer’s between the ages of thirteen through nineteen. The event has a cover charge of five dollars that goes towards pizza, soft-drinks and prizes during the course of the night.

The event takes place in the open area of the library where teens are delegated into multiple sections where computers were available for teens to participate in the tournament and a lounge area where teens get to spectate one of the current games in a huge TV.

There were some that came in as a pre-made team and we got a chance to speak with team “Banana Bonanza” and asked them how their thoughts on EBPL League of Legends community events. Skylar, the captain, mentioned that it’s an exciting way for Banana Bonanza to play as a team, come together and compete with the best teams around the area. Team Banana Bonanza has been attending EBPL’s events ever since they started in 2013 and now they have matured into a great team where they show camaraderie and teamwork to achieve victory in the the tournaments.

Gaming community provides the teens with an outlet to play their favorite eSports game as well as spend time with friends. They are able to translate their experience in EBPL’s events into leadership roles and sportsmanship similar to traditional sports.