In the Fall 2012 issue of YALS, youth services librarian Katherine Trouern-Trend takes a look at the new National Teen Space Guidelines from the Young Adult Library Services Association. These guidelines were created in 2011-2012 by a task force and adopted by YALSA’s board of directors in May. Several libraries were included as model spaces. We asked some of them to share photos and information about their spaces and will be featuring them in the coming weeks.

This week’s featured teen space is the Teen Zone at Plymouth District Library in Plymouth, Michigan.

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In the Fall 2012 issue of YALS, youth services librarian Katherine Trouern-Trend takes a look at the new National Teen Space Guidelines from the Young Adult Library Services Association. These guidelines were created in 2011-2012 by a task force and adopted by YALSA’s board of directors in May. Several libraries were included as model spaces. We asked some of them to share photos and information about their spaces and will be featuring them in the coming weeks.

This week’s featured teen space is the Teen Zone from Farmington Public Library in Farmington, NM. David Florez, the library’s Teen Zone Coordinator, shared some information and pictures of the space.

“Located in the Four Corners area of the American Southwest, the Farmington Public Library serves a culturally diverse population of approximately 110,000, with a collection consisting of more than 190,000 books, e-books, periodicals and multimedia titles and is home to the Teen Zone social space.

Teens at the Farmington Public Library meet with Paul Volponi through Skype.

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In the Fall 2012 issue of YALS, youth services librarian Katherine Trouern-Trend takes a look at the new National Teen Space Guidelines from the Young Adult Library Services Association. These guidelines were created in 2011-2012 by a task force and adopted by YALSA’s board of directors in May. Several libraries were included as model spaces. We asked some of them to share photos and information about their spaces and will be featuring them in the coming weeks.

Rebecca Wisniewski from the Waupaca Area Public Library shared some of the highlights of the library’s teen space, The Best Cellar.

“The Best Cellar at the Waupaca Area Public Library opened to the teens of the Waupaca area in April 2006, following four years of extensive planning, fund-raising and grant writing. The new design was a much-welcomed improvement over the converted storage room that had been serving as the teen space.

The Best Cellar is well-utilized by teen patrons who frequent the library. They come to select materials for checkout, log on to the internet computers, play on the Wii and PlayStation 2, grab a snack, participate in programs, or just hang out with their friends. The use of the internet computers and the Wii are by far the most popular activities that the teens engage in on a daily basis. They also like being able to purchase and enjoy affordable snacks while spending time in the Best Cellar. The snacks are supplied by the Student Library Advisory Group (SLAG) and the proceeds go toward maintaining and improving the teen space as well as supporting teen programming.”

The Best Cellar showing central room area in foreground, Nonfiction and DVD shelves in background

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In the Fall 2012 issue of YALS, youth services librarian Katherine Trouern-Trend takes a look at the new National Teen Space Guidelines from the Young Adult Library Services Association. These guidelines were created in 2011-2012 by a task force and adopted by YALSA’s board of directors in May. Several libraries were included as model spaces. We asked some of them to share photos and information about their spaces and will be featuring them in the coming weeks.

First up is the Tacoma Public Library in Tacoma, WA. Librarians Kristy Gale, Adam Brock, and Sara Sunshine Holloway offer a peek into their teen space, StoryLab.

“The mission of StoryLab is to provide teens with the tools, resources and training to become skilled creators of digital media.

We live in a digital world. While the need for effective communication has not changed, what has changed are the tools. Age, economic background and location are no longer potential obstacles to anyone who wants to share ideas and tell stories. The new barriers are access to the tools that level the playing field, as well as the education to use those tools effectively.

The Tacoma Public Library began work on StoryLab in the spring of 2010 to address these barriers in our local community. The Library applied for and received a 3-year $150,000 grant from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation to create StoryLab – a digital media lab at the downtown Main Library for teens and young adults that provides mentoring, training, equipment, software… all the tools and skills needed to excel in the new communication world. Teens can use StoryLab to write and record music, make a film, build a web site, illustrate stories and then animate them, design and print posters and brochures, or further develop their photography skills. Through StoryLab, the library offers free workshops with media professionals.”

Hip-hop recording artist, Q-Dot, taught a four week series on the art and craft of hip hop, beat production, lyric writing and the ins and outs of the music business.

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