Library Visit (or, How To Name Things Appropriately)

When I visited the teen area of a large and modern public library branch, I was amazed at the vast amount of space it took up on the ground floor of the branch. It occupied a large amount of the floor and was its own defined space, unlike a lot of other branches I have visited where the teen area was simply put where there was available space. What was even more surprising was the fact that it felt like such an open, inviting area, which felt slightly ironic as there were prominent signs pointing out the fact that this was the Teen Annex.

Most of the shelves were waist-high, making it easy to see that much of the space was filled with comfortable looking chairs, often grouped together, inviting teens to either sit down with a book or a bunch of friends. As my visit took place just before 4pm on a weekday, the latter was taking place. There were also four computers right in the middle of the Teen Annex, as well as some tables off to one side that seemed to be for those wishing to do some studying.

Aside from the usual suspects, i.e. fiction and graphic novels, there were also CDs and DVDs, though I found some of the classification choices curious, to say the least. (How many teens listen to Wilco? Apparently enough to warrant two copies of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.) Every shelving unit had a built in display on top so that browsing teens could be lured in by the book covers. There were also stand-alone displays that featured books relating to a theme (“Time Travel” and “Non-Fiction Adventures” were two I noticed). There was an obvious attempt to appeal to teens by not looking like a stereotypical library.

In one corner of the teen area was a reference desk, located at a distance from the groups of chairs. While the desk was staffed during my time in the branch, the staff member paid no attention to the noise the teens made. These two factors suggested that the library was trying to create an environment where teens were welcome, no matter if they were reading a book or simply needing a place to socialize. Overall, I was very impressed.