|
‘Comfy’ rates highest in teens’ library needs By DONNA HEALY Of The Gazette Staff Teens want comfy chairs, a place to chat, snacks and plenty of Internet access at Parmly Billings Library, judging by the opinions expressed in a Gazette survey. Brett Janecek, a 14-year-old freshman at Billings Central, envisions a teen center at the public library where he could “get away, relax and sit, and chill.” Since grade school, Janecek’s library use has tapered off to a few trips a year. He likes looking at the music and entertainment magazines on the library’s second floor, but the lighting’s harsh and the chairs are hard. “It’s not a comfortable, relaxing place to look at the magazines,” he said. Since music is his main interest, he would like to see more popular music in the library’s compact-disc collection and be able to listen to the library’s music collection with headphones. Twenty-three teens responded to the Gazette’s questionnaire on the library’s plans to create a teen/young adult center this fall in a corner room on the library’s second floor that once housed back issues of magazines. The teens showed overwhelming support for creating a space in which conversation was encouraged and refreshments were available. The Gazette questionnaire was done in advance of a series of three library focus groups to solicit comments from teens about the proposed project. In the past, library services for teen readers often boiled down to a shelf of young adult fiction located between the children’s department and the adult fiction, said Bill Cochran, the library’s director. “We’re trying to recognize and specifically address their unique needs,” Cochran said. The current generation of teens, which some have labeled “Generation D,” is the first to grow up in the digital age, with easy access to computers. The library’s foundation contributed $10,000 to set up the center, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has donated $16,000 worth of equipment and training, including four personal computers, a server and software. Middle school and high school students are encouraged to express their opinions about the proposed teen center by attending one of the library’s three focus group meetings scheduled:
Each meeting starts at 7 p.m. and will be facilitated by John Potter, an artist at The Gazette. A fourth meeting, to talk with parents and groups that work with teens, has yet to be scheduled. Most of the teens who responded to the Gazette questionnaire wanted the library’s teen space to be “comfy,” “friendly” and “inviting,” with bean bag chairs, plush couches and overstuffed armchairs. Some teens suggested names like “Teen Escape,” “The Hangout,” or “The Chat Lounge,” indicative of the laid-back atmosphere. Other inventive names included “The Cube,” “TeenZone.com” and “The Teen Machine.” The center’s furnishings should be “something hip and with the times,” wrote one 13-year-old boy. Kelsey Miller, also 13, envisioned a meeting place “where you can hang out and have fun.” Miller, an eighth-grader at Lewis and Clark Middle School and an avid reader, goes to the library once a week. She likes the idea of having a teen reading area separate from the children’s department frequented by her two younger sisters. More than two-thirds of the teens voted for a place where it would be OK to talk, play games or have group activities. All but two of the 22 respondents wanted refreshments available. Their wish list included soda, coffee, juice, chips and snacks. Slightly more than half of the teens polled wanted expanded computer Internet access to be the library’s top priority. Although the techno-savvy generation voted for more Internet access, computers and compact discs, they also voted solidly to increase spending on fiction books, college-selection materials and study guides such as Cliff Notes.
Donna Healy can be reached at 657-1292
|