The Queen Memorial Library is excited to announce the launch of a new Teen Space on Tuesday, March 10, from 4:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.! Stop by for food, games, and fun as we celebrate the culmination of a year of hard work and planning! Below is a short story about how we got here...
 
It’s 4:00 p.m. on a Tuesday at the Queen Memorial Library in Point Breeze. The afterschool crowd has just arrived, joining Pre-K families and adults in the library’s warm and welcoming space. Babies and toddlers crawl, giggle, play, and read on the colorful carpets in the children’s area while elementary and early middle schoolers craft and do homework at tables nearby. Adults work on computers, read, and chat in the adult area, many of them studying and job-searching. For the over a dozen teens that visit the library on average each day, however, there is no dedicated space. Too old to hang out in the kids' area, and too cool and vivacious to fit in among the adults, the teens of Queen Memorial Library don’t have a space of their own; a space to relax and express themselves.

That is, until now…
 
So far during the 2019-2020 school year, teens have made 1,328 visits to the Queen Memorial Library. Participation in teen programming at the library has also gone up by 1,725%! You read that right: one thousand seven hundred and twenty-eight percent! With this gargantuan leap in teen attendance, staff at this location saw that creating a devoted space for teens had become an absolute necessity. After all, if we want our patrons to continue to visit the library, we need to ensure they feel welcome and valued; we need to (quite literally) save space for them and show up to address their needs. Between Minecraft clubs, card games, arts and crafts programs, music club, and even tabletop gaming like Risk and Settlers of Catan (to name just a few popular activities), teens know the library can provide the safe and fun environment they crave. And finally, they’ll have a dedicated age-appropriate space to do all this and more!
 
During the fall and winter of 2019-2020, dozens of meetings and planning sessions were held, with funds raised through grants and other donations (notably through Bloktoberfest and Point Breeze business owner Gary Patel). Public computers, tables, and staff desks were rearranged to create a more open floor plan. With input from the teens, the library purchased tables, chairs, beanbags, stools, and a large area rug to tie it all together. There will also be new games and other activities made available when the space officially opens on Tuesday, March 10.

The Queen Memorial Library is so proud to be unveiling this space for our teenage patrons, and we hope you will join us in celebrating our new Teen Space!