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How and why did this program get started? Along with a growing number of libraries around the U.S., Burton Barr Central Library in Phoenix recognized that it had never done a very good job serving young people. So library staff decided to dedicate a vacant, 4,000 square foot space on the fourth floor of the library, located in the heart of downtown, to teens. From the start, library staff went straight to the potential customers - young people - to find out how Teen Central should look and function. "They were thrilled to be asked about what they wanted - and it's a sad commentary that they were surprised when we listened," remarks Toni Garvey, Burton Barr's Director. As for financing, the Friends of the Library and other groups raised money for the design/build process, while the city of Phoenix committed funds to pay for Teen Central staff. Who is involved?
According to Maria Diaz, who participated in the design process and is now a regular at Teen Central, there's an equally diverse crowd now that the space is open. "It's always different teens from different schools," she observes. "There are kids from the Arizona School of the Arts, teens from a charter school, others that are home-schooled, they're part of the libe teen council." And Teen Central's downtown location and great bus access also make it easy for teens from outlying neighborhoods to come. What goes on as part of this program? Architect Will Bruder and his staff held five focus groups with teenagers to generate a design for the space. At the beginning of each meeting, he would let them know that he was working for them - not the other way around. And yet the meetings also deliberately mixed work and play. Along with numerous exercises to come up with a layout for the space, there was food and music, which is always a draw for young people (a local DJ spun records, and has continued to do gigs at the finished space). The youth snapped pictures of things they liked in order to provide inspiration, and selected fabrics, colors, furniture and other materials. Bruder kept things honest by displaying his final designs alongside the teens' initial sketches and recommendations, to make sure that he'd understood their ideas. "This was an unusual experience. Usually we're not given many choices, everything is always for voters," Maria observes. "With clubs at school, a lot of times it's more about the adults - like with a teen day, kids just do whatever the adults say, then they complain about how bad it is. Here there was a reason to stick with it, because we knew we were creating a place that we can use all the time." Designing the space was one thing - running it, quite another. The library's Teen Council serves as a de-facto management team, coming up with policies as issues are raised - such as limiting food in the carpeted café area to help preserve the furniture and equipment; or coming up with a fair way to decide which movies would get screened. The Council also comes up with programming and events: movie nights and dances, open-mic readings, discussion groups and more. How has the program changed the community - and the participating teens? Quite simply, there's nothing else like Teen Central in Phoenix - or a lot of cities: It's a large space exclusively for teens, with technology, food, videos, books, comics, CDs, magazines - all free. It also provides teens with a place to spread out and do homework, which is something a lot of Phoenix teens don't have at home. Teen Central accommodates both social and studious activities - and promotes a multi-tasking environment that's in tune with the way teens work. Which is to say, there's lots going on all the time: movies screening and the stereo playing, kids studying and playing board games or video games, using computers, or browsing the collections of CDs, graphic novels and comics that complement the fiction/nonfiction offerings. There's a living room area with couches and beanbag chairs and a big-screen TV, a bank of computers that allow people to do solo work or assemble in groups. Food is not banned - it's even provided via vending machines in a café area. "We have rooms where you can close the doors for quiet," says Maria, "while the computer area is the most social. I know a lot of people who've met new friends hanging out at the computers." It's really amazing that now the library's cool," she adds, "because who usually thinks of libraries that way?" For her part, Garvey is amazed at how grateful young people are to have such a space. Some 400 of them are showing up every day, and "we've never been thanked so much for anything. Even six months after it opened, they were coming by the main floor desk to say, we can't believe you let us do this." And perhaps the best indication of Teen Central's success is Maria Diaz's observation that adults are trying to sneak into the space. Challenges The main challenge concerned teens bringing their younger siblings to TC, since many of them have babysitting responsibilities. It was eventually decided that exceptions to the 12-18-year-olds-only rule were not only fair - but also that teens with babysitting responsibilities should really be downstairs in the children's section with their siblings. Overall, though, teens mostly figure out the rules for themselves or through their peers, according to Carol Finch, who heads up Children & Youth services at the Library - there's no list posted, in keeping with TC's laid-back atmosphere. Are Adults involved? Friends of the Phoenix Public Library and the Phoenix Public Library Foundation helped fund Teen Central; adult library staff also work at Teen Central. Contact Information Carol Finch, Children and Teen Services Coordinator,
602 534-2021
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The
library staff sent out flyers at schools and through a number of youth
organizations, and also advertised in the local media. The result was
a diverse group in terms of gender, race and income (the Central Library
sits within a few blocks of both a private school and a school for the
homeless). Altogether, about 50 teens showed up for the focus groups.
"This
was like power for the teenagers, we got to make a difference," says
Maria. "It was important because there's not a lot for teens to do
in Phoenix outside school, movies or shopping - nothing to really help
yourself."