Part of The Post I've Been Struggling With

A couple of weeks ago, I walked through the Central YA room on my way out through the staff room at the end of the day and was struck by something so unusual I had to ask around later on to see if I had seen what I thought I had seen. There were teens, teen girls in particular, browsing the fiction stacks, talking about books and seeking reader's advisory from the librarians.

This doesn't seem like something that should have drawn my attention, right? After all, isn't this at least part of what a library should be? But until I walked through that day, I hadn't realized that I never saw teens browsing for books in that space before.

What changed? There are no computers in the YA room right now because of the construction, no tables either. And I had to ask myself if the teens who were now using the room, who clearly were taking ownership of the space, its collection and its staff, had been limited in their prior usage by the noise and crowds that had previously existed around the tables and computers. (BTW, when I asked the staff if they had noticed the same changes in usage, they said yes, that they had been remarking on it amongst themselves since the construction walls went up.)

But here's the thing, and the place where I keep getting stuck: is there a way for the teens that need the library as a space to use the computers and hang with friends to coexist with the teens that need the library as a space to find books, be creative and do homework? Of course, this assumes that these are two distinct groups ("readers" and "non-readers," perhaps) with divergent needs, which may not be the case.

Can libraries do both of the things I think we MUST do at the same time and well: connect people to the social and political resources they need AND connect people to the cultural and creative resources they need?

Cash in the Coffee Can: $222.00