Help With Furniture Decisions

We knew we wanted our teens to have some input into the look of the new Teen area so in early December, one of our librarians convened a teen focus group. We had about 10 of our regular teen library users attend. We gave them food, showed them our standard library supply catalogs, and explained that though we wanted their input, we couldn't promise that the library would buy exactly what they picked out. They were very excited about being involved and expressed understanding about the library's need for the final say. They gave us clear indications as to the kind of furnishings they'd like if we had to pick something different: soft, comfy, and cool. (And the booths we thought they'd love are NOT cool!) :-)

We wanted lots of neat stuff for our children's area too, so we pulled together a team of people consisting of our branch manager, a branch staff member with school age children, our Youth Services Coordinator (an early literacy specialist), our purchasing agent, and someone from our Graphics department. This group made decisions about what toys and furnishings would create the most inviting environment in our children's area.

I can't wait to see how both of these special areas of the library turn out.