[Michlib-l] Teen Spaces & After School

[Storm Hawthorn]

Hello, everyone and thank you for your responses. Here's a compellation of what I received regarding what other libraries have done about teen spaces and after school procedures.



  *
Designated different areas of the building for different noise levels and place signage accordingly
  *
Quiet meeting room for those who want to study, after-school group meets to plan events, events
  *
Very large room on the second floor for teens - lots of seating. Designated for grades 7-12, so no adults unless it’s a tutor or guardian. An afterschool program called Teen Space to play Xbox and switch, ping pong, board games, and homework in the meeting room everyday from 2:45-5pm staffed by two people. They must show proof of their student or age status.
  *
Area for different groups of teens to hang out with computers, books, and seating. Have a “three strikes” rule where they leave for the day if they need to be spoken to about behavior three times. Boredom Box filled with colored pencils, yarn, knitting needles. Board games. Events. Popular volunteer program and gives out snacks to just volunteers.
  *
They hired 3 monitors for 50 kids after school who were retired school teachers to wander areas where teens congregated, but they were later fired to save money and the burden of keeping the kids in line fell onto the frontline library staff...resulting in many more kids misbehaving. They highly recommend having someone directly responsible for managing the kids.
  *
Closes from 3-4pm every day during the school year. People only allowed in one at a time for specific purposes like picking up a hold (no studying or hanging out).
  *
Expectations poster and a consequences guideline sheet. Also an “afterschool” chat in Teams that all staff are part of to keep track of who has already been reminded or warned. Call parents/school when there is a ban.
  *
Library Staff Dos and Don’ts List. Partner with the local school district so that the expectations of the community regarding the library are consistent and reinforced. Visit the schools, speak at school board meetings





[An open book. Text below says "ELPL: East Lansing Public Library."]<http://www.elpl.org/>

Storm Hawthorn (she/her) | Teen Services & Schools Liaison Librarian

East Lansing Public Library

950 Abbot Rd | East Lansing, MI 48823

(517) 319-6516 | shawthorn at elpl.org


Please note: as a public library worker my working hours may be variable. While I have sent this email at a time that works for me I do not expect that you will read, respond or address this email outside of your working hours.

________________________________
From: Storm Hawthorn <shawthorn at elpl.org>
Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2025 10:26 AM
To: michlib-l at mcls.org <michlib-l at mcls.org>
Subject: [Michlib-l] Teen Spaces & After School

Hello!

At our library, we get a large amount of teens and tweens after school, and we are looking at reassessing our space to accommodate them as well as explore ways to enforce expectations to make our library welcome for all patrons. If you could share what your library has done that has been successful during afterschool traffic and what your teens spaces look like, that would be incredibly helpful!

Thank you so much!



Storm Hawthorn (she/her) | Teen Services & Schools Liaison Librarian

East Lansing Public Library

950 Abbot Rd | East Lansing, MI 48823

(517) 319-6516 | shawthorn at elpl.org


Please note: as a public library worker my working hours may be variable. While I have sent this email at a time that works for me I do not expect that you will read, respond or address this email outside of your working hours.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mail3.mcls.org/pipermail/michlib-l/attachments/20250811/82cf4c0d/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Outlook-An open bo.png
Type: image/png
Size: 14867 bytes
Desc: Outlook-An open bo.png
URL: <http://mail3.mcls.org/pipermail/michlib-l/attachments/20250811/82cf4c0d/attachment.png>