Visitors to the Independence Township library will notice some changes over the summer, especially in the teen lounge.
Already the blue walls are replaced by light green and purple and new colorful carpeting was installed. Tracy Malek, young adult librarian, said these steps are the first of several to revamp the area.
According to Malek, between now and early August, library staff will install new shelving units, high tables with a coffee house look and relocate popular teen-oriented materials like graphic novels and manga to the lounge.
‘We’ve been changing it over the last year? and one of the things that’s really hot right now is the graphic novels and the manga and we have an area (in the library) that holds that collection, but it’s not big enough. We had all this space back here and the kids weren’t using all of the study carrels,? said Malek.
The goal of the makeover is not only to make use of the space, but to freshen the look of the lounge and make the area a more comfortable setting for teens to relax in.
‘When teens want to study in groups, they want to spread out and sit together and talk and those were old-style private study carrels,? Malek said.
She added part of the makeover relocated beanbag chairs and items that she said were bringing younger children into the teen lounge to the children’s section. Malek said she wants to obtain a more sophisticated look to keep the younger children out and give teens a place to be on their own.
Malek said money for the project, which costs an estimated $2,200, was raised by volunteer efforts from the Friends of the Library.
Though there is not a specific date set, Malek said wireless internet access should be added in the future as well.