Teen Library Visit

For my library/bookstore visit, I visited the “Teen Annex” of a small library. These are my observations from that visit.

The Teen Annex is situated between the children’s section and the adult section of the library.  If one looks from left to right, one can envision the transition from childhood to adulthood.  I noticed however that both the children’s and adult sections encroach on the teen real estate a little.  Adult movies and CDs are shelved in the same area as are the children’s magazines.  Though I understand the need for shelving space especially in a small library with limited resources, I thought the children’s magazines would have been better shelved in the children’s section rather than at the entrance of the teen section.

The second observation I had was the decoration and layout of the Teen Annex.  The sign had a ‘cool’ font and was different from the institutionalized signs for the rest of the library.  There was an old locker behind the teen librarian’s desk.   The shelves were the same height as the adult shelves and higher than the shelving in the children’s section.  My initial feeling that the decoration would appeal to younger teens but perhaps not to older teens, maybe I was just a cynical angsty teen…but weren’t we all?

The section started with the teen magazines (across the aisle from the children’s magazines).  The current issues were shelved on the outside of the magazine cubbies and created a bright and welcoming entrance.  I thought this was a good choice because it will draw teens into the area with pictures of their favourite stars.
Next were the dark cool covers of the manga.  These comics appeal to a different kind of teen and are equally as prominent at the beginning of the teen section.  It would certainly draw teens into that section as effectively as the YA magazines.

After the manga selections of YA fiction were displayed on the top shelf while others were shelved below.  The selections chosen for display had shiny, cool covers.  A variety of types of fiction were chosen to be represented, I suppose so that there is something for everyone.

At the end of the YA fiction there was a very short section for YA books on tape and non-fiction books.  I almost didn’t find this section it was so small.  I had a look at some of the books.  Unfortunately, the largest most prominent books seemed to be self help books but there were some interesting DIY books.

My final observations were that the teen librarian was absent from the desk and there were no teens because it was noon on a Wednesday and they were in school!

I thought overall, the teen section was well laid out but that it might be more effective if it was more contained for better privacy.  I thought the decor was aimed at younger teens but that the materials fit in the 12-18 year old category well.  I was interested in the way the materials were displayed and found it to be more effective than other teen sections I have visited.