The city’s teenagers have a new and better place to meet, read and socialize in the Derby Neck Library on Hawthorne Avenue.
“Derby needs things for the youth,” Ian Parsells, the head librarian, said, adding the library can now provide “a space of their own.”
A $5,000 grant from the Valley Community Foundation has made it possible to focus on renovating the teen section of the library and buying and refurbishing furniture.
The library can also focus on renovating other areas of the facility.
“Because of the generosity of the grant, we could do everything at once,” Parsells said.
“We needed to give the teens the same type of attention we give other groups,” he said, providing “equality of service. We’re devoted to getting the space up to snuff.”
The teen area now includes new chairs, booths, a gaming table, books and framed posters.
The couch and coffee table have been repurposed.
Adding bright colors to the décor and opening up the space has brought more teens to the library, he said. The new area can accommodate 20 teens, rather than the five or six people the space could formerly hold.
“We want to keep things fresh and fun,” Parsells said, and teenagers use to space to play board games, including checkers, chess and backgammon.
Parsells describes the new space as “sturdy but comfortable.”
A new information desk has been installed nearby to monitor the teens’ activities.
At the same time, the library has been “pushing programming for teens,” he said. For example, they participated in a photo scavenger hunt this past summer at nearby Osbornedale Park.
More Improvements
Space has been opened up throughout the library.
“There were areas that were overfilled with books,” Parcells said.
In order to relieve the clutter, staff moved the oldest books — those purchased during the lifetime of Frances Osborne Kellogg, the library’s benefactor — to the mezzanine.
The books have become a historical collection, Parsells said, and are protected so they won’t be handled by the public.
Moving the books has also created more space on library shelves.
The reorganization of space has “opened up the reference area and has allowed for more seating. This has become a favorite place,” he said.
The late Clarence Douglass bequeathed a fund to the library that has been used to buy new circular tables, Parsells said, and this past summer, some stacks were removed and new counter tops were installed for laptop computers.
The reference area is also used for tutoring and group studying.
“We want people to appreciate and love this library,” Parsells said. “We want to give patrons adequate services and comfortable spaces. Libraries are much more than books. We will continue to make these kinds of changes.”
Derby Neck Library is a privately-funded library at 307 Hawthorne Ave.