Teens now have a place they can call their own at the Metuchen Public Library.
“Everyone is blown away by the design,” said Kathy Liss, librarian for young adults.
Melody Kokola, the library’s director, said the 22 members on the Teen Advisory Board chose the colors of the space.
“They chose green and purple, and we asked, ‘Are you sure?’ ” she said. “But when we received the samples of furniture that Library Interiors put together for us, it looked great. And the kids have put a lot of their input [regarding] what they like and what they don’t like into the space.”
Liss said the area was added to the Teen Advisory Board’s wish list last year.
“At first, they were just thinking about a little corner space of the library where they could put their collection and put up some posters. I don’t think they believed it would have been such a big space,” Liss said.
The Library Endowment Fund and the Friends of the Metuchen Public Library funded the $14,500 project.
“The bulk of it was funded by the endowment fund,” Kokola said.
The teen space is located in an area that was formerly part of the reference area, with tables where people could sit.
“All their books now are in one place. There are magazines, movies, and there is a lot of college information,” Liss said. “Also, now they suggested bringing in CDs.”
Liss said the Teen Advisory Board (TAB), which was created in 2008, has grown to include 14 high school students and eight middle school students.
“Most students go to Metuchen High School and Edgar Middle School, and some students go to the Middlesex County Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies, St. Francis, and Wardlaw-Hartridge,” she said.
Before designing the project, the students conducted a survey to find out what other teens would like to see at the library.
“They presented their findings to the library board, and everyone was impressed,” Kokola said. “They were polished, and presented to the board a population that has been underserved in the library.”
TAB members said during their monthly meeting April 21 that they were surprised to see how big the library’s teen section turned out to be.
“We [used to] have to look through the adult book section; now we have all these options,” said Samantha Soltys, 17. “I would come here during the summer and never find what I wanted.”
Other TAB members at the meeting included Naomi Kremen, 13, Casey Puerzer, 11, Ian Lawson, 12, Kelsee Young, 13, Kathryn Sweatman, 15, Matthew Obszarny, 15, Brendan Loyer, 13, Kayla Basche, 15, Katie Faccshmi, 13 and Quinn, 15, who did not give her last name.
Basche said that with the new space, the library is a more welcoming place for the teens to come and read.
“I just love reading and I love everyone on the TAB,” she said.
TAB has started its own Facebook page, called Metuchen Library Teens and administered by students Nikhil Kumar, Jonathan Rice and Beth Becker.
Quinn said she found TAB’s accomplishment “absolutely incredible.”
“We did not expect anything soon, and then we saw the construction and now this. … We just thought we would have a little space where we could put up some posters,” she said.
For more information about the new teen area and the Teen Advisory Board, visit www.metuchenlibraryteens.org.