A newly opened teen facility at the Gibsons Public Library earned immediate approval from its target demographic. Youthful participants from the library’s summertime Comic Camp crowded into the renovated lounge at the moment of its inauguration on July 26.
“This place,” said a patron surveying shelves stacked with young adult fiction and manga novels, “is every kid’s dream.”
The project was funded by the Gibsons and District Library Foundation. In 2023, the non-profit organization received a bequest from longtime Gibsons resident Joe Peters. A portion of Peters’s legacy was used to amass the approximately $30,000 necessary to reconstruct, furnish and equip the space.
“Libraries were special to him and he wanted to be able to support libraries into the future,” said foundation chair Elaine Jackson. “We thought this was a way of doing that because there aren’t a lot of places for teens in Gibsons.”
In addition to books curated by the library’s child and youth services coordinator Pippa Rogers, the teen lounge includes a supple sofa, bean bag chairs, and a wood-grained homework desk. Art supplies, games, and charging units for electronics will be added in the weeks ahead.
“Our library is constantly evolving to meet the aspirations and needs of our community, and we have wanted to create a welcoming, comfortable place for youth for many years,” said library director Heather Evans-Cullen. “I am thrilled that young people have such a lovely free space to relax, socialize, create and study.”
The layout originated with the library’s teen advisory group, a group of eight adolescents who meet regularly to brainstorm improvements to library services and outreach. The committee identified key priorities during a focused session in November. Natalie Chell from Haven Interiors designed three concepts and made modifications based on additional feedback. Chell continued to adjust the design through its final build.
A mural and a set of virtual reality goggles will also be added.
Evans-Cullen, who has worked at the library for 11 years, concluded from observing her own four children that teenagers have a unique way of using space. Homework is rarely completed at a desk.
“They’re [usually] on their side, with potato chips,” she observed. The original work surface lining the library windows facing South Fletcher Road had been formerly frequented by solemn computer users astride tall stools.
Now, Evans-Cullen explained, “People can sprawl out and play games. And the look and feel is not for small children, with [images of] clowns and things. It’s more sophisticated.”
The library’s resident Dungeons & Dragons collective plans to convene its campaigns in the rehabilitated space, protected from the gaze of curious pedestrians thanks to frosted-glass windows.
The teen lounge is steps from the library’s recently-implemented Library of Things, which includes practical objects for loan: a telescope, a podcasting kit, a sewing machine. The institution also offers access to the ComicsPlus digital collection of free manga, comics and graphic novels, providing rapid-fire availability of new publications.
Library staff recorded a 40% increase in service demand during the first months of 2024 due to the flood-related closure of the Sechelt Public Library.
Ongoing public consultation is slated to shape upcoming library enhancements with financial assistance from the Gibsons and District Library Foundation. A public survey offers a chance to win a complimentary dinner, and can be viewed online at gibsonslibrary.ca/checkitout/.
