Hmmm . . .

from here








and

Come for the Xbox, stay for the books

. . . Welcome to the teen section of your local library. In an effort to lure teens and build a base of lifelong patrons, libraries are leaving behind their humdrum ways and getting the party started, stocking up on everything from video-game collections to radio edits of Ludacris CDs. Branches in Santa Clara, Calif., and Sewickley, Pa., are hosting Dance Dance Revolution video game tournaments, and in Charlotte, N.C., there's a blue screen studio where teens can produce their own cartoons, claymation, and live action films. And, oh yeah, they still have books. . . .

. . . A handful of libraries have been resisting the invasion of the latchkey kids by implementing "three strikes you're out" rules or shutting down during the hours when school is letting out. But for the most part, librarians say they'll embrace pretty much anything that brings in a crowd -- even if it means a very loud crowd. "Kids are kids, and no matter what they're doing, it's going to be kind of noisy," says Beth Hoeffgen, a youth services librarian in Ohio. She says she wishes her library had space for a battle of the bands.

As somebody who makes her living writing books for young adults, I initially felt threatened to see that the atmosphere at the local teen section was more reminiscent of an MTV Video Music Awards after-party than a study hall. If harridan librarians weren't going to be shoving my books down the teens' throats, would anybody read them? . . .

. . . Some libraries' teen sections are growing faster than the facilities can keep up with. "We don't have our own walls yet and sometimes I have to ask the kids to keep it quiet," says Betsy Levine, a young adult librarian at the San Francisco Public Library. Still, she doesn't expect them to whisper. "Some adults using the computers nearby will get cranky because a teen will be talking and they don't like it. I have to point out that they're in the teen section and that's the way it is."

Last year, I briefly flirted with the idea of doing the majority of my writing in the young adult section of my local branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. But the sneaker screeching and screaming was grating on me and -- I can't believe I'm admitting this -- one day I found myself hissing, "Shh! This is a library!" at an energetic group of kids. They stared at me as if I'd addressed them in Middle English. And then the moment passed and they went back to having fun. . . .