POULSBO — Valborg Oyen, director of Poulsbo’s Library from 1950-1968, would have loved the Dragon’s Den.
Oyen, after all, devoted the last 18 years of her life to making the library a warm and welcoming place, “(inspiring) a love of reading in adults and children alike,” according to a plaque at the library.
And in that spirit, the Poulsbo Library’s Teen Advisory Board has created a special place for teens at the library: The Dragon’s Den, a teen-priority reading and studying room. Visitors during the open house Jan. 27 would have seen a room full of teens reading, perusing shelves, studying with their laptops, and visiting over tea.
It’s a teen-priority room because most hours it is open only to teens: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 1-6 p.m.; Thursday, 1-5 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
According to librarians Jennifer Lu’Becke and Lynn Stone, the room was formerly a reading room open to all. But the Teen Advisory Board, which began meeting in November 2010, determined a space where they could meet and enjoy teen-specific materials would be useful; there were, after all, special places in the library for adults and children, but none for teens.
The Friends of the Library donated $2,700 for new furniture; advisory board members selected furniture and wall colors from catalogs. Teen-interest books located elsewhere in the library were relocated to the Dragon’s Den shelves. Also in the Dragon’s Den are books-on-CD; manga, popular Japanese-style comics and print cartoons; teen fiction and non-fiction; and new releases. As with all library patrons, teens have access to e-books, free music downloads and a number of databases.
Auburne’ Fox-Hughes, a volunteer, said the room was formerly dominated by a giant reading table. “It was not a nice look,” she said. “It’s been redecorated, with these smaller tables and furniture, and it’s more welcoming. It’s comfortable in here.”
Indeed. Samantha Cruson, an eighth-grader at Klahowya Secondary School who formerly lived in Poulsbo, sipped tea and chatted with Fox-Hughes’ sister, Chloe, a home-schooled high school senior. They said they prefer reading books in print than on a computer (Auburne’ and Chloe are well-versed in print and online reading; their mother, Clarice, is an author and blogger).
Elina Krafsky, a home-schooled freshman, sat under a window and read a book on string theory. Sharon Wu, a ninth-grader at Ridgetop Junior High School in Silverdale, studied on her laptop. Kristy Correll, a junior at North Kitsap High School, read on the comfortable love seat. Timothy Cruson, a sixth-grader at Jackson Park Elementary School in Bremerton, and Alex Koch and Joshua Schwandt, sophomores at North Kitsap, perused the book shelves.
It’s a busy place, but then again, the Teen Advisory Board is a busy group. The advisory board meets on the third Friday of the month. The Anime Club — anime is a popular animation style that originated in Japan — meets on the second Friday. Advisory board members volunteer for the Friends of the Library Book Sale and the Summer Reading Program.
The advisory board plans a Mardi Gras Party on Feb. 21. There will be a search and rescue presentation on March 2, 3:30-4:30 p.m., to coincide with the release of the movie “Hunger Games.”
In a Jan. 20 letter to the Herald, Stone wrote that the new room will give teens some library ownership and “make them library shareholders.”
Valborg Oyen would be pleased.
