Published: February 15, 2009 02:12 pm      

Teenagers will have their own space in LaVale

Students pitch TeenSpace to library board (PDF)



CUMBERLAND — Reluctantly, most teenagers ultimately will admit they are thankful for guidance and advice received from parents and authority figures.

Still, they often prefer to have a place all to their own. That’s exactly what a core group of volunteers serving on the LaVale Library Teen Advisory Board has been working on since August.

“Personally, it’s a home away from home,” said Colum Dillon, a 13-year-old Allegany High School student who has been helping to raise funds for a renovated TeenSpace at the LaVale branch of the Allegany County Library System.

Dillon said he and his friends complete homework assignments at the library, play games, use the computers, and read school and library books. He said the current area designated for teens “has two chairs — one that’s slightly ripped — and a paperbacks carousel” and indicated an upgrade is in order.

For $2,643.50, Dillon, along with fellow Camper Morgan Mayer and Braddock Middle School student Alex Detrick, presented their plans to the Allegany County Library System Board of Trustees on Wednesday for new furniture, an 8-foot by 10-foot area rug and other equipment in the refurbished area. They have been assisted in their efforts by Joni Reed, teen and children’s specialist for the LaVale and South Cumberland branches.

The new casual denim furniture, contemporary rug, study table and bulletin board, which can double as both an area to post items and a noise-reducer between the TeenSpace and the rest of the library, “fits nicely in the space that we have,” Detrick said.

The teens’ complete presentation can be viewed online at www.times-news.com.

Detrick said the area would be dedicated to Maria Shipley, a 27-year LaVale Library employee who recently retired.

Along with Reed, Detrick said, Shipley has “been a great help to our library.”

Board member Jeff Getty asked Reed how much the group had raised. Reed said they had $1,250 on hand but it did not include an anticipated donation from a local civic group. The teens already had received donations from the LaVale Lions Club and Friends of LaVale Library.

John Taube, library system director, said he anticipated the board might want to make a donation and said $700 could “easily be transferred” from maintenance, supplies and services for the cause.

Getty and the other three fellow board members present, Bill Bingman, Kathy Rogers and Sandy Grandstaff, all approved the $700 donation.

Reed said while she’s served as a guide for their efforts, “this is entirely their work.”

“I’m incredibly proud with how they have represented our library,” Reed said of the teens. “They’ve done so much more than I expected.”

Detrick said with the board’s help, they plan to place the order for furniture by Feb. 20 and the group expects delivery by March 20. Dillon said there is work to be done in order to prepare for an “after-hours, teens-only” celebration April 3 “to try out the new space.”

Contact Kevin Spradlin at kspradlin@times-news.com.