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Library program provides fun, education, support for Southeast Community teens

Chill Spot serves Pearl Bailey Library teens

Pearl Bailey Library serves teens with Chill Spot programs and services.

Teens celebrate President Obama’s Inauguration at Pearl Bailey’s Inaugural Bash on Jan. 20 in The Chill Spot. Pictured from left are Chris Smith, Chris Palmer, Keisha White, Whitney Diaz, Kathryn Diaz and Elizabeth Diaz.

Teens Chris Smith and Sequoyah Tucker say their friends sometimes find it hard to believe that they spend every afternoon in the Pearl Bailey Library. That is, until their friends come along.

“They laugh, but when they come up here, their attitude changes when they see what we do,” said Smith, a 16-year-old Warwick High School student, who is one of about 30 teens who actively participate in The Chill Spot, activities developed by and for teens in the Library’s community meeting room. “They think the library’s boring, but they see a whole other side. It’s really different.”

Activities include Karaoke; dance contests; Wii video games; Yu-Gi-Oh Card Club; an Urban Lit Club, in which teens read book chapters from the Bluford Series aloud and discuss them; and the Emerging Teen Artists program, in which teen artists are recognized and their work displayed.

 “I can have fun here – and I didn’t read,” Tucker, a 16-year-old Heritage High School student, said she tells teens who think reading is the only thing happening in the library.

Many of the activities are planned by the teens themselves through the Library’s Teen Advisory Committee, and the teens share their talents by presenting some programs themselves. But, even on the few days a week when no activities are planned, the teens still come to the Library.

“It gives them a place to go without the stress of parents nagging you about homework and chores,” explained teen Mercedes Wills. Plus, the teens have developed a bond, many of them said, that didn’t exist before. “Everyone who comes here is real close, and I didn’t know them before. We all met doing something for the Library,” said Smith. “It’s like we’re a family here.”

And, like a family, they sometimes give each other advice. “We talk about things that happen on the streets and tell them why we choose to be here,” said 17-year-old Chris Palmer, Heritage High School student and president of the library’s Teen Advisory Committee. “This is the best place to be besides hanging in the street, and it’s fun.”

Smith and Palmer said they have seen changes in the teens once they come to The Chill Spot. “When they come here, they chill out. Outside, they act rough, but we all chill here and resolve arguments,” Palmer said. “Their attitude changes when they come up here a lot,” said Smith. “When they come here, their eyes be really low, and they come out they are wide-eyed.”

The Youth Services staff at the Library also has noticed a change in the teens since they developed The Chill Spot in spring 2008, and officially opened it in October.

 “Before their behavior was negative and detrimental, and now there’s an environment where there are shared experiences, and they are heard and valued and given opportunities,” said Joy Jackson, youth outreach specialist for the Newport News Public Library System. “They’ve grown socially and emotionally, and they’ve learned that they can impact change in their own lives and others.”

Sonya Scott, senior youth information services specialist, said, “The kids love it, and consider it their space. It’s made a world of difference in how they perceive the Library. They are getting a positive outlet and aren’t engaged in other activities. They are helping each other with their homework, and it’s a good way for them to network. They share information on what’s going on in the community.”

In addition, the teens are benefiting by being exposed to more things in the community through Library outings, which have included trips to performances at the Ferguson Center, meetings with community leaders, and peace marches -- “Anything we see that’s an opportunity for them,” Jackson said.

“Games and field trips set the tone for the program,” said Jackson, who explained that staff first gained the teens’ trust by sitting down to play games with them one-on-one. “They feel like they can talk to you, and it helped the environment. That’s what makes them receptive to it,” she said.

As the teens continue to share with the staff and seek their advice and help, the Youth Services staff is turning to additional resources and seeking partnerships in the community, said Demetria Tucker, senior family and youth services librarian. She recently began “Healthy Weight, Healthy Teens,” a nutritional program presented by the Virginia Cooperative Extension’s 4-H Club, and “Yes, You Can Go to College,” a college-prep program presented by Thomas Nelson Community College.

“Now there are people providing resources for kids, where before they thought, ‘I can’t get there,’ ‘I can’t do that’,” Tucker said. “The kids are having a more positive view of their future, and developing the ability to take on responsibility and be a leader.”

With the support of the staff, the teens are also beginning to give back to the Southeast Community, such as hosting a Veteran’s Celebration in the fall. “We’re finding that they’re taking a more significant role in their community,” Tucker said. “They want to give back, because they know that they’re valued.”

Supporting and valuing youth are what has made the program successful, Jackson explained. “It’s a model of how to interact with youth. It’s not the services, not the equipment, not the place, but how we approach working with youth. You have to engage the youth, if that’s not there, nothing else will work.”

Future plans include a Chess Club and more community activities for the young men, who say there isn’t enough for them to do, Tucker said. “If we could, they would want us to do something every day,” she said. But the teens understand that the youth services staff also serve preschoolers, school-age children and their parents, and that the Library has limited funding for programs, mostly from the Friends of the Newport News Public Library. “The teens see where it’s give and take,” Tucker said.

Still staff members say that if more funding was available, they would like to provide an expanded space exclusively for teens (the current space is also used by the community at large), furniture, listening stations and more activities.

For more information or to help, please contact Youth Services staff at Pearl Bailey Library, 757-247-8677.

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