Oakland Public Library Teen Room

Last week I went with my eleven-year-old granddaughter to the Oakland Public Library so she could return her books and check out new ones. We arrived at the main door and then walked up the long stairway to the second floor and then down a long hallway past the history department to the teen room. Although I had been to the library numerous times before, I had always gone to the children’s room, which is on the lower level at a separate entrance. This was my first time upstairs in the teen room, a spacious high ceilinged room filled with large bookcases organized by book type–fantasy, romance, manga, adventure, etc.–radiating from a central lounging area with couches for reading and relaxing. Music was playing through loudspeakers–a contrast to the usual quiet associated with libraries--and on the walls were posters of local events of interest to teens. It was a room designed to be welcoming to teens and a place where they could relax, read and hang out–as a number were doing as we browsed the shelves selecting books. A while later we left with my granddaughter happily carrying a pile of new manga books (her current favorite) plus several hardback novels recommended by the helpful librarian. It was great day at the library and a new experience for me!