While the Carleton Place Public Library has an active Teen Advisory Group and an ongoing Teen Book Club, our spaces and programs are limited as of now. We'd love to be able to provide a dedicated space in the library where teens can come in to relax, feel like they own the space, and read, work, or socialize.

We are currently planning a revitalization of an area in the library that will become our Teen Zone. Currently, this area holds public catalog computers, a community slideshow monitor, and library carts. We'd love to see it become so much more, and have already made some great purchases toward it!

After consulting with many of the teens who use our library currently, we discovered that they wanted:

- comfortable seating

- quiet space to work

- non-traditional lighting

- access to activities such as board games, computer games, or movies and music

- snack options

- walls

While we can't do much about the walls, we are planning on moving shelving in order to provide a more dedicated Teen space. We have purchased a work desk, special lighting, a green screen and iPad for creating content, and have budgeted for seating and flooring options. But we'd love to do a special project-----a sound dome for quiet spaces!

The sound dome sits overhead in the seating area, and is directly hooked into a media console (gaming station etc.). The dome provides sound for the person seating directly below the dome, but it does not radiate out further, keeping the space quiet for others to use, and without the need for headphones. Along with the dome, we'd purchase a gaming system, and a minimum of 10 games. But, the gaming system could be used for more....listening to music, or after hours events.

Each sound dome would cost approx. $1399, along with an amplifier at $200, and a mounting system at $350. Shipping is also extra, and we would need wiring for this, too.

The gaming system is approx. $500, at 10 games at about $90 each would come to another $900.

In total, we're hoping to do fund raising of about $5000 to get us underway, and really make a teen zone that local teens would want to use. Of course, it all begins with the space! What we provide in that space afterward can only be dreamed up from here.

A donation of $100 would make a huge difference in bringing those dreams to life. It will help us begin making those new purchases, and gearing our revamp of the space specifically toward those options. Teens need safe spaces to go where they don't have to make a purchase to be there. The library is that space!