Teens, grade 6 and up, join us for a free Open Gaming session on Wednesday, March 31, from 2 to 4 p.m. We'll have Wii games (including Rock Band, Guitar Hero, Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. Brawl) and board games. Free snacks and drinks too. Come to the Rocca Meeting Room. See you there!

The finishing touches are complete and area teens are enjoying their new second floor space: the Myrtle and Hazel Hansen Teen Library Center. The area includes new computers, exclusively for teens, grade 7 and up, books and magazines especially for young people, and comfy chairs and tables. Come take a look, or check out the photos on our Flickr page.The project was funded thanks to a generous bequest from sisters Myrtle and Hazel Hansen.

Ask not what your Library can do for you, but what you can do for your Library. (Actually, it's OK to ask what we can do for you. It's what keeps us going!)

If you have an interest in what happens in our teen spaces, join the Teen Advisory Group (TAG), our highly charged group of teens, and get your opinions and ideas out there. We meet once a month on a Saturday from 3 to 4:30  (dates are set by the group the month before, so no surprises).  We eat, drink and offer opinions, sometimes a bit too loudly, but we do get things done. We are in the process of discussing our upcoming Acuity Cool Picks Summer Reading Program, deciding what gaming events, movies and programs we want to offer. If you have an interest, ideas, or opinion we'd love to have you join us. 

Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing hopes to attract more teens to its books through the creation of a new Pulse It social networking site. The site is aimed at 14- to 18-year-olds and will let teens do things they can do on such places as Facebook—like create personal profiles and befriend other members—as well as read and react to S&S titles.  S&S will make two books per month available to be read online for free and members can choose one of those titles and have 60 days to finish the book. Message boards will let readers discuss the book and rank it.  The site will also have an author section where teens can interact with their favorite writers.

Simon & Schuster hopes the new site will encourage teens “to buzz our books by spreading the word to their peers on other networks and sites.” The site grew out of the Pulse It advisory board of 3,000 teens who received free physical books in exchange for providing feedback.  According to S&S, board members became so active on message boards the company decided to create a site dedicated to them.  Pulse It currently has about 3,100 members.

Even if you're in middle school, and especially if you're in high school, it's never too early to start thinking about college. Aren't sure you want to go? Well, just like the Boy Scouts, you should "be prepared" just in case. The choices you make today can make a difference in your future. Learn more about it! Check out Know How to Go!

We are! If you're on Facebook, consider becoming a fan of Mead Public Library. We're just getting started, so we appreciate your interest. We'll be using Facebook to send reminders about programs for teens, so if you're interested, join us!