NYC Public Library Teen Center Offers Teens a Welcoming Space

In a new MindSite News feature, journalist Yesenia Ramos writes about a Teen Center that’s serving as a hub for kids under 18 in New York City:

As young people in Gen Z and Gen Alpha cope with mounting feelings of isolation, political division and over-dependence on screens, they’re also searching for “third places” – places outside of home and school – where they can connect and have social time free of the pressure in the rest of their lives. A recently remodeled branch of the New York Public Library offers a Teen Center where kids can learn music production and other skills, get help with job applications and spend time together in a safe space.

Formerly the Mid-Manhattan Library – the same library that referred a young Barack Obama to his first community organizing job – SNFL recently underwent a four-year renovation, supported partly by a $55 million gift by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. As the flagship of the New York Public Library system serving the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, it offers the libraries’ largest Teen Center, welcoming teens ages 13 to 17.

Photo: Jonathan Blanc/The New York Public Library

At a recent visit to the branch’s Teen Center – one of 23 teen centers among the 92 public libraries in New York City – Casper P., who was crocheting as she caught up with a fellow patron, says she has been coming to the Teen Center once a month every Friday. “It’s really nice, it’s very welcoming,” she recalls. “It’s so nice where you’re allowed to be yourself without it being high school, because high school sucks.”

One of the regulars is Yassin Khalifa, a rising senior at Brooklyn Tech, a public high school specializing in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in New York City. He says he can’t remember what he did with his time prior to visiting the branch, only that he would often go home directly from school. At the library, Khalifa says, “I have people who support me, people who do care if I ever need to talk to someone.” Channeling his creativity into music at the Teen Center’s recording studio, he has produced so much music he has lost count. “I’m incredibly grateful for the people here and the resources that they provide,” he says. “The people here have changed my life for the better.” Read the whole story here.