This column is directed mostly to teens. If you have been in the library at any time during the past week, you have seen evidence of changes on the adult side. These changes are taking place in order to create a teen area in the library. The section that used to house our adult computers is rapidly reaching completion as the new young adult area. Book shelves have been moved in, the teen computers are in a different spot, and additional seating is available. If you can't find something you are looking for, be sure to ask someone on staff!

An event that happened recently which was geared to teens was the library's celebration of Teen Tech Week. In commemoration of that week, the library offered an afternoon of Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero, both of which are very popular with young people. Of course, snacks were provided so that participants could keep up their strength and competitive edge.

Here's something you may not know: Memorial Library is now on MySpace. To access this, go to www.myspace.com/lmlibrary . From there, scroll down to Teen Zone.

Lots of fun teen activities are being planned for summer in conjunction with our summer reading program. In preparation for the planning of these events, teens who had previously participated in our summer reading program were surveyed about possible program choices. Based on the results, staff members set about lining up appropriate presenters. Here is the teen schedule so far.

Sign up will be from May 27 through May 31, with Summer Reading beginning the week of June 2. Teens may set a reading goal and read independently, keeping track of their time. If they read to smaller children, that can count in their time as well. After tallying their time, they need to be sure to turn in their completed tally sheet by Saturday, July 5. This year's theme is Metamorphosis, so the focus of various weeks will include changing your outside, changing your inside, changing your things, and changing your times.

Thursday, June 5, at 2:30, Diane Marsh from Baker Arts will be with us for Bug-igami. Want to try your hand at making bugs the origami way? Then this is the place for you. Stay afterwards, or return to the library at 5:30 for our buggy movie-Arachnophobia. Snacks will be provided.

Tuesday, June 10, Connie Yoxall of Connie Yoxall Enterprises will cover How to Get the Job You Want in a 5:00 session and X-treme Etiquette at 6:15. Teens may attend either one or both of these valuable workshops. The second will include a meal.

Wednesday, June 18, at 3:30 will be How Do I Get Those Volunteer Hours I Need? Various agencies offering volunteer hours will be present to tell young people what types of jobs they might be doing if they come to work at their particular agency. A bit of work etiquette will also be covered.

Tuesday, June 24, at 3:30 will be Tee-licious and Toolbox Jewels. Several interesting items to make from tee shirts will be featured. Young people should bring at least one tee shirt along to experiment with. Toolbox Jewels is interesting jewelry made from hardware. Guys, don't think this is just for girls-you might come up with a great gift idea for that special someone in your life.

Want to do some cool things to your room, but don't have much money? Ronda Maxwell will be joining us on Wednesday, June 25, at 3:30 for Room Remakes. She'll provide all kinds of cool, economical ideas you can do yourself.

That's what is planned so far for this summer. One thing that is new this year is that teens need to sign up for the programs they wish to attend. This will help us get a better idea of supplies and food needs. Young adults do not have to know the day they enroll in summer reading which things they wish to attend. They can take their summer reading book home and check their calendar before making commitments. But don't wait too long, as space is limited in some of the programs.

When teens sign up for summer reading, however, they will be asked if they would like to be part of an evaluation team that will meet some time in July to make suggestions to improve teen programming, not just for summer, but during the school year as well. If you want to be on the cutting edge of what's happening for teens, be sure to take advantage of this opportunity.

The final program for summer reading will be for everyone. YoYo SpinMaster Brent Dellinger will be joining us on Saturday, August 16, at 2 p.m. He has a phenomenal finale to his program which requires a darkened room. Plans are in the works for this program to take place in the Showcase Theater at the college. Tee shirts and certificates will be available at that program. In addition, Brent will have for sale a number of different types of yoyos. Check Brent out on YouTube clips. What he does is nothing short of amazing. You won't want to miss this program!

Don't forget when you come in to check out the new Young Adult area to check out the new books as well. Some recent new titles include Parallel Worlds Book One, Paraworld Zero by Matthew Peterson, Dreamquake, Book 2 of the Dreamhunter Duet by Elizabeth Knox, Red Glass by Laura Resau. The library has a number of Lisi Harrison's Clique series novels, the most recent, Bratfest at Tiffany's. So come on in, check out the new YA area, and see what we have to offer.