Posted by Welcome to the first ever Teen Space Spotlight, where we shine the spotlight on teen spaces in library settings throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Alameda County has supplied us with our first two spaces, the Juvenile Justice Center and Camp Wilmont Sweeney. Both have library spaces that are maintained by the Social Justice Services Department of Alameda County.
Juvenile Justice Center
Youth held at the facility visit the library for educational and recreational materials, and are encouraged to decompress, chat with staff, and, at least temporarily, forget their worries and just be. The ability to enter a library space and see yourself reflected in the books and images that surround you, to walk into a book’s pages and relate to what you see and feel—these are experiences we all need. And it is these experiences that lead to lifelong readers and library users.
Camp Wilmont Sweeney
The library is open several days a week, and on any given day there’s always someone working on homework, beginning a puzzle, asking for book recommendations, playing chess, and browsing the collection.
Bay Area Young Adult Librarians 