Looking for a teen hang-out that's cool, fun and safe? Loudoun County Library has just the answer. It offers an "After Hours Teen Center" Friday nights at the Cascades Library, from 7-10 p.m. It's free to join and alternates weekly between high-school students — ninth- to 12th-graders, followed by middle-school students — sixth- to eighth-graders.
The center has planned activities like mystery nights, cooking classes, deejay nights, yoga nights and live teen bands like The Restless Street Band performing this Friday, Sept. 5, at 7:30 p.m. There's even free pizza and drinks.
"It's a place for the teens to socialize that's safe," Chrissie DeStefano, youth services programming specialist, said. "We try to be low key with the things we provide to them. They're just looking for some place to go to meet up with their friends."
A FREE-FORM ATMOSPHERE, the library caters to anywhere between 70 and 100 teens who may not be involved in sports activities. If they want to hang out or socialize, that's fine. Parents drop off their children at 7 p.m. There are two security guards who lock the doors at 7:30 p.m., and parents must pick up their children by 10 p.m. Teens are not allowed to leave the building unless they are signed out by their parents.
"Everybody is welcome," Beth Wiseman, public information specialist with the Loudoun County Library, said. "It just requires the authorization slip from their parent or caregiver."
With televisions and electronic games lining one dark room full of die-hard gamers, and another room divided into a Twister game space, art space and board games, Wiseman says it's "a fun environment where they can came and catch up with friends and always have something fun and interesting to do."
Of all the activities, the most popular are the electronic games. Gamers can play individually or in multiplayer formats. Some players are so serious that they bring their own memory cards. There's Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Medal of Honor, Dance Dance Revolution, Super Smash Brothers Brawl — on systems like Wii, PS2, XBox 360, Game Cube and Play Station. "For the most part, a lot of the boys are gamers who like to compete on the video games," DeStefano said.
Connor Cucchiaro said, "I like game night because they have more video games than I have at home." His mother Anita agreed, "I think everything the library offers is very generous and I'm very grateful."
Chris Jester, teen center assistant, calls the environment "definitely upbeat but controlled." He says the goal is to offer several different options to the teens — from dancing to a deejay and Hip Hop Groove exercise classes to swing dance instruction. There's open-mic night and karaoke singing as well as more relaxing activities like card games, board games and drawing.
Occasionally, someone will bring in a guitar and the teens will surround him and talk about his or her music. "It's very low key," DeStefano said. "They're not looking for parental supervision when they come here. We're sort of nonintrusive."
AFTER THE LOUDOUN Youth Initiative did a survey several years ago, one of the complaints was teens didn't have a lot to do in the area. The pilot program took off in June 2005 and the center has been so successful that it won a national award — the John Cotton Dana Award for Best Teen Program through the American Libraries Association.
"We work really hard on making this something that comes from the teens themselves," DeStefano said. "It's [the teens'] suggestions and ideas."
The part that Brittany Peipert, 13, enjoys the most is socializing with her ninth-grade friends from Potomac Falls High School. "A lot of kids from my school hang out here," she said.
Lauren Nibert, 14, stopped playing Pick-Up Sticks to say "It's a good place for us to forget about what's happening in school and have fun."
Her friend Marguerite Benedict, 13, added, "It's a nice place to get away, and if you have problems at home, you can forget them. It's a good place to hang out with your friends."
Beth Oteyza, mother of Lindsey, 11, is happy with the program. "It gives the kids the chance to meet other kids not necessarily in their schools."