“Amazing” was a frequently used word coming from children, teens and their parents as they browsed the shelves, nooks, and other parts of the freshly renovated Youth & Teen Services Department of the Waukegan Public Library.
“It’s amazing,” Lucas Thomas, a sixth grader at Robert Abbott Middle School, said as he and his fifth-grade brother, Alex, explored the STEM Station. “I like the science part. It’s fun.”
“This is amazing,” Maxte Romero said as she watched her children growing plants in the Nature Lab next to the STEM Station. “It’s educational.”
When Tatiana Mendez’s 4-year-old daughter was asked what she thought about the new, enlarged bookshelves designed for volumes for the youngest children, she looked around and gave a thumbs-up sign.
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“I love this,” Mendez said. “It lets you see the whole book, and there’s lots of room.”
The Thomas brothers, Romero’s children, and Mendez’s youngsters were among the visitors at the grand opening and ribbon-cutting of the Waukegan Public Library’s newly renovated Youth & Teen Services Department on Wednesday, officially opening it to the public.
When the library opened in late 1965, deputy director Amy Grossman said the lower level where the Youth and Teen Services Department is located was nothing but a basement. In the early 1990s, the children’s department moved into its home there. Little was done until now.
At the back of the room were six study rooms which Grossman said lacked any of the 21st-century technology youngsters use today. Modern study rooms were built elsewhere, but the six empty spaces remained a problem to be solved.
“The team got together and collaborated,” Grossman said. “The team came up with the idea of six different nooks. We developed fun themes. They’re open and the kids can walk in.”
The six nooks are a room where the youth can play video games, another is devoted to board games, the STEM Station is for exploration of the physical sciences, the Nature Lab focuses on plants and animals, the Craft Corner and the Reading Nook.
Before the ribbon-cutting, while library and city officials were making speeches in front of the nooks, a father and son were in the STEM Station using the tools provided. They left before the speakers finished. Shortly after the ribbon-cutting, all the nooks were occupied.
Inside the STEM Station, the Thomas brothers were using a machine that allowed them to suspend a ball in midair and other tools they could use in a high-tech way. Some were tiny and others taller than the children.
“There are a lot of interactive manipulatives,” Grossman said. “A lot of it has to do with physics.”
Adjacent to the STEM Station is the Nature Lab. Grossman said while the STEM Station is devoted to physical sciences, the Nature Lab helps youngsters learn about biology. They can actually plant vegetation and currently watch caterpillars spin cocoons.
“They’ll see caterpillars turn into butterflies,” Grossman said. “We were already doing hydroponic growing and now we’re doing it here.”
Romero’s son, third grader Alex Olivardo, was working in the Nature Lab putting a small plant in a container filled with soil. He understood precisely what was going to happen with the continuing life cycle of a plant.
“It will grow, and there will be flowers,: Alex said. “The flowers will fall down and leave seeds. The seeds will grow into more plants.”
Along with the nooks, Grossman said 12 new computers were added so the youngsters can have access to the latest technology, whether for school work or their own intellectual curiosity. Shelving for books for the youngest children is new. The covers face the public, and there is enough space between the shelves for a young child to take a book down and read it.
Library Executive Director Tiffany Verzani said during her remarks that the renovated area enhances the library’s mission of “inclusive programming, early childhood education initiatives, access to technology and training and meaningful partnerships” benefitting the community.
“The renovated Youth & Teen Services Department (is) a space designed to spark imagination, collaboration and a lifelong love of learning and reading,” Verzani said.
Waukegan Mayor Sam Cunningham talked about his time at the library as a youngster. He said he got help with reading and other things from the librarians working there. He encouraged the young people present to do the same.
“Learn here at the Waukegan library,” Cunningham said. “Come here, pick up a book and read it. If you can’t, someone is here to help.”
Just to the west of the newly renovated space is the Comfort Zone opened two years ago to give children who need a more relaxed environment their special space. Nearby is the Early Childhood Learning Center, also recently refurbished. Across the hall is the makers’ space, which opened earlier this year.
Grossman said the cost of the most recent project was approximately $800,000. When the library received a $125,000 matching grant from the state, she said it provided the funds to commit to the project.