The J.V. Fletcher Library’s Young Adult (YA) program, amongst many other library programs, will be experiencing changes following the library’s relocation due to extensive renovations, beginning in March-April. With a large shift in their overall focus, programming will be done off-site and there will be an increase in community outreach with organizations and schools.
During the library’s renovation period, which is projected to take 18-24 months, its collection of books, DVDs, CDs, and other media will be relocated to an off-site location at 515 Groton Road. At this time, the YA program will change in two main ways: the locations of activities and browsing of collections.
“The main difference is going to be that we will have programming off-site, so we’re looking at a couple [of] different locations,” YA Librarian Alexis Chrobak said. “And then the other thing would be the browsing, which, we’re not totally positive what that’s going to look like, but we will have limited browsing.”
The YA program will still be running events at the Westford Recreation Department on the third floor of The Roudenbush Community Center. However, regularly scheduled programming that would usually take place between March and May, such as the department’s many book clubs, may not run during the three-month transition period. This would be due to the short amount of time before the summer and the need for an adjustment period to get settled into the new location, which will last at least two weeks. While the continuation of book clubs seems unlikely during the transition, it is confirmed that the summer reading program will occur.
One of the largest impacts that the pause in programming may have is the absence of the Midterms and Finals Week open study, the YA department’s most popular event where high schoolers can get together and study while enjoying free snacks, food, and refreshments. Chrobak and Youth Department Head Lauren Evans are pushing to continue this program during the relocation but anticipate challenges in finding a space large enough to accommodate all of the students.
“I don’t know how we’re [going to run the open study weeks] but it’s so important to […] the community, because [the high schoolers] really take advantage of it,” Evans said. “I think it’s more just a relaxing place to gather and help each other through finals.”
During the summer, the YA department hopes to continue with popular programs and other regular activities such as summer reading, the Animanga Club, and Crafternoon. Other ideas include animal programs and various arts and crafts programs, all depending on the space that is available to the department.
For browsing, the J.V. Fletcher Library will be bolstering its Libby and Hoopla ebook and audiobook collection so that patrons have more options to access material, but there will also be limited browsing at the offsite location. The YA department will likely have selected browsing collections that are switched out from time to time, from anywhere between days to even a week. This could look like a collection of all the books from a certain genre, author, or theme, and the collections of the time will be determined by Chobak or members of the Youth Advisory Board, a group of students that advocate for teen library users, help organize and run events for teens, and make suggestions for the YA collection.
In regards to the changes amidst the library’s relocation, Chobak hopes that teenagers and middle schoolers remain patient throughout the transition. The YA program will have more opportunities to offer after the renovation and plans to develop creative solutions to keep offering their current level of service.
“Just hang in there. Stick with us. There’s going to be an adjustment period for us, which is already starting now, and it’s going to take us a little bit to get settled in the new location, too,” Chobak said. “I’m just hoping that people will stick around. We’ll still be here. We’ll still be available. And we’re going to do as much as we can with what we have available.”
