Activities aim to make libraries popular spots for teenagers

Derek Berk, drummer for High Strung, sings at the Battle of the Bands Thursday at the Lawrence Public Library. The band members, all from Detroit, have played library gigs for the past three summers in an effort to attract more teens to libraries.

Never mind that the Cat Stompers were the only registered band at the Back to School Battle of the Bands on Thursday night at the Lawrence Public Library. They still won $50.

That goes a long way in the pocket of a teenager who spends summer days skateboarding and playing music, as do Cat Stompers band members guitarist Andrew Piekalkiewicz, 13; vocalist Alex View, 14; guitarist Trevor Bird, 15; and drummer Matt McReynolds, 12.

Their money can last even longer if they entertain themselves at the library, for free. At least that’s what the librarians hope to relay at events such as the annual battle of the bands and other weekly programs.

“We try to get kids to come to the library that wouldn’t come otherwise,” said Joyce Steiner, youth service coordinator.

The audience turnout as well as the band turnout was lower than usual. About 40 people attended the event, which is usually in August; it was moved up to cater to a Detroit band called High Strung. The trio of early-30-year-olds have participated in summer library tours for the past three years.

Chad Stocker, bass guitarist, said a librarian friend in Michigan encouraged the band to play at his library in Chelsea.

“He’s a cool guy who doesn’t want to feel like a stuffy librarian,” Stocker said. “He’s a kid at heart, too.”

High Strung’s members, who have played together for seven years, liked the idea. In 2005, they played all 40 libraries in Michigan and they played at an Olathe library last year.

Stocker said they play the same songs they would at a rock venue, but at the end of their set they invite teens to write a new song with them. They have the librarian pass around a few books for kids to choose lines or words they like. Together the audience and band create lyrics to a song.

The Lawrence Public Library tries to attract teens with other programs as well.

Maggie Berg, young-adult librarian, said The Teen Zone, which started in the late 1980s, is unique in Kansas and is a model for other libraries.

Berg said the Gaming Tourney, which involves video games, is popular, as well as the movie matinees that correspond with the book of the week, such as “The Da Vinci Code” by Dan Brown or “Bridge to Terabithia” by Katherine Paterson.

“If you want to keep them reading, you have to have a place for them,” Berg said.