Library grant to be used for Shrewsbury youth
By Ken Powers Contributing Writer

Shrewsbury - The Shrewsbury Public Library's mission to serve town residents to the best of its ability received a much-needed boost in the budget recently when it was informed that it would receive a grant of $20,000 for its "Serving Tweens and Teens" program.

Both grants will come to the town from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, via the Federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA).

"The grant money will enable us to enhance our advisory group SPLAT - the Shrewsbury Public Library Advisory Team," said Ellen Dolan, director of the Shrewsbury Public Library. "SPLAT is a service-based panel at the library that helps to decide what programs to off er and what fund-raisers to run to help make the services and programs we off er to the young persons that come in more appealing."

Dolan said the library plans to "take up a notch" the programs and services it off ers teens and pre-teens.

"We have a lot of teens using the library, but we want to showcase our services to even more young people in town and show them that the library is a viable option as a place to relax and enjoy themselves," Dolan said.

To that end, Dolan said, the library will work with Shrewsbury Youth and Family Services to attract more teens to the library and all it off ers.

"We'd like to recruit some of the teens in our volunteer programs," Dolan said. "It will be a way to give them work skills that they'll find useful later in life. It will also be a way to show them what's acceptable in the workplace, in terms of appearance and dress, and what's appropriate and not appropriate to say to people using the library's services.

"Often kids don't have a chance to learn these things until they are already in a work situation," Dolan said. "This program would give them a gentler, more forgiving learning curve."

Dolan said the library will working with the staff of Quinsigamond Community College to help provide the training for the program.

The grant is for two years, with $10,000 being provided the library Oct. 1, and another $10,000 being presented to the library Oct. 1, 2008.

"The grant is provided to be used to implement projects and offer programs to the youth that visit the library," said Robert Maier, director of the Board of Library Commissioners. "In addition, the grant will assist students eager to learn how to improve customer service and assist anyone wanting to use any of the numerous services the Shrewsbury Public Library provides."

Each July the Institute of Museum and Library services provides Massachusetts with millions of dollars in LSTA grant money. The grant application period begins in November each year.