Final Thought

Every journey begins with the first step, and this has been the chronicle of our first steps to define effective library service to young adults. We have explored together with our young library users, and we understand each other better than we had, but not as well as we will.

The past two years have brought us frustrations as well as a sense of accomplishment, and some days when the equipment is sluggish or building just isn't big enough, we wonder what we could have been thinking.

Then early in the summer of 1997, just after the school year ended, one of our "regulars" came in with a young adult who had just moved into the neighborhood. She thought any new teen ought to know about this library. The newcomer looked around in amazement, noted the groups of kids working on various projects, and looked back at her guide--"It's like this place is for us."