INTRODUCTION

In 1993, the Santa Cruz City-County Library System began an experiment which will have lasting impact on the way the library delivers information services to young adults. It switched the primary service focus of a small neighborhood library to young people, and it began exploring ways to meet their needs.

With help from an LSCA Title I grant, it established A PLACE OF OUR OWN--a branch library with an electronic homework center, a corps of Young Friends volunteers, and a pile of bicycles and skateboards outside the front door.

This publication describes the PLACE OF OUR OWN project from its budget-cut-driven beginnings to its present status as a permanent, although evolving, part of the Santa Cruz Library System. One theme always presides: involving the young people themselves is the key to providing effective service to young adults.