Teen Focus Group

Thank you all for enduring the smell of baking the last two days and for all of your donations for our garage sale on Saturday. Katelyn joined the Teen Advisory Board members at their last meeting to conduct a focus group session. She asked the group questions to determine their vision for a revitalized teen lounge. Needless to say, they did not hesitate in giving their opinions.

This is how they envision the overall look and feel of their revitalized lounge:

· Bright, warm colours

· Relaxing and comfortable atmosphere – created by a fireplace, food to eat, temperature control, ability to play music at the computers, spaces to be alone, curl up and read/work.

· Artwork and visual appeal – the youth liked the possibility of having their own artwork displayed.

· Do not like the idea of having bland colours, shapes and layout. They would prefer to see what one youth referred to as “personality” in the teen space. This personality would involve having odd shapes (i.e. the wave-like shape of picture number 6), a variety of colours and textures, different chairs and workspaces for different types of learners, and lastly more natural scenery (windows, and plants).

· A creative atmosphere – sparked by expression walls, artwork and flexible furnishings.

What struck me was the importance they placed on the visual appeal and creative look of the space....the lines, the colours, the textures.

Katelyn had also found photographs of teens spaces and showed them photographs of particular elements such as seating or group work space. They voted on which "look" they liked the best. You can read the whole report on the T:\ drive under "Children's", "Revitalization Data", "Library Revitalization Project", "Teen Advisory Board Focus Group"....or just ask me and I'll send it to you as an attachment.