Library seeks funding to expand popular youth hubs
Youth-dedicated hubs provide nutritious snacks, mentorship and a safe space for teens in Toronto priority neighbourhoods.
Thestar.com
Feb. 2, 2018
By Jennifer Pagliaro
A small group of teen girls stand around a table squishing and stretching blobs of pale pink slime.
Their local librarian, who has become both mentor and friend, is also hands deep, showing them how to make the Instagram-able goo - keep it moving, she tells them.
At the youth hub at the York Woods library branch in the Glenfield-Jane Heights neighbourhood in North York, there is a thriving community for young people - one of nine after-school spaces across the city focused on youth aged 13 to 19.
It's a model that demands repeating, library staff say.
The hubs are a dedicated physical space for youth at libraries in select low-income neighbourhoods staffed by mentors who facilitate educational activities, nutritious snacks and a safe space after school to hang out with friends.
The hubs' programming and a planned expansion were at risk during the 2017 budget process. They were initially left out of a list of services that was advanced by the budget committee, chaired by Mayor John Tory's hand-picked budget chief Councillor Gary Crawford.
Tory had promised to fund all the poverty reduction strategy goals, which included the youth hubs, but the hubs didn't make the cut that day. After the omission was pointed out, a motion was put forward at the final approval stage that saw them funded with Tory's support.
Now the hubs program faces another hurdle: It's so popular library staff say they want to open seven more. But they need new funding - $910,000 in total.
The first two hubs opened at the Centennial and Sanderson branches in 2010. Today, there are nine youth hubs in areas identified by the city as priority neighbourhoods - from North York to Scarborough.
A briefing note released last month from library staff shows attendance has soared, with the hubs collectively seeing more than 45,000 visits last year - a nearly 50 per cent increase from 2016. The library attributes the increase in attendance to the expansion of service. Basically, the library built more hubs and young people showed up.
The city's budget committee on Jan. 23 committed to funding an expansion of three hubs for 2018 - which must still be approved by council. Four more locations are identified for funding in 2019 and 2020.
But the library says the only barrier to opening the hubs is money. If the $910,000 was in the 2018 budget the library could open the new hubs sooner.
The hubs planned for expansion in 2018 are at the Downsview, Flemingdon Park and Malvern branches. Staff want to open future hubs at the Parliament St., Thorncliffe, McGregor Park and Mount Dennis branches.
"We're reaching youth through this service that can be challenging to reach," said the library's manager of youth services Lisa Heggum on a visit to the York Woods hub.
By 4 p.m., the classroom-sized hub is starting to fill, with more than a dozen young people studying, watching YouTube videos and making slime - one of the planned activities for the day that comes with a chemistry lesson about combining household chemicals.
All of the youth hubs have trained librarians as staff, scheduled activities, a daily snack, as well as access to laptops, iPads and other current technology.
A partnership with York University also allows for student placements in social work and child and youth education, which helps with mentoring the youth.
Programming is driven by the participants and is unique to each branch, said Heggum.
The library has always been a space for youth, she said. Especially in more disadvantaged neighbourhoods, youth rely on access to computers, WiFi, books and other resources. The hub adds another space to connect with teens, she said.
She stressed their role is facilitation not supervision in a space where teens are encouraged to be loud and librarians aren't shushing anyone.
"This whole place is for youth to explore," she said. "The dedicated staff is absolutely key to it."
The York Woods space is open Monday to Friday, from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Youth often stay that late and migrate upstairs to the library to stay until the branch closes at 8:30 p.m., staff say.
One of the hub's co-ordinators, Aleksandra Majka, said there is a core group of around 25 youth who come every day and dozens of others who are regulars.
"You create this relationship where they depend on you, that you'll be there," she said.
Listening to music in a corner, Ronique Cole, 17, a Grade 12 student at the nearby C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute, is quick to say the facilitators are "cool."
"They don't force it," he says of the programming.
Cole comes every day after school to do homework and hang out with his friends before a long bus ride home.
"I feel like it's a good opportunity for us to get to know people in the community."
Behind him on the front windowed wall is a space where youth are encouraged to write their own six-word memoir.
Some describe how much they love football.
"My confidence is a mask," someone wrote. Above it, someone else has chimed in: "Your confidence rocks!"
Despite whatever baggage youth walk in with, the hub has become a safe space to be creative, to sit quietly or to seek help, staff say.
One entry on the wall indicates how much it might mean:
"(York Woods) is my life."
At 5 p.m., some of the youth move to a studio space beside the hub to learn stepping, a dance style taught by youth worker and recreation therapist Steev Blackette.
Majka joins the teens as they move through a series of intricate full body moves, Blackette encouraging them with each step.
A girl who's never tried the regular program is getting the hang of it.
"What's up, new girl!" says Blackette, as she masters the first sequence - step, step, hand to chest, hand to chest, step.
"You guys are pros! I love it!"
Four boys peer in through the windowed door to the studio. They slink into the room and linger near the back. Hesitant at first, they start falling into step, all of them moving in unison.
