First birthday for HeadSpace
12:56pm Friday 22nd August 2008 in Video By Julian Thorpe
First birthday for HeadSpace
CHILDREN are celebrating the first birthday of a dedicated space for young people at their local library.
HeadSpace is a national idea which involves the creation of specially designed areas for 11 to 19-year-olds in libraries across Britain.
The country’s first HeadSpace was opened in Daubhill’s High Street library by Amir Khan last year, and children are now celebrating its first anniversary.
Youngsters enjoyed birthday cake and activities such as henna hand painting and a drawing lesson from a cartoonist.
The High Street library was rebuilt at a cost of £1.2 million last August, with the aid of cash grants from the Reading Agency and the lottery.
The youngsters choose which books HeadSpace will stock, and there are comfortable seating areas.
HeadSpace is run by “book waiters”, who advise visitors to the library about reading and serve them with snacks and books. Librarian Subnum Hariff said the project had been a great success.
She said: “There isn’t a lot for young people to do, and we want libraries to be a place where they feel welcome and safe, but also to be somewhere where they have some input into what happens.”
