YPSILANTI, MI - A group of Ypsilanti teens wanted more from their local library than a quiet place to study and, on Saturday, April 8, they unveiled a plan to liven up the space.

The Ypsilanti District Library's Teen Advisory Group recently received a grant from the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation Youth Council to purchase items for "creative toolkits," and they debuted the kits at a launch party at the library's Whittaker branch on Saturday.

"The creative toolkits and workshops were designed to offer high-quality supplies to teens in the community because everyone should be able to access their dreams," TAG member Evie Talbot said in a press release.

The teens wanted to give their peers a chance to make music and explore different types of art, so they assembled the following toolkits:

Digital music: Laptop with music production software, midi controller, drum pad controller headphones and recording microphone;

Music jams: Keyboard, ukuleles, guitars, music stands, microphone, amp and tuners;

Digital art: Laptop with Wacom tablet;

Visual art: Copic markers, Prismacolor pencils, Sakura koi watercolor sets, precision markers, shading pencils and paper;

Digital cutouts: Laptop with Cricut and materials to cut out such as vinyl and iron-on decals; and

Fiber art: yarn, crochet hooks, knitting needles and how-to books and patterns.

Youth 12 to 18 years old will be able to borrow the kits for one hour intervals to use at the library's Whittaker branch, 5577 Whittaker Road, Ypsilanti. TAG members will lead themed, drop-in open studio sessions and open mic times starting this summer.

The idea came about as part of the Ypsilanti District Library's efforts to rethink teen services as part of the "youth driven spaces" initiative with the Neutral Zone, a nonprofit youth center in Ann Arbor.

TAG members attend different area schools and participate in a variety of extracurricular activities in the community. They put to use their "youth driven spaces" training to plan the creative toolkit launch party on Saturday and other activities that will use the new kits.



"We're trying to make a way for teens to build new relationships and bring together the community," said TAG member Melvin Lilly.

Beyond providing tools for local teens to create with at the library, TAG members hope to improve the teen space by adding more comfortable seating, flexible work space and display areas for youth artwork. Their ultimate goal is to make the library a place where a diverse group of youth can come together for creative projects and share ideas without fear of bullying or negativity.

"I have been working with YDL for most of my teen years," said TAG member Anna Kreiner. "This group has helped me grow as an individual as well as making some great friends. We all love that it is a teen based organization."