Future Youth Spaces & Services
A well-used children’s room, bursting at the seams
The Jesup has reached its absolute maximum capacity for books and activities in the original children’s room, and there is virtually no space for youth and families to use them.
Library services for youth have been an important part of what the Jesup offers since the day we opened our doors in 1911. Today, a little more than twenty percent of those we serve in our community are under 19, but we don’t have the space or resources to adequately serve the needs of our youngest patrons.
Our planned addition will triple the space available for children and will add a whole new area just for teens, vastly improving our ability to provide young people of all ages with books, services, technology, and programs.
The Capital Campaign is the campaign to preserve, protect and expand the Jesup. Check it out!
Youth Lead the Way! Youth Services Planning Process
As we look to the next phase of our capital campaign to preserve, protect and expand the Jesup we are developing a sound strategic plan for strengthening our services to children of all ages and teens with our new facility.
Beginning in May 2020, the Jesup has been hosting a series of facilitated discussions to develop a strategic plan to create our new program for Youth Services. These discussions have been open to all members of the community, and considered our collection, programming for each age group, how we use our spaces, and how we can work cooperatively with other organizations to ensure adequate staffing and to create a pool of youth services library supporters. The resulting plans and community-defined priorities will help our architect refine the final design.
Contact us anytime or fill out our volunteer form to learn more and get involved with youth engagement at the Jesup!
How do young people use the Jesup now?
Meet the Bar Harbor chapter of Girls Who Code, an organization founded by a local high school student to teach coding and build confidence among young women interested in computer science.
We asked GWC to share a glimpse into what they’re working on (before and after the pandemic hit) and tell us what would help their club reach new heights in the expanded Jesup.
In the spring of 2020, we surveyed our community to find out how they use the library, and what youth need from our modern addition.
Check out what our 11-18 year old respondents had to say!
Student Volunteer Program
The Jesup recognizes, values and empowers the important contributions young people make to our community, our world, and our library.
We love having volunteers of all generations! You can make a real difference in your community, and learn important skills, too. It’s also a lot of fun: you never know what (or who) a day at the library will bring your way. If you’re in the 6th grade or up, fill out the form below to let us know you’re interested in youth volunteer opportunities. Thank you!