- January 20, 2025
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At 2 p.m. Feb. 17, the Flagler County Public Library at 2500 Palm Coast Parkway NW dedicated its new and improved Teen Spot. The Friends of the Library provided $36,000 to expand it from 250 square feet to 800 and Flagler County’s General Services Department did the construction.
“We want to welcome Flagler County’s teens to the new space,” said Holly Albanese, public library director, in an earlier press release. “And I want to thank the Friends, the County Commission and the county’s General Services Department for their work and assistance in making it happen.”
“We’re happy that this was done," said Flagler County Commissioner Dave Sullivan at the dedication. "Having our youth involved with reading, with education, is very important.”
"Some people have said, 'You're building a new library, why are you adding to the old library?'" said Commissioner Greg Hansen. “It’s not an old library, it’s our library.”
“I’m just thrilled we finally have a space in Flagler County for teens to come out," said Jessica Robayo, youth services coordinator. "It’s gonna be a lot of fun.”
In the glass-enclosed room on the west side of the library, filled with the library's young adult literature, teens will be able to connect their laptops to two TV screens in the room and enjoy a large 75-inch TV. The space also has work tables for doing homework or sitting and reading this summer. The room also boasts a Nintendo Switch console with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe which can be played on one of the TV screens.
Robayo said the new Teen Spot had been in the works for around a year before its construction. Project Renew, a Community Problem Solvers group from Flagler Palm Coast High School, reached out to the library about a new Teen Spot, which led to the Teen Advisory Board brainstorming ideas with them (there was some membership crossover between the two groups).
"We sorta brought the idea up to the library, then the [Teen Advisory] Board took it and ran with how to put it in place," said Project Renew member Isabella Colindres. "It was really easy to work together on."
TAB hopes to incorporate the new space into future events and activities.
“I’m looking forward to doing a lot for programming here,” Robayo said.
