The Seattle Public Library's Teen Space

Bibliographic Information

The Seattle Public Library. (2013). Teen Space. Retrieved from http://www.spl.org/audiences/teens

Descriptive Summary

This site did well to balance the look of the Teen Space online with that of the rest of the library website. The colours and patterns used were similar to those on the rest of the Seattle Public Library website, reminding to user whose resource they were using. But within the teen section the colours and patterns were modified just enough to be teen appealing.  Oranges, blues, and greens surrounded the plain black and white main section of the page, making it colourful but still easy to read.

Resources included both the standard library services of the catalogue, ask-a-librarian feature, etc. but combined on the same page were additional teen resources such as Homework Help, information on upcoming college info. sessions at the library, suggested teen reading lists, and fun game ideas.

Evaluative Comments

What I liked the most about the Seattle Public Library’s teen website was the balance it struck between looking like the rest of the library’s online resources and being appealing to teens. The standard library catalogue search box and library locator service were still present on the page, but also included were additional features such as Homework Help, Teen News, and the Teen Calendar.

However, I did feel that this website was also lacking in over-all teen resource options. I could see no links to book lists or online databases, and most of the teen resources provided were simple in nature, such as a calendar and a newsletter.

I feel that the Seattle Public Library jeopardized the quality of the content youth resource website to put more effort into the site’s physical appeal.  But looks can only go so far if the site itself is not useful.

I would give this website a 3/10.

Suggested Users

Ages 12 to 18. 

Advisory Notes

vivid, colloquial, unsophisticated

I have found the Toronto Public Library's online teen section to be similar to that of Seattle's as it shows off funky fonts and bright colours but does not delve into available teen programming, etc.

Reason for Inclusion

The Seattle Public Library’s website was one that I had found useful to me through out the construction of this blog as it contained both useful information and was appealing, so I was curious to see how the teen section specifically would compare.

Category

Library Websites for Teens