We’re about two weeks into the summer and already I’ve heard from my adolescent-aged children the maddening cries of “I’m bored!” Even worse, my oldest follows the lament with, “Can I go to the mall?” It’s tempting, if only to get him out of my hair — but not worth the potential problems that can arise from dropping a bored and penniless boy off at NorthPark.

But now there’s a new spot where teens can hang — the Teen Center at the library. Sure, they won’t go for it at first, but it sounds like it could be a sufficiently entertaining alternative.  

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Recently, AT&T granted $500,000 in funds to open 20 Teen Centers in Dallas libraries. Keely Coughlan is overseeing development of the Audelia Library teen center, which opened yesterday. The Lake Highlands library, which has undergone much renovation and modernization over the past two years, turned a pocket of its space into their teen center by setting up comfy couches and allowing kids to check out laptops for an hour at a time, says Coughlan. Libraries are supposed to be quiet places, right? So I asked her how they control the teens’ noise levels, to which she laughed and said, “Oh, our library isn’t quiet.” It’s apparently not like that anymore.

Hmm. I think they just might go for this.

In addition to the physical changes, new teen programs include training for job interviews, using computers and filling out college applications and much more.  Check the "Audelia Library Friends" table for a full list of events, beginning with an anime movie with popcorn at 2 p.m. Thursday June 25.