Any mention of teenagers and libraries usually conjures up negative images of card catalogs and cues to be quiet. Not so for a group of English students who learned that books are just one of the many resources available to them at the Abington Public Library. While this information may not be new to the majority of the student body, Miss Pflaumer and Mrs. Clifford’s freshman classes – new to the rigors of high school research – were pleasantly surprised.

On October 23, about 30 freshmen, armed with uncertainty and umbrellas, trudged from the high school past the town office to the library. Escorted by Miss Pflaumer, Mrs. Crowley, and an unwelcomed nor’easter, the soaked students were led into the Copeland Room to learn from the Library Director Deborah Grimmett and Reference Librarian Judy Condon what the library has to offer.

Although library services in Abington began in 1878, the current building, conveniently located just minutes from the high school, opened in 1997. The library’s mission is “to serve the community as its primary information resource.”

The Abington Public Library (APL) is a member of the Old Colony Library Network which is a cooperative of 28 member libraries located on the South Shore.

After Miss Pflaumer’s classes took the trip, they were excited to learn that cardholders at the library are eligible to use the resources of all of the participating libraries. In praise of the network, student Katerina Callanan noted that, “Many students don’t always have time to wait for the book our teacher has assigned us, so having access to other libraries is very helpful.”

On a return visit to the Library, Ms. Grimmett explained how often books are delivered from the Old Colony Library Network “once a day every day that we’re open.” During those six days, the library sends out and receives between two and five bins of books. After a brief tour of the process, Grimmett said that books are delivered between 12:30 and 2:00 pm.

The APL has also turned the page on research by providing an amazing website, www.abingtonpl.org, that connects to online databases and quick reference links. With the push of a button users can access information on anything from an article on the “Ebola crisis,” found in the New York Times database to an article about “young drivers snapping selfies at the wheel,” found in the Student Infotrac database. According to Mrs. Crowley, “If you just use a search engine you will get a lot of unreliable sources mixed in with all the credible ones and it is up to you to evaluate the credibility of the source and try to find the information you need to cite.”

On the trip to the APL, students learned so much more about the available resources to improve school assignments and to enhance everyday learning. When asked what she thought of the trip to the library, Alana Burgess said, “It was so informative. The library is an amazing but underutilized resource.” Hopefully after the library field trip, students will begin using it more.

In fact, this writer was so impressed with the whole system and the accommodating staff, that she returned. And, with the help of Assistant Librarian Sandy Bumpus, she signed up for the APL’s Teen Advisory Board (TAB). According to Senior Kimberly Reid, “Since its first meeting in 2010, TAB has sponsored numerous movie afternoons, purchased new furniture and computers, collected donations for the food pantry, volunteered at summer reading kickoffs, chosen teen programming, and much more.” As a long-standing member, Reid noted that, “TAB has impacted the library by giving the teens a voice.” More information about this exciting group is on their website.

So, if you want to do research, borrow a movie, get some museum passes, join a book club, or just read in the Teen Room, the library is the place to go. Between the virtual library website and APL’s website, students never have to battle the elements at all. Unless of course, they want to physically check out the most primitive of all sources…a book in print!