Teen Project gives teens a place to be themselves at our Lake Branch

Roast your friends during the first meeting of The Teen Project on Feb. 9 at Mentor Library's Lake Branch.

Ready to get messy? Get busy? Get wired? Then you’re ready for The Teen Project at our Lake Branch.

The Teen Project has one mission: to give teens a fun place where they can be themselves at the library.

It starts at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 9 with a Super Smash Bros tournament. (Register for it here.) Any teen who wants to play is invited. There will also be pizza and pop.

After that, The Teen Project will meet the second Monday of every month at our Lake Branch.

Video game tournaments are just the beginning. Teens will paint, compete in trivia contests, customize coffee mugs and more. The teens will be able to suggest their own ideas for The Teen Project, as well.

"In the digital age, ‘hanging out’ can mean four teens talking over Twitter or Snapchat—each from their own homes," said Ariel Johnson, the manager at our Lake Branch. "We want to bring the hangout back with video games and pizza and people actually in the same room."

For more information on The Teen Project or to register for the Super Smash Bros tournament call the Lake Branch at 440-257-2512.

Mentor Library also has book and writing clubs specifically for teens. The Teen Book Club meets at 2 p.m. on the first Saturday of every month at the Lake Branch. Their discussion book on Feb. 7 is Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher. Any teen who wants to join the club can pick up a copy of Ketchup Clouds at the Lake Branch.

Meanwhile, the Teen Writing Club meets 4:30 p.m. on the third Monday of the month at our Main Branch. During each meeting, they hone their writing by using a different story prompt. On Feb. 16, the story prompt will be "from a rock's perspective..."

Teens can register for either or both clubs by calling Mentor Library or signing up on our online event calendar.