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GREENSBORO — Shawn Waddell had little reason to patronize a public library.

“I would go to Borders or Barnes & Noble to buy books. I had a computer at home, databases at school,” the N.C. A&T sophomore says. “I didn’t need to go to a library.”

That changed last year, when friends urged him to join them in the Teen Poetry Project at the McGirt-Horton Branch Library.

Waddell and other teens now gather at the east Greensboro library two evenings each week with spoken word artist Josephus III to write and perform their work.

“This library is really important to me now,” Waddell says during a January poetry session. “And I see how important it is to others.”

That’s exactly the reaction local public libraries had in mind.

Libraries aren’t just for hushed reading and research these days.

In recent years, local public libraries have given patrons new reasons to visit by increasing arts and cultural programming — much of it free.

Peruse a Greensboro or High Point public library at the right moment and you can listen to musicians play, make art and crafts, view an art exhibit, watch a movie, write and perform poetry, even join a knitting group.

They take place against a backdrop of paintings, murals and sculpture.

“People don’t come to us just to consume a product someone else has made, but for the chance to learn how to do it themselves,” says Steve Sumerford, assistant director of the Greensboro Public Library, which operates seven branches.

Public libraries long have been community gathering places that drew patrons with literary, educational and cultural experiences, including art.

But with the Internet, patrons no longer have to visit to reserve a book or research a subject. They can do it all — plus download e-books — from their computers.

So libraries sought new ways to draw patrons — teens in particular — with arts and cultural activities that tie into reading and literacy.

“We are trying to develop programs that give people meaningful experiences that you can get only by coming to the building and sitting with your friends and neighbors,” Sumerford says.

“The more we create a rich experience, a multilayered experience, the more people feel engaged, the more they talk about it.”

That happens at Hemphill Branch Library.

Art that adorns the southern Greensboro branch library represents more than decor.

Since it opened in 2004, Hemphill has partnered with the downtown Green Hill Center for North Carolina Art to use art to inspire and nurture reading.
Green Hill’s ArtQuest studio at Hemphill offers a Friday art program — Red, Yellow, Blue — for preschoolers and parents. On Thursdays, Art Around the Story combines story time with an art project. The studio makes materials available to children and parents.

Artists help teens create in a Teen Art Studio one night each month. On Fridays, the library hosts a knitting group for ages 5 through adult.

“We have people who come in to use the computers, and they notice activity in the arts studio and ask questions,” Hemphill manager Brian Johnson says. “The next week, they bring the kids over.”

“It has made the community more aware of how Greensboro is a heavily arts-centered community.”

When Cindy R. Dye came from Hemphill to Glenwood Branch Library in November, the children’s specialist brought her love of art with her.

“I am trying to do art with every single program that I do,” Dye says. “Arts programs are being cut in schools, and parents are looking for these experiences for free or low-cost.”

During the holidays, Dye led one of her quarterly Do It Yourself arts and crafts sessions for middle and high school students.

“Whenever you are doing arts and crafts with any age, it opens up time to talk with them about 'What kind of books do you like?’ 'What do you like to do?’ 'What kind of books do you read?’ 'I have just the book for you,’ ” Dye says. “It helps us to plan future programs.”

At McGirt-Horton, teen services specialist Ricky Baker created its Teen Poetry Project after surveying local teenagers on their interests.

“They were seeking an outlet where they could express themselves,” Baker says.

In 2009, the library received a three-year, $92,000 federal grant to finance the poetry project, as well as a digital media project to teach teens to make videos on community issues.

“It entices the kids and lets them know that we are thinking about them,” Baker says. “At the same time, they are learning skills they can go out and use.”
He hired Josephus III to lead poetry sessions, which attract regulars such as Waddell, Micah Graves, Trey Gass, Jeliyah Callender and Stephanie Egeonu.

Last summer, Waddell, Graves and Egeonu were among five Teen Poetry Project members who traveled to San Francisco, to compete in the youth poetry slam at the international poetry festival Brave New Voices. The project is trying to raise money to return this year.

Baker wants to add visual arts to McGirt-Horton’s activities, such as sessions on creating graphic novels.

That catches the attention of Graves, 18, a GTCC student. “I also draw, so that’s right up my alley,” he says.

The poetry project, teens say, has given them fresh insight on the services of librarians and libraries.

“They are truly information centers,” Graves says.

Across the county, the High Point Public Library has added other performing arts.

When the push came for more community programming two years ago, staffer Nic Covington started the “Live! At Your Library” music series.

A musician himself, Covington arranges for local musicians to perform periodically in the lobby of the library on North Main Street. They don’t get paid, but there’s a payoff.

“We see at least 1,500 people daily, so it’s a great way for artists to gain exposure,” Covington says, noting that classical guitarist Kyle Koch got paid gigs elsewhere as a result.

Louder performances can be held after hours in the third-floor Teen Garage section. The library also has hosted songwriting and guitar workshops.
Activities go beyond music and into theater. Makeup artists have taught sessions on special effects makeup. Theater industry veteran Paul Bogan has led workshops on improv and on running a theater company.

“It’s become more than a library, more like a community center,” Covington says, “because you can do more than read a book.”

Contact Dawn DeCwikiel-Kane at 373-5204 or dawn.kane@news-record.com