The North Kansas City Library Media Center tries to be a place where teens can go to hang out and participate in fun activities.

They offer a variety of activities on different Thursdays to try to get kids in the library.

“The goal is to get teens in here. Just get them in the building. The activities have to be fun, pertinent, interesting something you guys like to do,” Kristine Carney said.

Though the goal is just to get students in the door, Carney would not mind if they happened to pick up a book while they were at the library.

The library has been running these programs for about four years now and Robert Hoops agrees that they just want to get kids in the library.

“There is a need for a teen base. Libraries aren’t what people think they are anymore. I think of it more as a youth center. It’s about being with people,” Hoops said.

Carney started the Thursday activities and they have evolved to give kids a variety of things to participate in.

“First and third Thursday is gaming night. We have Rock Band, Madden, Dance Dance Revoluion and some more games, and of course snacks. On the second Thursday we have Anime. We have a big population that read and watch it and we will watch different episodes,” Hoops said.

Then on the fourth Thursday of the month they have a trivia night.

“Kids can form their own teams. The questions can cover pop culture, movies, music, and some are academic. Teams can be from two to 10 people and it’s just random and crazy,” Hoops said.

In the past they have tried a multitude of things to get teens interested.

“We tried a teen writing club, but we don’t do that anymore. After February, though, we are going to help kids find avenues for self publishing,” Carney said.

They also find ideas wherever they can. They may come from anywhere, and the library is always open to new ways to get teens to come.

“We get suggestions from kids, other librarians, and magazines and we have a facebook page where kids can give us ideas,” Carney said.

They are hoping to use this facebook page to be interactive with students.

“We might have a competition, a fight tournament superheroes against superheroes. People would vote for the superhero they think would win and the one with the least would go down a bracket,” Carney said.

To fund all of these programs they work closely with the public library that is run upstairs.

“Also, the money we make from things like the Haunted House goes to teen programming,” Hoops said.

Luckily, the funding is going to a good place. The students enjoy the Thursday activities and the library in general.

Senior Samantha Hoopes has been going to Thursday nights since her freshman year.

“I like how you get to have fun with your friends. I like the anime and video games, and the food. It’s something to look forward to,” Samantha Hoopes said.

While Hoopes likes anime, senior Angel Jones enjoys the trivia night at the library.

“It’s fun to sit there and compete about worldly knowledge,” Jones said.

It’s not just the activities that have Jones coming back, however.

“It’s just a very fun and comfortable atmosphere where I can be my crazy self,” Jones said.

She also goes on regular days, because she can get work done there and can ask any of the employees, like Hoops and Carney, questions because they are all specialists.

“I love them. My library family,” Jones said.