Library helps put kids on path to jobs

Kapreme Irving couldn't help but be nervous as he waited in line for a teenage rite of passage: His first job interview.

At least he was prepared. The 17-year-old Beach Channel High School student took advantage of a free six-week program for high school students at the Queens Teen Library in Far Rockaway on writing resumes, acquiring savvy interviewing skills and dressing to impress a potential employer.

"I'm looking for a job where I can help customers," Irving, wearing a black short-sleeved shirt and white pants, said Monday as he waited to meet Scott Grum, 43, general manager of Modell's Sporting Goods in Rosedale.

"We're always looking for well-motivated individuals who have a lot of integrity, are service conscientious and friendly," said Grum, who interviewed Irving.

Finding work is hard enough for a teenager, but trying to find a job without access to a computer is a harsh reality for some of them, Irving included.

"We felt helpless because the kids wanted to work and contribute and we couldn't help them," said Ariel Yang, 28, library manager at the Arvere branch.

In response, staff and volunteers from the three Rockaway libraries decided to offer the workshops at the teen library.

After six weeks of preparation, using the library's existing 35 computers, about 200 teenagers streamed through the Queens Teen Library to apply for jobs online and have face-to-face job interviews.

Retail stores, banks, nursing homes and the Queens district attorney's office, which offers summer clerical office jobs, were among the 20 employers looking to hire.

Kenya Collins, 16, a ninth-grader at Far Rockaway High School, said she was interested in finding a job at a day care center. "I like to work with kids," she said.

For Collins, who completed the job workshop, it's her first summer job hunt.

Angelica Cherilus, 16, a 10th-grader at Far Rockaway who also completed the workshop, said she is getting work experience as a library volunteer.

"I'm looking for a part-time job in a store," Cherilus said. "I like arts and crafts and a store like Michael's would be a good choice."

Cherilus said the library gives her a place to go after school instead of staying home.

"Everybody was talking about going to the teen library after school so I came," said Cherilus, who eventually wants to be a registered nurse. "But we have to finish our homework first."

The Queens Teen Library "is the only teen library/youth center in the city," McNeil said, adding that about 90 kids come each day to use computers for social networking with staff supervision.

Other workshops help high school students apply for college and financial aid and offer math tutorials and poetry writing projects that include songwriting. Students even turn their songs into recordings in the library's recording studio.

"We're not warehousing books anymore," Yang said.