New iPods with audio books, sleek bean bag chairs, and new carpet and hardwood floors are a few of the homelike features in the library at W.W. Long Leadership Center.
The library is part of Clem- son University's Youth Learn-ing Institute. It provides a new study area for students at Camp Long, at 82 Camp Long Road in Aiken County.
"This place was built specifically as a place for kids," said Jorge Calzadilla, the executive director of the Youth Leadership program. "If you think about adult programs, things for kids usually take second place."
The library is designed to create a feeling of a contemporary coffeehouse setting.
"We can come in here and just chill," said Casey Hawkins, 15. "The aquarium is also pretty neat."
Orange and purple bean bag chairs are positioned near the magazines and newspapers for students, and students' artwork adorns the walls.
Camp Long is for students with behavioral problems. The camp also provides a safe learning environment for youths assigned there by the state Department of Juvenile Justice.
"If you weren't at the Department of Juvenile Justice a few years ago, you wouldn't know what it means to be here," Judge William Byars said. "It is such a change from the way it was and now this says we can do it different and better. You are a model of what we can be."
Reach Julia Sellers at (803) 648-1395, ext. 106 or julia.sellers@augustachronicle.com.

