ANAHEIM -- On a recent day at the Haskett Branch Library, the faint sounds of heavy metal music, dancing and fighting could be heard at the entrance.
No, the library has not been taken over by rebellious teenagers.
In fact, the library welcomes teens who come to play video games such as Rock Band, Guitar Hero II, the dancing game Battle without Honor or Humanity and Super Mario Smash Bros. Brawl.
The gaming program was set up by Teen Librarian Hong Ha about 18 months ago for children from the nearby six high schools.
"It's fun, it's safe, and it gets them into the library," Ha said.
But at first, the program attracted teenagers who were disrespectful to Ha and the library. Ramon Sanchez, a 17-year-old junior at nearby Western High School, was one of them.
Ha invited Sanchez and his friends to the gaming, but after they were rude, she kicked them out of the library for two weeks.
They begged to be let back in, but only after two weeks had passed did Ha let them return – so long as they were respectful.
After Ha talked with Sanchez's parents, he came back to the library and is now one of her key volunteers.
Sanchez helps set up the gaming days, helps to raise funds to buy more games and, of course, plays games. His favorite is to play drums on Rock Band, with his favorite song being "Dani California" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
While Marianne Hugo, the library's manager, likes that the gaming now keeps the kids respectful and out of trouble, her main point is to motivate the teens to read books.
"This is a perfect age to captivate the kids and get them to be interested in libraries," Hugo said.
And, as a small example, Sanchez said after playing games at the library he's checked out a few books. His current read is "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
