Look out Los Angeles because our volunteens are making a difference around the Southland! The Northridge Branch Library has partnered with local organizations and professional experts to host community clean-ups, present library programs, and engage in research to find out if there is a correlation between litter, crime and community pride.

For their first community clean-up, librarian Cindy Holsey gathered her teen volunteers to form Northridge Trashbusters, a group dedicated to cleaning up their neighborhood. Volunteers, library staff, and partners from the Northridge Beautification Foundation met at the library to make a difference and clean up the surrounding streets. They collected 25 large bags of trash and weeded numerous city planters along a half-mile stretch of Reseda Boulevard.

Northridge Trashbusters is a pilot project the library has developed through our Teens Leading Change committee. TLC is a new young adult civic engagement initiative designed to for teens ages 14 to 19 years old. The initiative aims to empower youth to learn firsthand what they can do, as individuals and collectively, to address civic needs in their community.

Northridge Trashbusters will host their second community clean-up on Saturday, June 16, 8:30 a.m. Teens interested in volunteering can call the Northridge Branch at (818) 886-3640 to sign up.