Teen Build It - With Deeply Ingrained

Deeply Ingrained is bringing Teen Build It to the West Perry Branch of the Indianapolis Public Library on Tuesday, October 27, from 5 PM to 7:30 PM. It's a woodworking workshop for teens, and the whole point is to walk away with something you actually made. By the time the session wraps, you'll have a functional planter box to take home.

If you've never picked up a tool before, that's fine—this is where you start. The workshop covers the basics: how to measure, how to mark, and how to use tools safely. It's the kind of stuff that's easy to overlook until you're halfway through a project and realize your pieces don't line up, so getting the fundamentals down first makes a difference. You'll spend the evening working through those steps, and the planter box is the result. All the materials, tools, and equipment are provided, so you don't need to bring anything but yourself. One practical tip: they recommend closed-toe shoes, which makes sense when you're working with wood and tools.

The workshop is held at the West Perry Branch, which opened in 2021 as a 24,000-square-foot library filling a service gap in the growing Perry Township community. It's a full-service branch, with materials in Spanish and children's Burmese, a community meeting room that holds 203 guests, a fireplace, a marketplace, computer stations, children's and teen zones, and an outdoor patio. It's a big, active space, and this workshop is part of the programming they host there.

So, if you're a teen in the city and want to spend a Tuesday evening learning how to build something with your own hands, this is a good place to start. Teen Build It runs from 5 PM to 7:30 PM on Tuesday, October 27, at the West Perry Branch, 6650 S Harding St, Indianapolis, IN 46217.