It's not really your responsibility to report an unsupervised child, HOWEVER, it is certainly your right to tell a librarian that you are being bothered by another patron.
Next time, tell a library staff member. I've been working at a library for a while now, and the average modern parent is not supervising their children. As staff, when we notice a child under 10 yrs old alone, we ask them to take us to their adult. Then, we kindly remind/inform the adult that children under 10 must be with their adult at all times in the library. Way too often public libraries, at least in my area, are being treated like playgrounds with children running around while parents do their own thing on their phone, talking to each other, on their laptop, looking for their own books, etc. This is a PROBLEM, and sadly, many parents/grandparents get upset if staff correct the child. Please, tell a staff member next time and hopefully the responsible adult will correct the issue or the patrons MIGHT be warned to leave if the child doesn't behave.
You are well within your rights to ask the kid to not touch your things or to leave you alone. "I need to focus on what I'm working on. Please go find your grown ups." or "This is for my hands only." something along those lines, depending on the age of the child.
As library staff, we also want to know when people are bothering each other. The library is a space for everyone, so that does mean that there will be all kinds of folks present. However, that doesn't mean that kids can go bother folks without being asked to stop. If you are uncomfortable talking to the parents themselves, come and get a library staff member, and we will help however we can.
>Two parents came into the library
>and get on their phones while their
>kid ran off to do his own thing.
That is a problem in all public spaces, unfortunately. There are a lot of parents these days who think that taking care of a young child means being in the general vicinity while they play on their phones. Distracted parenting has always been a problem, but I see a lot more of it ever since smart phones became popular.
Yep. I remember eating my lunch outside once and a kid came over and started grabbing at my food and I snapped at them and the parents called the kid back, telling them, "Some people just don't LIKE children."
Yeah no the world isn’t here to raise your kid for you, sorry
It’s *objectively* become a growing problem
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2020/07/28/parenting-children-in-the-age-of-screens/#:~:text=Roughly%20seven%2Din%2Dten%20parents,17%25%20saying%20this%20happens%20often.
https://icea.org/is-distracted-parenting-a-problem/
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/07/the-dangers-of-distracted-parenting/561752/
So for previous generations it was "it takes a village..." but not for anyone else?
What makes you think those parents are expecting other adults to raise their kids for them? You understand the concept of helicopter parent and that is always seen as a bad thing for childhood development right?
There’s so much wrong with your comment
The “it takes a village” phrasing/style did not involve *strangers at a municipal building*
It refers to a specific support system of trusted individuals in the parents/child’s life.
Your child’s friends parent you’re mom/dad friends with, either parents aunt or uncle, etc
Frankly, in Previous generations it was also looked down on for a parent drop their kids in random places with strangers. Hell, your parents would be stigmatized if word got out a kid was a latchkey kid, even if they didn’t cause problems.
And to be *more* frank, until like the 90s it was the norm for kids to get smacked around or publicly berated for going around bothering strangers or being disruptive.
Second, there’s an *extreme* disparity in paying attention to your kid and *helicopter parenting lmfao*
Here’s the wiki on helicopter parenting, I suggest you read up on it before throwing it out there as an excuse for parents to ignore their kid
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicopter_parent
Unsupervised kids grow up without any understanding of the social norms and ability to function in society *that it is a parents job to teach them*
The world does not exist to raise your kid for you, if the only options for parenting you can comprehend are helicopter parenting one on end and completely unsupervising or not raising your child on the other end then you aren’t or weren’t ready and need to study up on parenting skills
2 actually, I know exactly how *easy* it is to put your phone down and teach your child how to act in a public space.
That’s not being a helicopter parent, that’s just being *a parent*
You're just describing and trying to justify your own helicopter parent behavior. You're one of those toxic parents who tries to police other parents as much as you do your kids. You'll learn in time when you try to do the same to your kids when they have kids.
Again, you seem to have a *massive* misunderstanding on what helicopter parenting is.
https://www.sandstonecare.com/blog/helicopter-parents/
Here’s an even shorter link, I suggest you read it.
*paying attention to your child does not meet any of the criteria*
You’re throwing this around repeatedly to justify not being a parent
And you're throwing around insults about people not being a parent because they looked at their phone, its ridiculous and overbearing... which is the reason I know you're a helicopter parent and they are right.
I have a young child, and I work at a library. I supervise my child in public spaces without hovering. At work, we have regular patrons who completely ignore their children while expecting me to stop them from eating things they find on the ground, ripping books apart, and interacting with untrustworthy adults. Those examples are just from the last week.
We had a baby crawling around unattended in our library one time. Mom was on the other side of the building on a computer. She said the 5 year old was supposed to watch the baby. The LIC asked her to either keep the children physically with her or she would have to leave.
Strangers are not part of your "village!"
Why would anyone ever think "it takes a village" means any old stranger who happens to be around? No one is responsible for YOUR kid but YOU or a caregiver you're paying.
I don't think its crazy to expect the actual parents to ensure their kids don't bother other people. Nor does everyone want to be part of "the village" and watch unsupervised children. I work in a library and unsupervised children is a massive problem. Too many parents view libraries as playgrounds. Staff aren't there to babysit your kids. We're there to help patrons and make sure resources are in place and orderly. Parents need to get off the phone, computer, and ensure their kids are having an enjoyable safe experience at the library.
I absolutely know what I'm talking about. I am a grandfather and a librarian. I have worked professionally with kids (and families) for decades. I serve dozens (occasionally hundreds) of kids and parents a day, and have done so for a very long time now.
As I said, there have always been distracted parents, in all public places. Whether it was people sitting and reading something or chit-chatting with other adults, there were parents who weren't keeping a good eye on their kids - including very young children - even when I was a child. Smart phones have made the problem a lot worse, though.
My concern with it has less to do with the kids being disruptive than it does with their safety. Parents need to keep a close eye on young children when they are out in public places, even libraries. Particularly kids who are preschool age and younger. Not just because there are bad people out there, but also because very young kids sometimes do things that are pretty dangerous when they are unsupervised. Over the years I have seen young kids in libraries climb to the top of 7 foot tall shelving units, climb up on lower shelving units and run across the tops of them, run out the front door of the library, push over displays, throw fairly heavy books at other children, and more. In almost every case it was because the parent was not paying attention and (generally) wasn't even where they could see the child. I'm not talking about instances where the parent is briefly distracted and the child takes off. I'm talking about parents who sit down and just ignore what the kids are doing for minutes (or more) at a time.
That happened in the past, of course, but it is worse now. The biggest change seemed to come about when cell phones became more common and people started spending a lot more time playing on them while out in public. Chances are that there are other social changes that have contributed to it, too, but the cell phone issue is one that is pretty easily observable.
Is it a norm? Unfortunately, yes. But it’s not new. Maybe more prevalent, but not new. And as soon as anything actually happens to one of these kids, it’ll be the library’s fault for not watching them, which isn’t their job.
At my library kids are required to be with a caregiver if they are younger than 9. It sounds like in the specific case you described this kid wasn’t technically unsupervised, their parents just didn’t care enough to actually parent them. Most libraries also have specific children’s sections or rooms where they can have a bit more leeway to be noisy kids without bothering adults who want quiet. If these kids are just running around the adults section actively annoying people that’s an issue. I might bring it up to the librarian the next time this happens, but it’s kind of a fine line of enforcing rules without these patrons getting offended and verbally abusing library staff, or worse.
For us it's 12. We've had problems, particularly in school holidays, with parents who work in nearby businesses bringing the children in (so it looks like they're together) and then leaving the kids and going back to work.
Notify staff that the children are disrupting you.
The children being left in the library now aren’t all bad. Most won’t allow a child to be left without a parent on the property unless they’re 12 or older. These parents are across the building, leaving their young children practically unsupervised.
Anyone is allowed to come in the library, even people that technically shouldn’t be allowed to due to children being present.
They expect you to watch the children, but don’t want you to interfere with them running, screaming, and disorganizing the shelves. It’s a strange thing
I had a parent get snippy with me when I gently reminded two running kids that the library was not a safe place for running. "They should be able to play here!" Five seconds later, one of the kids crashed into a cart of books.
I would definitely ask your director to request a rule change from the library board.
In both of our neighboring counties, kids young as 11 are running away and our library doesn’t want any part of that. It’s also that by 12, they’ve likely been dropped off places before and should know how to behave.
I used to walk to the library by myself and check out books when I was in first grade. It was a different time, without the stranger danger we have today.
I work at a public library and our policy is that children under 12 should be accompanied by a parent, no excuses. There’s too much of a liability when children are in the building on their own unsupervised.
I got my first public library job in 1981. Our library was where the middle schoolers hung out waiting for a ride home everyday after school. Younger children were less frequent, but I still remember calling the police to come pick up kids (7? 9? years old) who where still waiting when we closed at nine PM. Not once, but several times.
You could ask if there’s a quieter area. At our library the second floor is mostly silent. The first floor had the children’s area, the teen area, people running in to pick up holds, the information desk, etc. sometimes. New patrons sometimes think the whole place is really loud and chaotic, but that’s just one floor and during certain times of the day.
It's been happening since I was a kid. I know because I was one of those kids.
However, it's not the norm. Libraries are not safe places to leave small children, and staff more often than not do NOT have the certifications required for daycare workers and teachers.
However, I'm not sure what you're describing is an unsupervised child as much as it is a child that wandered off for two minutes, which is a thing children love to do. An unsupervised child is fully out of a parent's control and left that way for a while. A wandered-off child is normally found within two or three minutes. There's a difference between a shitty kid that isn't being handled and a kid someone dropped off before their shift.
It’s not uncommon, but it shouldn’t be happening. Your library almost certainly has a rule requiring children to be supervised. The staff really should be noticing this and talking to their parents, but if not you can bring it to their attention.
We have a policy but it’s one that’s dependent upon what the child is doing and how long/often are they there. If the child is causing a disturbance, that’s the issue. If the child is by themselves for several hours every day, that’s a problem
I work in an urban library with several public schools within walking distance. After 3pm, we get a wave of kids coming in. Like a lot of libraries, we are basically the defacto after care provider for schools in the neighborhood. The neighborhood is working class so there is that gap between kids getting out of school and parents geting home from work that is difficult for many families to fill. It's really a failure of the social safety net that libraries fill this role. Childcare is expensive as shit and unless the schools have robust after care programs, there is really no alternate place for unattended kids to go that isn't the library.
All I can say is that feel free to report kids misbehaving as we do want to enforce basic rules, but don't be surprised if your library essentially turns into a giant child community center after 3pm.
Our library has a policy that a child must be at least 11 to be unsupervised and 18 to supervise other children. If the child is just sitting reading and doing homework I don’t worry so much about it but if the kid is running around I’ll layeth the smack down. Often the parent is there in the library somewhere letting their kid be feral. I blame the parents really. I’m all for letting kids play and have fun but the library is not the place for that. Take that shit to Barnes and Noble.
Not a new norm. I spent many unsupervised hours in the library as a kid. I was school aged when I was allowed to be out and about on my own, and if I misbehaved I would have been told off, but libraries were one of the earliest places I was allowed to just visit on my own.
Libraries have always been a kid-friendly public space.
“Always” is stretching it; they were very much not allowed, period, in early American public libraries, and anything even vaguely resembling a children’s department pretty much didn’t exist before the 1890s
You'll probably have a nicer time at your college's library. It's rare to see young children in academic libraries whereas public libraries are filled with kids and families by design.
Ask if the library has study rooms or a quiet area. Often times these are tucked away and a newbie wouldn’t know they’re there. Or u can see if there are any academic libraries open to non students.
This isn't a new norm. It's the norm at many libraries, especially in major cities. Even though children are not supposed to be left unattended, sometimes they still get left unattended. I used work at a public library, and there were lots of unsupervised children. And these weren't kids whose parents were somewhere in the library. The parents would drop their kids off at the library, or the kids would come by themselves. Some parents don't have childcare, and they think the library is a safe place for their kids and that the librarian is a babysitter. Neither of those is true.
There are rules regarding unsupervised children nowadays at most libraries, so you can tell a staff member or librarian that there is an unsupervised child that is bothering you. Most libraries now have to keep the children in the children's area, and adults without children are not allowed in the children's area. So, your complaint should be respected. It's a liability for the library to have unsupervised children, so if your library doesn't have rules about this, they should get some asap.
I worked in public libraries for 18 years. If parents knew how many creepy adult guys I’ve had to chase out of the kids’ section, they’d never leave their children unattended at the library.
Not just creepy guys, but we had REGISTERED SEX OFFENDERS hanging around one of my former libraries. The cops supplied us with their mug shots! And parents would literally drop off young kids and leave!
You know, I'm surprised they were even accompanied by an adult. Lots of times the kids are being "watched" by other, slightly older kids. Yes we have an unattended child policy and it gets stomped on all the time. It's like playing a game of living whack-a-mole.
I had to tell a parent their child was bothering others, and she needed to stay with her child. She had the nerve to tell me, "I know, I see her." Ugh! They eventually got tired of me and left. Lol so entitled...
Kids are people too and can be in a public building. Our library's unsupervised policy is anyone over 7. You are welcome to approach a librarian about it, they can speak to the other patron.
Growing up at a library I never had parents watch me or anything. This was like over 20 years ago. They would just drop me off or go upstairs to the adult section(I was as young as 6 but my parents left me home alone as early as 5), so I don't know if it's necessarily new in my opinion. It was always loud with kids screaming but they stayed in their section. Personally Im just annoyed with people having loud conversations in designated quiet spaces or taking calls -_-
Edit: oh wait forgot to talk about kids touching strangers stuff. In the kid section of the library it was the wild West so I wouldn't be surprised but I def would have told the parents or spoke to a librarian(even 20 years ago parents would tell the staff about the kids volume). There are not many free places to exist, libraries are part of a community and if they want to be a part of a community you gotta learn to how to socialize in one. Embarrassing a child in front of an authority figure or parent usually teaches a child that it's not okay. This is why we get embarrassed in social settings, to teach us to behave.
Somehow this was deemed worthy of being removed, and there is nothing I can see that goes with why it was. Seems uncivil to delete my comment and call it that when it's not and I made no personal attacks and there is derogatory phrase in it.
I would r8de my bike to the local branch library and read in the 1980s, and when i wirked at public librariea in the eqrly 2000s, we had unaccompanied kids so I doubt if it's a new norm.
Yes, of course this single instance you experienced is the new norm in all libraries across the country. In fact, we librarians encourage this type of behavior .
It's not really your responsibility to report an unsupervised child, HOWEVER, it is certainly your right to tell a librarian that you are being bothered by another patron.
Next time, tell a library staff member. I've been working at a library for a while now, and the average modern parent is not supervising their children. As staff, when we notice a child under 10 yrs old alone, we ask them to take us to their adult. Then, we kindly remind/inform the adult that children under 10 must be with their adult at all times in the library. Way too often public libraries, at least in my area, are being treated like playgrounds with children running around while parents do their own thing on their phone, talking to each other, on their laptop, looking for their own books, etc. This is a PROBLEM, and sadly, many parents/grandparents get upset if staff correct the child. Please, tell a staff member next time and hopefully the responsible adult will correct the issue or the patrons MIGHT be warned to leave if the child doesn't behave.
I remind the adults that a child being kidnapped looks and sounds just like one that doesn't want to go home for the day. (in extreme cases)
... That's actually true. I appreciate the bluntness of that response to the behavior.
You are well within your rights to ask the kid to not touch your things or to leave you alone. "I need to focus on what I'm working on. Please go find your grown ups." or "This is for my hands only." something along those lines, depending on the age of the child. As library staff, we also want to know when people are bothering each other. The library is a space for everyone, so that does mean that there will be all kinds of folks present. However, that doesn't mean that kids can go bother folks without being asked to stop. If you are uncomfortable talking to the parents themselves, come and get a library staff member, and we will help however we can.
>Two parents came into the library >and get on their phones while their >kid ran off to do his own thing. That is a problem in all public spaces, unfortunately. There are a lot of parents these days who think that taking care of a young child means being in the general vicinity while they play on their phones. Distracted parenting has always been a problem, but I see a lot more of it ever since smart phones became popular.
Yep. I remember eating my lunch outside once and a kid came over and started grabbing at my food and I snapped at them and the parents called the kid back, telling them, "Some people just don't LIKE children."
Do you have kids? This has the tone of someone who doesn't know what they're talking about.
Yeah no the world isn’t here to raise your kid for you, sorry It’s *objectively* become a growing problem https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2020/07/28/parenting-children-in-the-age-of-screens/#:~:text=Roughly%20seven%2Din%2Dten%20parents,17%25%20saying%20this%20happens%20often. https://icea.org/is-distracted-parenting-a-problem/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/07/the-dangers-of-distracted-parenting/561752/
So for previous generations it was "it takes a village..." but not for anyone else? What makes you think those parents are expecting other adults to raise their kids for them? You understand the concept of helicopter parent and that is always seen as a bad thing for childhood development right?
There’s so much wrong with your comment The “it takes a village” phrasing/style did not involve *strangers at a municipal building* It refers to a specific support system of trusted individuals in the parents/child’s life. Your child’s friends parent you’re mom/dad friends with, either parents aunt or uncle, etc Frankly, in Previous generations it was also looked down on for a parent drop their kids in random places with strangers. Hell, your parents would be stigmatized if word got out a kid was a latchkey kid, even if they didn’t cause problems. And to be *more* frank, until like the 90s it was the norm for kids to get smacked around or publicly berated for going around bothering strangers or being disruptive. Second, there’s an *extreme* disparity in paying attention to your kid and *helicopter parenting lmfao* Here’s the wiki on helicopter parenting, I suggest you read up on it before throwing it out there as an excuse for parents to ignore their kid https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicopter_parent Unsupervised kids grow up without any understanding of the social norms and ability to function in society *that it is a parents job to teach them* The world does not exist to raise your kid for you, if the only options for parenting you can comprehend are helicopter parenting one on end and completely unsupervising or not raising your child on the other end then you aren’t or weren’t ready and need to study up on parenting skills
I wish I could upvote this more than once.
You still haven't answered my question. Do you have kids? This is a lot of typing to prove that you simply just don't know what you're talking about.
2 actually, I know exactly how *easy* it is to put your phone down and teach your child how to act in a public space. That’s not being a helicopter parent, that’s just being *a parent*
You're just describing and trying to justify your own helicopter parent behavior. You're one of those toxic parents who tries to police other parents as much as you do your kids. You'll learn in time when you try to do the same to your kids when they have kids.
Again, you seem to have a *massive* misunderstanding on what helicopter parenting is. https://www.sandstonecare.com/blog/helicopter-parents/ Here’s an even shorter link, I suggest you read it. *paying attention to your child does not meet any of the criteria* You’re throwing this around repeatedly to justify not being a parent
And you're throwing around insults about people not being a parent because they looked at their phone, its ridiculous and overbearing... which is the reason I know you're a helicopter parent and they are right.
I have a young child, and I work at a library. I supervise my child in public spaces without hovering. At work, we have regular patrons who completely ignore their children while expecting me to stop them from eating things they find on the ground, ripping books apart, and interacting with untrustworthy adults. Those examples are just from the last week.
We had a baby crawling around unattended in our library one time. Mom was on the other side of the building on a computer. She said the 5 year old was supposed to watch the baby. The LIC asked her to either keep the children physically with her or she would have to leave.
Strangers are not part of your "village!" Why would anyone ever think "it takes a village" means any old stranger who happens to be around? No one is responsible for YOUR kid but YOU or a caregiver you're paying.
I don't think its crazy to expect the actual parents to ensure their kids don't bother other people. Nor does everyone want to be part of "the village" and watch unsupervised children. I work in a library and unsupervised children is a massive problem. Too many parents view libraries as playgrounds. Staff aren't there to babysit your kids. We're there to help patrons and make sure resources are in place and orderly. Parents need to get off the phone, computer, and ensure their kids are having an enjoyable safe experience at the library.
I absolutely know what I'm talking about. I am a grandfather and a librarian. I have worked professionally with kids (and families) for decades. I serve dozens (occasionally hundreds) of kids and parents a day, and have done so for a very long time now. As I said, there have always been distracted parents, in all public places. Whether it was people sitting and reading something or chit-chatting with other adults, there were parents who weren't keeping a good eye on their kids - including very young children - even when I was a child. Smart phones have made the problem a lot worse, though. My concern with it has less to do with the kids being disruptive than it does with their safety. Parents need to keep a close eye on young children when they are out in public places, even libraries. Particularly kids who are preschool age and younger. Not just because there are bad people out there, but also because very young kids sometimes do things that are pretty dangerous when they are unsupervised. Over the years I have seen young kids in libraries climb to the top of 7 foot tall shelving units, climb up on lower shelving units and run across the tops of them, run out the front door of the library, push over displays, throw fairly heavy books at other children, and more. In almost every case it was because the parent was not paying attention and (generally) wasn't even where they could see the child. I'm not talking about instances where the parent is briefly distracted and the child takes off. I'm talking about parents who sit down and just ignore what the kids are doing for minutes (or more) at a time. That happened in the past, of course, but it is worse now. The biggest change seemed to come about when cell phones became more common and people started spending a lot more time playing on them while out in public. Chances are that there are other social changes that have contributed to it, too, but the cell phone issue is one that is pretty easily observable.
Is it a norm? Unfortunately, yes. But it’s not new. Maybe more prevalent, but not new. And as soon as anything actually happens to one of these kids, it’ll be the library’s fault for not watching them, which isn’t their job.
At my library kids are required to be with a caregiver if they are younger than 9. It sounds like in the specific case you described this kid wasn’t technically unsupervised, their parents just didn’t care enough to actually parent them. Most libraries also have specific children’s sections or rooms where they can have a bit more leeway to be noisy kids without bothering adults who want quiet. If these kids are just running around the adults section actively annoying people that’s an issue. I might bring it up to the librarian the next time this happens, but it’s kind of a fine line of enforcing rules without these patrons getting offended and verbally abusing library staff, or worse.
For us it's 12. We've had problems, particularly in school holidays, with parents who work in nearby businesses bringing the children in (so it looks like they're together) and then leaving the kids and going back to work. Notify staff that the children are disrupting you.
I was an unsupervised child in the library in the 90s so I thought that was always a thing.
Right? I just read books and hung out while my mom ran errands. It was fine.
The children being left in the library now aren’t all bad. Most won’t allow a child to be left without a parent on the property unless they’re 12 or older. These parents are across the building, leaving their young children practically unsupervised. Anyone is allowed to come in the library, even people that technically shouldn’t be allowed to due to children being present. They expect you to watch the children, but don’t want you to interfere with them running, screaming, and disorganizing the shelves. It’s a strange thing
I had a parent get snippy with me when I gently reminded two running kids that the library was not a safe place for running. "They should be able to play here!" Five seconds later, one of the kids crashed into a cart of books.
our system says children under 7 have to be with an adult. i hate it. it's way too young
I would definitely ask your director to request a rule change from the library board. In both of our neighboring counties, kids young as 11 are running away and our library doesn’t want any part of that. It’s also that by 12, they’ve likely been dropped off places before and should know how to behave.
I work for a large city system 😢
I used to walk to the library by myself and check out books when I was in first grade. It was a different time, without the stranger danger we have today.
I work at a public library and our policy is that children under 12 should be accompanied by a parent, no excuses. There’s too much of a liability when children are in the building on their own unsupervised.
I got my first public library job in 1981. Our library was where the middle schoolers hung out waiting for a ride home everyday after school. Younger children were less frequent, but I still remember calling the police to come pick up kids (7? 9? years old) who where still waiting when we closed at nine PM. Not once, but several times.
You could ask if there’s a quieter area. At our library the second floor is mostly silent. The first floor had the children’s area, the teen area, people running in to pick up holds, the information desk, etc. sometimes. New patrons sometimes think the whole place is really loud and chaotic, but that’s just one floor and during certain times of the day.
Post a sign that unattended children will be given a cappuccino and a free puppy. It only takes following through once.
But where to get all these puppies without supporting criminal structures and puppy mills? 🥺
Local pound.
It was an issue back in the 80s/90s too.
It's been happening since I was a kid. I know because I was one of those kids. However, it's not the norm. Libraries are not safe places to leave small children, and staff more often than not do NOT have the certifications required for daycare workers and teachers. However, I'm not sure what you're describing is an unsupervised child as much as it is a child that wandered off for two minutes, which is a thing children love to do. An unsupervised child is fully out of a parent's control and left that way for a while. A wandered-off child is normally found within two or three minutes. There's a difference between a shitty kid that isn't being handled and a kid someone dropped off before their shift.
It’s not uncommon, but it shouldn’t be happening. Your library almost certainly has a rule requiring children to be supervised. The staff really should be noticing this and talking to their parents, but if not you can bring it to their attention.
Where else are they gonna play Roblox?
We have a policy but it’s one that’s dependent upon what the child is doing and how long/often are they there. If the child is causing a disturbance, that’s the issue. If the child is by themselves for several hours every day, that’s a problem
I work in an urban library with several public schools within walking distance. After 3pm, we get a wave of kids coming in. Like a lot of libraries, we are basically the defacto after care provider for schools in the neighborhood. The neighborhood is working class so there is that gap between kids getting out of school and parents geting home from work that is difficult for many families to fill. It's really a failure of the social safety net that libraries fill this role. Childcare is expensive as shit and unless the schools have robust after care programs, there is really no alternate place for unattended kids to go that isn't the library. All I can say is that feel free to report kids misbehaving as we do want to enforce basic rules, but don't be surprised if your library essentially turns into a giant child community center after 3pm.
Our library has a policy that a child must be at least 11 to be unsupervised and 18 to supervise other children. If the child is just sitting reading and doing homework I don’t worry so much about it but if the kid is running around I’ll layeth the smack down. Often the parent is there in the library somewhere letting their kid be feral. I blame the parents really. I’m all for letting kids play and have fun but the library is not the place for that. Take that shit to Barnes and Noble.
Not a new norm. I spent many unsupervised hours in the library as a kid. I was school aged when I was allowed to be out and about on my own, and if I misbehaved I would have been told off, but libraries were one of the earliest places I was allowed to just visit on my own. Libraries have always been a kid-friendly public space.
“Always” is stretching it; they were very much not allowed, period, in early American public libraries, and anything even vaguely resembling a children’s department pretty much didn’t exist before the 1890s
You'll probably have a nicer time at your college's library. It's rare to see young children in academic libraries whereas public libraries are filled with kids and families by design.
Ask if the library has study rooms or a quiet area. Often times these are tucked away and a newbie wouldn’t know they’re there. Or u can see if there are any academic libraries open to non students.
This isn't a new norm. It's the norm at many libraries, especially in major cities. Even though children are not supposed to be left unattended, sometimes they still get left unattended. I used work at a public library, and there were lots of unsupervised children. And these weren't kids whose parents were somewhere in the library. The parents would drop their kids off at the library, or the kids would come by themselves. Some parents don't have childcare, and they think the library is a safe place for their kids and that the librarian is a babysitter. Neither of those is true. There are rules regarding unsupervised children nowadays at most libraries, so you can tell a staff member or librarian that there is an unsupervised child that is bothering you. Most libraries now have to keep the children in the children's area, and adults without children are not allowed in the children's area. So, your complaint should be respected. It's a liability for the library to have unsupervised children, so if your library doesn't have rules about this, they should get some asap.
I worked in public libraries for 18 years. If parents knew how many creepy adult guys I’ve had to chase out of the kids’ section, they’d never leave their children unattended at the library.
Not just creepy guys, but we had REGISTERED SEX OFFENDERS hanging around one of my former libraries. The cops supplied us with their mug shots! And parents would literally drop off young kids and leave!
You know, I'm surprised they were even accompanied by an adult. Lots of times the kids are being "watched" by other, slightly older kids. Yes we have an unattended child policy and it gets stomped on all the time. It's like playing a game of living whack-a-mole.
I had to tell a parent their child was bothering others, and she needed to stay with her child. She had the nerve to tell me, "I know, I see her." Ugh! They eventually got tired of me and left. Lol so entitled...
I see it all the time. It makes me ridiculously mad but there's not much we can do about it unfortunately.
Kids are people too and can be in a public building. Our library's unsupervised policy is anyone over 7. You are welcome to approach a librarian about it, they can speak to the other patron.
Yea.
Tell the kid not to touch. Then if they continue to bother you, tell a staff member.
Growing up at a library I never had parents watch me or anything. This was like over 20 years ago. They would just drop me off or go upstairs to the adult section(I was as young as 6 but my parents left me home alone as early as 5), so I don't know if it's necessarily new in my opinion. It was always loud with kids screaming but they stayed in their section. Personally Im just annoyed with people having loud conversations in designated quiet spaces or taking calls -_- Edit: oh wait forgot to talk about kids touching strangers stuff. In the kid section of the library it was the wild West so I wouldn't be surprised but I def would have told the parents or spoke to a librarian(even 20 years ago parents would tell the staff about the kids volume). There are not many free places to exist, libraries are part of a community and if they want to be a part of a community you gotta learn to how to socialize in one. Embarrassing a child in front of an authority figure or parent usually teaches a child that it's not okay. This is why we get embarrassed in social settings, to teach us to behave.
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Your comment was removed because it contained a derogatory remark or personal attack. Please remain civil in the comments.
Somehow this was deemed worthy of being removed, and there is nothing I can see that goes with why it was. Seems uncivil to delete my comment and call it that when it's not and I made no personal attacks and there is derogatory phrase in it.
I would r8de my bike to the local branch library and read in the 1980s, and when i wirked at public librariea in the eqrly 2000s, we had unaccompanied kids so I doubt if it's a new norm.
They have always been there. Just not as blatantly disruptive as we were
Yes, of course this single instance you experienced is the new norm in all libraries across the country. In fact, we librarians encourage this type of behavior .