Unattended Children

Dear Parents of Young Children:

Thank you for bringing your children to the library. You are doing both your children and yourselves a great service by taking advantage of the books, movies, magazines, and computer access that the library has to offer. I am truly glad that you are here.

I understand that it can be difficult to pry your offspring away from the children's area. I can also empathize with your desire to simply spend 60 seconds alone in the adult section or at your car to quickly find what you need without youthful interruption. Unfortunately, neither of these circumstances qualifies as a good reason to leave your children alone in the library.

Let's get one thing clear: I am not a baby-sitter. I am paid to manage the library's children's collection, not to manage the children themselves. It's not that I don't love your kids - I'm sure they're great. But I have work to do that doesn't involve making sure that your children remain calm in your absence.

When you waltz past the children's desk and casually comment that you'll be back from the car / bathroom / circulation desk / adult area very soon, you probably don't think much of it. If you do stop to think, you probably imagine that you are doing your children a favor by making another responsible adult aware of your absence just in case. But if you know that your children might need a grown-up's attention while you are off doing who-knows-what (even if only for a moment or two!), then why are you leaving them with me, a virtual stranger who has other things to worry about?

Your 30-second detour has now turned into a 3-minute discussion of the library's unattended children policy. By the end of it, neither of us is happy. Please spare both of us this awkward conversation and remember that the library is a public place. Anything could happen to your children. If you are even remotely concerned that your children will need an adult to guard their happiness and/or safety please make sure that you are supervising them at all time. I'm sorry, but I cannot do it for you. I have programs to plan, books to order and catalog, publicity to create, and a half-dozen other patrons in the room who need my assistance.

If you really and truly do think that your children will be fine alone for a minute and you are willing to take the risk, then do us both a favor. Just don't tell me that you're leaving them alone.* Spare us the conversation about library policy. If your kids are well-behaved I probably won't notice that you're gone if you come back quickly (remember, I'm very busy). Just make sure that your children know exactly where you are going to be and how to find you if they need you. Empower your children to take care of themselves so that you will not feel compelled to ask me to take care of them for you. That's all I ask.

Sincerely,

Your Children's Librarian (NOT Your Baby-Sitter)



*Disclaimer: I do not officially condone this course of action due to the potential liability issues at stake here. I do admit however that it is - with the right family as determined on a strict case-by-case basis - not the end of the world if they children know what to expect and how to deal with it.