Our library is many of our patron's own personal, free, daycare center. Why pay childcare when your child can go to the library for free and stay until you feel like picking them up?
For the past two weeks on Friday night there have been packs of children left stranded when we close at six pm. Last week there were two ten year olds who were at the library for 4-5 hours and told me that their parents worked and could not pick them up. When I inquired how they would get home they said they would walk but that it was far.
This week there was a larger group of a 7, 8, 5 and I believe a four year old who were left at the library for 3-4 hours with no adult supervision. As kids are wont to do, they were destructive and left the toddler books in complete disarray. When the library closed at six pm there was no adult coming to pick up this group of children. I asked when their parents would pick them up and they said it would be any minute. Six o'clock came and went, the staff was getting ready to go. I told the staff I would give it one more minute and then I was calling the sheriff. Just then the pack of kids darted out the door and ran off. I called after them and they yelled at me that they would walk home. Then they continued to run down the street, four year old in tow.
What do you do in a situation like that?
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Library Daycare
Posted by Carrie at 9:08 PM
Labels: unattended children
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2 comments:
At Main we have a similar problem. What the staff in the kids dept there seems to have done (at least for one brother and sister in particular) is have phone numbers for the folks. For the most part, the boy is quiet; he spends his time reading, doing homework, and playing on the computer. When he does get out of control though, the staff talks to him, calls his mother, and he is banned for a week or so. He is a good kid, just gets hyper.
As far as I know, they only do this for this brother and sister.
I would suggest talking to the parents when they drop them off or pick them up. If it is a group of kids, send one out to get the parent, and don't let the others follow. I'd tell the parent that this is just not acceptable; that the library isn't a daycare and you don't have the means to care for the children or see to their safety.
And if it happens again, you will notify the police.
Kids can't just hang out at a library like that for hours on end. They need meals, they need supervision, they need...proper adult care that library staff cannot provide.
That's my suggestion... :-/
Thanks for your comment. I do worry that the kids aren't getting any food. One time last year we had a simple "program" where we gave the kids peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The kids swarmed us like they were refugees. It made me wonder if they were getting enough food.
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