LIBT 205: The Challenges of Unattended Children in Libraries

This essay, prepared for LIBT 205, delves into the significant challenges public libraries face concerning unattended children. It explores the responsibilities of librarians, the safety concerns, and the potential problems that arise when children are left unsupervised. The essay examines the impact of unattended children on library services, including noise disruptions and safety risks, while also considering the policies and guidelines that libraries implement to address these issues. It discusses various sources and research papers to identify the best practices for managing unattended children, emphasizing the importance of clear policies, staff training, and the use of technology to ensure children's safety and well-being within the library environment. The essay highlights the need for collaboration between libraries, parents, and caregivers to create a safe and conducive environment for all library users. This essay serves as an insightful resource, offering a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and potential solutions related to unattended children in libraries.

LIBT 205
LIBT 205
Essay
System04104
11/13/2018

LIBT 205
1
THE CHALLENGES OF UNATTENDED CHILDREN IN LIBRARIES
Children are our future and it is important to take care of their safety and provide best
care for them. Libraries help children to nurture their young mind through providing best
library services. Libraries play an important role in the development of children and adult
person. The role of librarians in modern days is so crucial because of new information
technology tools. It enhanced the responsibility and changed the role of librarians. The
increasing use of WWW and proliferation of online catalogue force, the librarians to be
aware about all the essential activities related to managing people in the library. Now the
librarian has new roles such as a facilitator, intermediary, trainer, educator, or web organizer
and designer etc. A number of study and research has been conducted in past to analyse the
problems faced by librarians. One of the major problems faced by librarians is to manage
unattended children in the library.
Managing children in a public library is a tough job for librarians and safety of
children in the library is the serious concern in recent days when they moving alone in the
library building. Sometimes children lock out themselves in the library when they become
anxious or frightened. Safety of young children in the library place is the major concern for
librarians because sometimes they become bored and restless in the library and sleep
somewhere in the library (Arrighetti, 2010). That creates worry for librarians and parents
both because it will be the case of missing children. One of the major problems that library
staff does not know that children leave the library building or moving with any strangers.
Thus, it will be enhance the responsibility of librarians about those young children who are
moving unattended in the library. Those libraries which are located in busy public access
buildings are not secure places for children and because of the lack of staff in libraries it is
tough to monitor all the young children in the library area. Even the librarians cannot act as a
parent because they have their own duties. In libraries, unattended children or disruptive
children are creating too many problems for the library staff (Public Libraries Online, 2018).
The unattended young children are making too much noise in the library that disturbs other
people and making it difficult to use library services. Generally, children under the age of 12
years should not unattended in the library, because most of the problems created by young
children (Ai-hong, 2010). Actually, the parents of children are responsible for their

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misbehaviour because they left their children alone in the libraries and that creates so many
problems for the library staff and librarian. Actually numbers of unattended children
responsible for their misbehaving in the library such as screaming, fighting, climbing on
stairs or furniture, running, excessive crying etc. the library staff and librarians have only one
option left to request the caregiver of children to leave the library building permanently and
not permitted them to enter again in library campus. To consider the safety concern children
under age of 9 years should be prevented to enter in the library campus, but library may allow
those students who are above the age of 9 years with their parents. Although children who are
more than 12 years old are mature enough to use the library responsibly, but if problems are
created by them, the library authority may ask their parents about the concern (Ames Free
Library, 2018). To avoid the above problem no child who is under the 16 years old should be
allowed spending more than half an hour in the library. Sometimes it happens that children
are enjoying in the library till the closing time of library and then it as found that they locked
by staff inside the library campus, and people fail to found them in library campus in the
working time (Feinberg & Keller, 2010). Therefore, it is essential to monitor the whole
library building that no one left one after closing of the library.
To avoid such problems it is essential for librarians to create strict guidelines and
policies for both unattended children and for their parents, thus such incidents can be
prevented in the library campus. A librarian should take the help of information technologies
tools to monitor the activities of children in the campus and ensure no children left behind
(Venter & Rambau, 2011). A strict policy and guidelines are essential for both parents and
library staff to monitor the activities of children and prevent young children to enter in the
library.

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References
Ai-hong, F. U. (2010). Discussion on Public Library Service for the Rural Unattended
Children. The Journal of the Library Science in Jiangxi, 4, 025.
Ames Free Library (2018). Library Unattended Child Policy. Retrieve from:
https://www.amesfreelibrary.org/library-unattended-child-policy
Arrighetti, A. (2010). The challenge of unattended children in the public library. Reference
Services Review, 29(1), 65-71.
Feinberg, S., & Keller, J. R. (2010). Designing space for children and teens in libraries and
public places.5th ed. USA: American Library Association.
Public Libraries Online (2018). Post Tagged “Unattended Children in The Library. Retrieve
from: http://publiclibrariesonline.org/tag/unattended-children-in-the-library/
Venter, E., & Rambau, E. (2011). The effect of a latchkey situation on a child’s educational
success. South African Journal of Education, 31(3), 345-356.