[Publib] Boy raped in Boston library...NY Times --Continuation of discussion regarding adults in children's areas inpublic libraries

[Rebecca Smith]

If I could jump in to the discussion to raise a few points... The
horrific and heartbreaking library rape incident happened at the New
Bedford Public Library, not a Boston library. It happened near the
adult reading room and not in the children's room.

At our library, we do everything we can to ensure that parents keep an
eye on their children age 7 or younger while at the library:

Excerpt from our "Safe Child Policy:

"All children 7 years or younger must have a parent/caregiver in the
immediate vicinity of and in visual contact with the child. The
assigned caregiver must be at least 14 years old and must carry
emergency contact information. The parent/caregiver must stay with the
child, unless the child is participating in storytime or any other
library program, in which case, the parent/caregiver is expected to
remain in the library building and to join the child immediately at
the end of the program."

We do not have an official "unattended adult" policy for our
children's room. I simply exercise my judgment, and I confess to being
a little more watchful with men than women. If an adult is perusing
the collection and selecting items, I won't question them. If there
are no children in the room and they sit down at a table to hang out,
I usually go up to them and explain that the room is for children and
their parents/caregivers and that they can use the tables in the adult
area. We are also very firm about who uses our "family" bathroom. One
guy went into detail about his diabetes and the size of his prostate,
and I simply had to explain that I wasn't saying that he couldn't use
a bathroom, just not this particular one.

My two cents,

Rebecca