Policies On Unattended and Disruptive Youth

Due to widespread interest and concern over the growing problem of latchkey children in libraries, the Children's Services Department developed the following policies on Unattended Children and Disruptive Youth. The Board of Library Trustees adopted these in September, 1999.

Policy Statement

The staff of the Dayton Metro Library is happy you are visiting with us. We are concerned about the safety of all library users, especially children. We strive to make the library an enjoyable place to visit so that you, your family and friends will want to return many times.

Library staff members cannot, however, supervise children or function as substitute baby sitters. Parents and responsible patrons need to be as careful of their children's safety in the library as they would be in a shopping mall or any other public building. Children can easily wander out the door, into the street or parking lot. They can be injured by swinging doors or by falls from furniture.

The Board of trustees of the Dayton Metro Library has, therefore, established the following policies for all agencies of the library system.

Policy On Unattended Children

Children age 8 and under may not be left unattended in the library. They must be accompanied by a parent or other responsible person (age 15 or older) at all times. Parents and/or responsible patrons are accountable for their children’s behavior and safety while in the library.

Children shall be considered “attended” as long as they are within sight of the parent or other responsible person. An exception would be children attending a story time or other library program without a parent/responsible person in the room. However, the parent/responsible person must remain in the library building and immediately join the child at the end of the program.

Policy On Disruptive Youth

Disruptive youth over the age of eight will be asked to leave after two warnings, with notification of parent and/or local authorities. Disruptive behavior is any behavior on library premises which infringes on the rights of others using and/or working in the library.

Established library procedures will be used to implement these policies.