[kids-lib] What's your library's unattended child policy?

[Carrie Stotts]

Hi all,


I’m following up on an email that my colleague, Katie Anderson, sent last November, requesting information from other Oregon libraries about their unattended child policies while we were drafting one for West Slope Library in Washington County. Many thanks to all the libraries that responded! It was helpful to see what policies other libraries had written. There was some interest expressed in reading ours once it was completed. West Slope Library’s unattended child policy was adopted by our library board in April and can be found at the following link: https://westslopelibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2023-WSL-Unattended-Child-Policy.pdf

Our policy-writing was based on the following outcomes:

  *   To apply an equity, diversity, inclusion, and trauma-informed lens when addressing unattended children in the library.
  *   To comply with relevant child supervision, abuse & neglect laws.
  *   To provide clear expectations for parents, guardians, and designated responsible caregivers.
  *   To provide clear procedures for staff to take when a child aged nine years old or younger is left unattended in the library.

Please feel free to reach out to me at carries at wccls.org<mailto:carries at wccls.org> with any comments or questions!

Best,


Carrie Stotts (they/them)
Youth Services Librarian

3678 SW 78th Ave, Portland OR 97225
https://westslopelibrary.org<https://westslopelibrary.org/>
503-846-6416<tel:5038466416>
[West Slope Library]<https://westslopelibrary.org/>




From: Katie Anderson <katiea at wccls.org>
Sent: Monday, November 14, 2022 11:57 AM
To: kids-lib at omls.oregon.gov; LIBS-OR <libs-or at omls.oregon.gov>
Subject: What's your library's unattended child policy?

Hi all,

I’m working on updating an unattended child policy and procedure, and wondering what other Oregon libraries are doing.

If you’d like to share, please send me (kateia at wccls.org<mailto:kateia at wccls.org>) your unattended child policy/procedure and any helpful advice or resources.

We are trying to take an anti-racist and trauma-informed approach while still complying with Oregon laws so are particularly interested in:

  *   What do you do when the parent/guardian/caregiver is not at the library?
  *   If you don’t contact law enforcement, what do you do instead?
  *   If you do contact law enforcement, at what point in the procedure do you do so and how do you handle it with an effort to reduce traumatization of the child and/or their family?
  *   Do you include something about mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse and neglect to reduce the chance of implicit bias influencing staff reporting, while still ensuring the physical and mental safety of the child is the top priority?

If you have any tips or resources, please share!

Thanks,
Katie Anderson (she/her)
Youth Services Librarian | WCCLS<https://www.wccls.org/>
katiea at wccls.org<mailto:katiea at wccls.org> | 971-358-9359
My work week is Sunday - Thursday

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