Should Adults be Allowed to Use the Children’s Section of the Library? Pros and Cons
Should Adults be Allowed to Use the Children’s Section of the Library?
Pros and Cons
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I use the children’s section all the time in the library. If I was barred from it I doubt I would go to the library very often.
Origin of the question:
On a recent edition of the game show Jeopardy, the winner was asked the source of his expansive knowledge.
His answer: He loved to read and study the books in the children’s section.
As an adult, what is your opinion?
It’s not an issue I feel strongly about. Personally, I find children’s books boring, so I don’t read them. The only time I’ve ever been in the children’s section as an adult was because they inexplicably shelved Kenilworth by Sir Walter Scott in it. I knew exactly what I wanted and where to find it on the shelf, so I was in and out in less than a minute.
I can see the personal safety issues involved, but the local branch libraries I’ve been to usually have the children’s sections in an open area within full view of the front desk. Only our old central library had a specific room upstairs and off to the side for the children’s books (it was this room that housed the misshelved Kenilworth). They moved out of the old building to a newly built one several years ago, so the new library design presumably does something to balance the concerns of accessibility and safety.
I do as well
I think that adults have a right to use all sections of the library. Unfortunately, the world is not always a safe place for children. Parents need to carefully supervise their children at the library. The library staff cannot act as supervisors due to limited funding, so parents must exercise caution at this and other public locations.
It isn’t just “limited funding.” There are legal liability issues to consider too.
Good point. Predators know where children are regularly left unsupervised and gravitate to the same places. All children have a right to be safe at local libraries.
Yes , I pick up a children’s classic every now and again. I think they are helpful if you are ever in a book slump. I suppose a pro could be that kids like to mimic adult behaviour so if adults are visible in the kids area of the library it may encourage the children. Also an adult could be trying to read at a later stage in their life having previously not been able to read or have a low standard of reading then this may be their first steps in improving their ability.
How are the children there without adults? Don’t their parents use it? Maybe I’m not understanding the question..,
Really depends on the age. Children, 10-13 years probaby would come alone.
In the late 1960’s and early 70’s, our local library had the crabbiest old spinster librarian there ever was. She had such strict library rules. Children 6th grade and under could only use the children’s library (located in the basement). Parents could not even bring children younger than that into the adult library. You had to be in 7th grade before you could even come up into the adult section. Then, you could only browse and check out from the adult non-fiction section. Must be 15 before you could check out adult fiction. I hated those rules and broke them on occasion (another story for another day) and would not want to go back to restricted use of any kind, child or adult.
Children have to be aware of other kids, preteen or teen, .trying to hurt them. Not just adults.
When I was a kid, that was the institutional policy at our local library too. My parents tried to get it waived, and from the response you’d have thought they’d asked for permission to hold a black mass in the library foyer. It took months of argument before they got their way.
I can see having a separate children’s section, but if parents sign off on their kids checking out other materials, the library should honor that and assume the parents know what they might be letting themselves in for. The first thing I got with my newly liberated library card was an omnibus book of A. J. Raffles short stories. That’s the kind of dangerous material that can scar a child for life.
I use the Children’s library all the time, and I always find adults down there. The older kids prefer to hang out in the teen lounge upstairs.
Why not?
James (the man on Jeopardy) said he acquired a lot of his knowledge from childrens’ books.
For pity’s sake ….
Adrienne, that’s what people said when they found out that tnousands of priests had been molesting hundreds of tbousands of altar boys.
If this is an issue on the quality or value of children’s literature…
I almost didn’t read Moonfleet by John Meade Falkner as it said childrens classic on the front. It is now in my top 10 favourite books and probably always will be.
I also dip in to some of my daughters collection now and again. Yes a lot of young adult fiction is poorly written and almost like fanfiction but some of it is absolutely wonderful.
I love the horrible histories series of books too. There has been many times I have been watching serious history documentaries on BBC 4 and I smile to myself when they come out with things that I have already learnt through reading the HH books.
Michelle Hand
It is not the books we need to be concerned about.. There is no such thing as a paedophile book, with two legs, two arms and
a total inability to control his/her “urges”.
Kathy Adams what about shops, parks, swimming pools, residential streets, car parks, churches, restaurants, cinemas, doctors surgeries… paedophiles can be absolutely anywhere that children are present. A ban could come in to place but that wouldn’t stop a paedophile going into the children’s section of a library with their own children.
I like the sit in the children’s section of the library, but I haven’t been since before I turned 18, plus it’s always been empty when I sit there. I’ve always felt safer there than anywhere else in the library.
I have gone into the childrens section many times…the librarians always ask if I am looking for something in particular which I am….its where I first found Harry Potter ten years ago….it may depend on the library and the time you are in the childrens section and if there have been problems in the past…
Yes!? Why not?
No. I think there should be a section of children’s and youth favorites in the adult area of the library. According to librarians, the children’s and youth’s sections of libraries are traditional areas for pedophiles to hang out. I was molested as a child, so this is a subject that I feel very black and white about. As a special needs teacher, I’ve helped catch sex offenders. It’s inconvenient for grown ups, but young people need to know that the library is a safe space. Reading was my safe space through a lot of bad things in my childhood, and I would never want someone to have negative associations with the library.
For this reason (I believe), no adults are allowed in the children’s section of our city libraries without a child. I agree with you. I spend a lot of time there with my son and appreciate the rule.
@Aimee I’m confused by the first sentence. Did you mean to write “without a child”?
@Kevin Yes, of course. Will edit.
@Aimee, no one should leave their kids unsupervised anywhere. I think sometimes parents think the librarians are free babysitters and drop their kids off or wander away to the adult section. If you wouldn’t do that at the mall, don’t do it in the Library.
Lorrie, I agree that you shouldn’t leave younger children alone, but teens are different. They don’t want to be with you. Our library has a teen zone where unsupervised adults aren’t supposed to be. The few times I’ve been in there, I go straight to the person working the area and let them know which book I’m looking for.
If adults avoid the adult section they are missing out on some excellent literature!
Adults should be able to read whatever they want?
Yes
I take my kids to the library all the time and hang out in the children’s section with them and I’ve never paid attention to if there were adults or not. The only people I notice are the kids mine are playing with. If the worry is pedophiles as you mentioned previously…do we skip anywhere where adults are? No. We just watch our kids and keep them close. The risk of them getting hurt in a car accident or crossing the road is much higher and I still let them ride in the car and cross the road. I just make sure they are in car seats and hold their hands and teach them safety when crossing a road. There are risks everywhere we go and banning someone from a certain section of the library isn’t going to stop that.
@Michele no, you don’t skip wherever adults are, but this is a traditional haunt of pedophiles
@Betsy I’m not sure the size of your library but we go to many in our areas and I can see my kids in every area of it. I’ve never seen statistics about libraries being a “traditional haunt” for pedophiles but ours have Moms all over the darn place. It’d be about the least likely place you’d get away with anything.
in MOST cases predators are someone your child knows. So I’d be keeping an eye on that random family member or neighbor before I’d start banning people from sections of the library.
I’m more worried about, as you said, people kids may be in regular contact with, and who they chit-chat with online. It’s just that it *was* a common problem in the past, and that’s why so many libraries insist that adults are accompanied by a minor when they head into the children’s section.
I love the children’s section of the library. Yes
Of course.
Oh for heaven’s sake, why not?
No. The children’s section of the library should only be available to those who are young at heart enough to sit in bean bags upside-down and contemplate the significance of whether or not Waldo WANTS to be found.
so basically teenagers
@Celeste I haven’t been a teenager for a decade, I still haven’t solved the riddle of Waldo’s motivations.
This question is so controversial. HAHAHAHAHA!
Yes!
Adults were children first . Yes they have a right to !
I often borrow a book from the children’s section so that I can read it to see whether I enjoy it. This helps me to make informed choices for future gift giving to my grandchildren.
This is a strange question. I’ve taken out books for my grandkids—no one has ever questioned who was going to read them.
That’s my favorite section!
Why not?! It’s where Rowling, Enid Blyton, Lemony Snicket, Chris Colfer and lots of other great authors are. You don’t need to be a kid to enjoy these books or want to re-read them. What a strange question!
Pros- Yes
Cons- No
??♀️
When I worked at the library a young girl was checking out the book Equus, I wanted to warn her or her mother it isn’t an innocent horse story, I was told I couldn’t ” censor” a patron. Another time a child was looking at an art book and saw nudity, the mother wanted it removed from the library! I learned all library materials are available for all patrons.
Short answer: Yes.
Books should never be restricted to anyone. There are many teachers/parents/grandparents that check out books for young ones. You have adults that are illiterate and could use these books to learn. I would imagine the likelihood of pedophiles in a library would be rare and I firmly believe that the education about stranger danger and how to be safe in all public spaces should come from home – it’s responsible parenting.
At least to find out whether someone has sneaked in an adult book in the children’s section. So a big yes! ?
Why not.
I do it all the time!
In the libraries here, adults can browse in the children’s and teens section, but they can’t sit there and read. These areas are supposed to be safe havens for the under 23 crowd. Yes. The teen section allows young adults.
Never thought about this but it’s a good spot to look at potential books for the grands!!
If I see an adult male lurking around the children’s section of a library, I’m gonna keep an eye on him.
Straight up, there is a huge difference between some one lurking around, creeping the children’s department,and being an interested patron looking for a great book to read. Putting a ban and or creating unnecessarily restrictive rules and policies only perpetuates social paranoia and a negative environment
Of course, adults should be allowed in the children’s section. A patron could be looking for books for her children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, best friend’s child, etc. A nanny/au pair could be looking for books for the children she watches. A teacher could be looking for ideas for his classroom. A writer of children’s books could be looking for his own book.
BTW, women can be pedophiles as well, so singling men out isn’t fair to them.
Absolutely. I can’t see a con.
Thinking that only children may be in the children’s section would mean that only dragons, hobbits, space explorers and such may be in the science fiction/fantasy section, right? Hehehe.
Of course. As long as they aren’t behaving in a way to make children uncomfortable or infringing in them in anyway, they should be able to read what they like.
In my local library its open and although I understand why some library’s place restrictions I also believe children should always be supervised and is no different to any other public space.