Unattended Children

1.0 Purpose:
  • The purpose of this policy is to provide a policy/guideline related to unattended children at the DeSoto Public Library.
2.0 Policy Statement:

  1. Parents are responsible for the behavior of their children while they are in the library. The DeSoto Public Library staff is committed to help children with activities related to the library. However, the library does not have the staffing resources to allow us to watch unattended children. The library will do all it can to notify the parent or guardian of incidents involving an unattended child.
  2. Children under the age of 11 must be accompanied and directly supervised at all times by a parent, guardian, or other responsible caregiver. Caregivers must be at least 16 years or older.
  3. When the safety of an unattended child is in doubt, or the parent, guardian or responsible caregiver cannot be located the police will be called after one hour or at the discretion of the Library Director or Librarian in Charge (LIC). If the library is closing, library staff is authorized to call the police within 15 minutes after closing and stay with the child until the police arrive. Two Library staff members must stay with the child until the Police arrive.
  4. Children age 11 and older may use the library unattended by an adult, subject to other library rules and policies concerning conduct.