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July 1, 2010

Parents must now stay with their pre-teen children at Hunterdon County Library

nj.com
June 21, 2010

Parents can no longer drop off 9-12-year-old children at the Hunterdon County Library and leave them there to fend for themselves.

The county Library Commission voted on June 18 to change the policy after director Mark Titus advised that, “Parents have a tendency to leave their children, go off and not be available in case there’s a problem.”

Titus said the librarians have had to talk with parents about their children's inappropriate behavior, “pretty frequently,” but the problem has “improved a lot,” since staffers have been trying to work with parents on it.

The policy requires that parents or a responsible caregiver (13 or older) remain with children younger than 9-years-old at all times. Children 9-12 could be unattended but were not to be “left alone for extended periods of time.”

The new policy calls for parents of 9-12-year-olds (or a responsible adult) to be in the library “at all times,” when their children are there.

Children 13 and over are “old enough to use the library responsibly,” the policy states. “If problems arise, they may be asked to leave or parents may be contacted.”

If the parents cannot be reached, the policy states, “the police will be called.”

The point of the change, Titus told the commissioners, was to prevent problems.

“We have to maintain some sense of decorum,” Titus said. “There are kids that will jump off the table while parents are watching. There are parents who think that’s funny.”

The library’s policy manual is online at hclibrary.us/pdfs/policies/librarypolicy.pdf.

“We want to insure the children’s safety,” Titus said on Monday. He said the online policy manual will be updated to reflect the change.

Posted by tumulty at July 1, 2010 6:46 AM

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