Reply #3: Not surprising.

[divineorder]

With all of the concern about pedophiles and child snatching, I'm surprised this isn't a more widespread policy. I've read online and offline of cases where parents use the library as a babysitter, leaving kids there for hours. Our local library now has a policy that unclaimed kids that are there at closing-they call the police.

Let's not forget that many libraries due to budget cuts are increasingly understaffed, so there are even fewer adults keeping watch and circulating around readers. There used to be more library aides who stacked books and who were a deterrent due to their presence. I bet that budget cuts have severely cut into that number.

Libraries cannot screen or exclude people either without compromising their mission, meaning they cannot guarantee that everyone entering is necessarily safe. There have been thefts and even murders at some libraries. A young child doesn't realize that, so someone who is seemingly friendly comes up to them and asks them what they are reading and before you know it, strikes up a conversation. It seems so innocent to them because it isn't "the scary streets" or "stranger in a car" to them.