A Kids-Only Children's Area?

FL library bans lone adults from kids' area, citing security reasons

By Debra Lau Whelan -- School Library Journal, 1/1/2005

Is it more important for a library to protect young patrons than to provide unimpeded access to materials? The Orange County Library in Orlando, FL, thinks so, and it recently implemented a policy at all 14 branches that bars adults who don't have a child with them from lingering in the children's or young adult areas.

"In the world today, the best protection that we can give our children is the best thing we can do for them," says Marilyn Hoffman, the library system's community relations coordinator. "A little bit of inconvenience is well worth the added security." The new rule was prompted by an incident last summer in which a 15-year-old girl reported that a man had tried to molest her on the first floor of the downtown library.

Now lone adults can browse and check out materials from the children's area, but they are prohibited from sitting down. "There's no intention of denying any access to materials," Hoffman explains. "We'll provide them with a basket or cart, and they can take it to other areas of the library."

Since the policy went into effect November 1, Hoffman says the library has received more kudos than criticism. And response from the library community has been muted. Librarians tend to respect local library policies because they reflect "the best decisions for the people in that community and the library staff," says Cynthia Richey, former president of the Association for Library Service to Children, adding that protecting patrons—whether children or adults—is key.

Unlike the Children's Internet Protection Act, which withholds federal funding from libraries that fail to install Internet filters, Richey says this policy doesn't raise the same First Amendment concerns because they're restricting the use of space, not materials. Richey, however, cautions that there should be exceptions to the rule—for example, if an adult is a disabled teacher or an older grandparent. "It's a blurry line between enforcement and interpretation," Richey adds.