The Pervert Lady in the Library

Oh, and don’t forget Daylight Savings.

This is a tough one. We recently did have a pervert exposing himself in the children’s section of the library. So I do understand the “no children without adults and no adults without children” policy. Children’s museums, indoor playgrounds, etc. have simliar policies.

That being said, I love children’s and young adult literature and I don’t think that will change once I no longer have tots in tow. I wonder where I’ll be then…

As a teacher with no kids, I guess I’m lucky my local library doesn’t have a similar policy for their children’s section. I frequently check out books to read to my students. Ironically, if the policy mentioned in this post were in place, I’d have to kidnap someone’s child (or borrow one, at least) to do this… and I do it because I love children/my students, not because I’m a creep… sigh?

I’m a teacher. I’ve been moved temporarily to 4th grade. Due to student numbers, I’m hopefully moving back to the Tech Lab next year. On one hand I want a variety of reading materials for my students, on the other hand I don’t have hundreds of dollars to build a classroom library for one year.

I am in the children’s section of my library 2x a week. The place is full of largely unaccompanied children. They have gotten to know me, and we talk about books. Several of them have recommended books for my students. I’ve shown them how to request books from the system. The library itself is very small. Not much bigger than my “pod” (group of 4 classrooms) at school. But we can access any book in the Harris County system by request. And if they don’t have it there is inter-library loan.

Some of the kids get to the library under their own power. The librarians have even made an space for the kids to store their skateboards, avoiding the tripping hazard in the small space.

Many are dropped off (by the school bus) and picked up by parents. This is off a 4 lane black top with 45 mph speed limit. It goes up to 50 mph about a mile down the road. Because of this the library does have a policy that includes calling the police if a child is not picked up on time and can’t contact an adult.

I like this part of their policy on disruptive behavior
Guidelines For Dealing with Problem Behavior

1. Assume that all customers have a legitimate reason for being in the library.
2. Be consistent in enforcing behavior standards. Use behavior, not appearance or assumptions based on stereotypes, to determine if action should be taken.

If the OP’s library was using this standard she wouldn’t have been asked to leave the area. She was not behaving in any manner that required the staff to say boo.

They also have this policy
Children have the same rights as adults to be in the library. They must follow library rules of behavior.

Hmm. I don’t care if a pervert does get into a library, such rules are wrong. Well, I mean, of course I care, and he/she should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, etc., etc., but I don’t see that as an excuse to have either a “no adults without kids” or a “no kids without adults” policy. Both are insane. Both adults and kids should be booted out of the library if they behave inappropriately (okay, in the case of kids, held in protective custody until a parent is located) — but never assumed guilty simply for being a certain age.

Why would an adult want to be in the children’s section if not for nefarious purposes? Well, I could think of a dozen reasons, but for starters (1) adults who are themselves new readers may enjoy reading children’s books, (2) adults who are learning a new language find children’s books easier to handle (that’s how our daughter practiced both Japanese and German), (3) intelligent, college-educated adults (me) sometimes enjoy reading children’s books — my feeling is that if a children’s book isn’t worth re-reading as an adult, it wasn’t really worth reading as a child, (4) teachers and education students (me again) might be there doing research, (5) lonely, non-perverted adults may just enjoy being in a bright, happy room with lively young children around, (6) all the card catalog terminals in the adult section may be occupied, while there are several available in the children’s section (me once more), or (7) the adult’s own children may be busy at home and have asked their mother (once again, me), “please pick us up some good books while you’re at the library.” Oops, the last reveals that I actually left my kids home alone while I went to the library…. Luckily our state is progressive (retrogressive?) enough not to have a minimum age for that, relying on the common sense of the family involved. 🙂

And yes, I also left my kids alone in the children’s department. Never a problem.

Wow. I’m so sorry that’s happening, and it’s really not fair. It’s kind of talked about in librarian circles that adults in the children’s room can be trouble but what happened to you was not fair. When I was in library school I took a class in children’s literature and frequently had to use the children’s room of the Boston Public Library for my research- every week I had an assignment involving reading childrens’ books that I had to get from the library’s children’s room. I don’t know how I could have done my work with rules like that. Even now from time to time I have to use the Cambridge children’s room for work-related work. Now I’ll think twice before I go there, I guess.

One more point in defense of librarians at public libraries: oftentimes parents drop of their very young children and leave them unaccompanied in libraries, despite librarians’ fervent wish (and often policy) that parents not do this. Librarians are NOT babysitters, and cannot act in loco parentis. Yet parents still do this (and, again, I don’t mean in a free range kind of way–kids way too young to be alone get dropped off).

So this policy might be a reaction to some poor parenting decisions.

I am a children’s librarian and yes, I have had to “shoo” adults from the children’s section who are there by themselves using the computer. This is not because I think that people are there for untoward reasons, rather that the children’s area is *for* children. We get adults in the children’s area all the time — looking at children’s materials, searching for books, even reading children’s books. This is totally fine. However, the issue is when the adults are either a)using the children’s computers or b)sitting on their own computer. They are basically taking up space that is intended for children and their caregivers. There’s lots of other space in the library and we reserve the kids are for..well..the kids! Incidentally, we shoo the teens out as well.

I just want to second ulunyc’s sentiments.

It also sounds as though the librarian treated you with dignity and respect and did not ask you to leave because you were prohibited from accessing children’s materials. You were asked to leave the children’s area because there is already an area designated for your use.

In addition, whether officially or unofficially children’s librarians are tasked with protecting children from predators (yes, their parents leave them alone in the library) by our library. I don’t know what a child molester looks like, I only know that an adult who could be using the adult area has chosen to sit amongst (mostly) unaccompanied children looks like. I’m going to make my job easier and perhaps the kids safer by asking you to use the adult area. Don’t make a children’s librarian’s job harder than it already is.

It just makes me wonder, why is our culture (and country) so saturated with these deviants? I really don’t have the answer. It makes me sad. What I can tell you, having lived abroad is that you do not have these stories of baby snatching, molesting, abduction etc. airing everyday. I don’t think it’s media censorship either (because I know some people would say news in other countries is more controlled.) I lived in the Czech Republic and saw babies in strollers parked outside a store front because they were too large to get inside. It was not seen as neglect nor did mothers have fear that someone was going to scoop their child out from under their nose. It was a culture and community of neighbors looking out for each other. As an American, I was totally shocked the first time I saw it –we’d never do that here–but there are an extremely high number of violent crimes and crimes against children in the USA. Why?

I am usually a big fan of your blog. This topic though, is misguided at best (for many reasons, including those highlighted above by some comments) and is just one more unnecessary attack on an already dangerously bullied public service at worst.

Libraries enforce their rules uniformly due to being sued for allegedly enforcing rules for certain people. We’ll ask people to leave if they are asleep no matter whether they are the smelliest, dirtiest person, or a person in an expensive suit. We even have to waste countless hours writing our rules so that we can’t be interpreted as discriminatory. We even have to spell out that we don’t allow illegal activities. (see: http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=about_policies_conduct)

Most public libraries have many reasons behind their “no unaccompanied adults” rule. And most also build into that rule that adults may be in the space as long as they are actively using the resources (computers not included). For instance, here’s the SPL’s policy:

Public Use of Children’s Areas Policy

PURPOSE
Children’s areas within Library facilities are special parts of the Library housing special collections, programs and services designed especially for children. The purpose of the Children’s areas in Seattle Public Libraries is therefore to provide children and their caregivers with access to these special children’s materials, programs and services.

POLICY
Children’s departments are available for use by those patrons who are accessing the special materials contained in the children’s collection and for use by children and their caregivers, to attend children’s programs, and to utilize other services provided by children’s departments. Patrons not included in these categories may be required to leave the children’s department and instead use other areas of the Library.
———————————–

This isn’t *just* about keeping out the perverts. This ALSO ENABLES FREE RANGE CHILDREN. It gives them a space that is really for them. Many children do not have the freedoms of a free range child, and this is the closest they’ll get to it. Especially if their helicopter parents can feel safe leaving their children there. (Parents who drop off their under-5 year old children for hours not included.)

Furthermore, before you go picking on libraries more, remember that public librarians tend to encourage children to read whatever they like. That includes going into the adult sections and picking out whatever materials they desire. You of all people should be the strongest supporter of public libraries.

But don’t worry, if public libraries continue to get negative press – even from people like you who enjoy their use – we’ll continue to lose funding, more of us will shut down completely or be taken over by union-busting private companies, and you won’t have to concern yourself with us ever again — we’ll be gone.

And while I realize that you weren’t intending to bash libraries completely, just read some of the comments from people who “agreed” with your point, to see the negativity that you spread.

BTW, I’m right there with the “librarians shouldn’t have to be babysitters.” But what I’m hearing from some quarters lately is “librarians shouldn’t have to be distracted from their other tasks by having to deal with disruptive patrons, so they should be able to make up all kinds of excessive restrictions on people so they don’t have to worry about anything.”

In an ideal world, librarians would only have to do librarian-tasks. But the reality is that in any environment where you are dealing with the public and the public is entirely free to come and go because you are on public property, dealing with inconsiderate patrons is part of the job. Patrons who are not actually causing a problem should be free to move about in a normal, non-disruptive manner.

@pentamom said “This is a library, not a teen dance club. I can’t imagine why a loathing for adults would keep a kid away from books, if said kid actually wanted to read books, which is the purpose of being in a library.”

Part of the biggest charge for librarians is ATTRACTING NEW READERS. If a teen comes in, but is too embarrassed to look at books, we’re doing it wrong. Making a welcoming space for teens helps bring in kids who are not yet – but could become – avid readers, who no adult could keep from books. In the meantime, let’s not make it harder to get kids reading, please.

I love stopping by our children’s section and immersing myself in books whether my children are with me or not. Our children’s section is not blocked off from the rest of the library and adults and children share the same computer system. The policy described is silly, and I hope that libraries with similar policies rethink them. Indeed it is a little scary to think that they thought up that rule in the first place. Imaginations sometimes can bring out the worst in people.

I agree with daisy. If there is a rule about not hanging out, thats fine. I’ve seen many a weirdo hanging outside our public library 🙂 and agree that libraries do attract many people who need social services.

I do think this is an ingrained thing though. I pride myself on being a (little) free range. I like it when people chat to my children (in a nice way) but even I second guess myself.

I took my kids roller skating and there was an old grandpa roller blading at the rink. He was sans any children or grandchildren. there were about 4 other adults skating (me included)

I went home and told my mother about this cool grandpa who was skating at the rink (he had moves for an old guy) my mother said “oh I hope he wasnt a pedophile!!”

Just the other day I took 5 kids to the pool alone (one was a neighbour) I was swimming holding my baby and trying to make sure the kids didnt get into too much mischief. My 4 year old ended up swimming (annoying) an old man who was there for physical therapy.

In my head I kept thinking, I dont think I should let her play with that man. Both for she is probably annoying him, and I felt a little uncomfortable. Anyway I let it go and they chatted together while swimming for half an hour. As I left the man asked me ‘if all the kids were mine!!’ and how delightful my 4 year old is. And he said ‘oh she s a cheeky one’

I’m glad I let her swim with him. I think having older people around is good for kids.

We used to visit my husbands grandma in an old peoples home and many people there would want to hold my baby. One lady even said it had been 20 years since she had even SEEN a baby.

Letting various generations mingle is important.

A dance party in the teen room sound like a great idea! I’m filing that one away for winter break.

But seriously, we don’t ban unaccompanied adults from the kids room just because of child molesters. That would be an over reaction to a small risk. Libraries are heavily used, super crazy busy.
How would you feel if you showed up with your kid and there was nowhere for them to sit and read, because the room was full of adults on laptops?

@Larry — I appreciate your points, and I too am against this “assume molestation” mentality.

Molestation is not the only reason to ask child-free adults to not use the space in the children’s area, IF they are not using the children’s books. Unaccompanied adults are welcome in almost all public libraries’ childrens areas — if they are using the books.

I also agree, that in most situations, the world is not oozing child molesters left and right. But have you ever spent a lot of time at a public library?

I have had to ask adults, who are yelling about being off their medication, to leave the library. Not just because they are being loud – but because *and this is a REAL situation* they had deficated in their pants and then sat in multiple seats around the library.

The library takes all sorts, and we need to write our policies to deal with these situations. Libraries have been sued by people who fit the above description of the “problem patron” because we discriminated against them when they didn’t have the money to shower. If we do not enforce our policies uniformly, then we leave ourselves open to lawsuit. And Americans love to sue. Libraries have been bullied into this position. I would love to see you fight the cause, not the symptom.

I gotta say, the librarians make some good points, especially Mim above, who points out that libraries are just as much victims of our too-happy-to-sue society as anyone else. They, like many of us, have been put in a place where they are not allowed to just use common sense in some instances, lest they be accused of singling someone out, etc. . Also, to Scott and others who say “Well if someone exposes themselves, THEN you just do this or that,” I have to say that obviously the goal here is PREVENTION (and yes, even as a FR mother, that does appeal to me on one level). Let’s face it, librarians do deal with the spectrum of humanity, and it’s not wise to pass judgment on someone whose job/experiences you don’t fully understand. It’s not exactly an easy call here.

We call the police all the time in my library. There were men advertising for other men to meet them at the ‘glory hole’ at one of the bathrooms in my library. Can you imagine your kid going into the bathroom stall at a library and seeing a penis stuck through a hole in the stall all? This is not paranoia–this was happening at my library, in a city that is not especially big or especially crime-ridden.

I really invite you all to have a conversation with the librarians at the reference desk the next time you are at your local library, even in wealthy suburbs. You will be really surprised by the stories you here.

In regards to the person who said adults shouldn’t camp out in the children’s room: the original post said, “We found a corner and settled in…”

Stories you *hear

Listen, I’m not interested in getting into a flame war here. What I’m really baffled by is why, when free range parents who are also librarians say that libraries have a good reason for certain policies, why other free range parents can’t seem to consider that maybe we know a bit more about libraries than they do.

You all seem so caught up in your outrage that you sound as reactionary as the parents who don’t let their kids ever leave the house.

Some of the other librarians on this thread made excellent points: namely, the children’s library is for children. Get your books, visit, read to your kids there. But don’t hang out. Go to the rest of the library for that. Why is this policy so terrible, again?

correction: Pretty much we see the libraries with this policy teaching children that all adults are dangerous perverts to be eschewed unless they have proven otherwise, apparently by being accompanied by a CHILD.

Let’s talk about mental child abuse. Any library that is teaching children that all adults are potential pedophiles through such a policy like this is ABUSING children. These teachings are SO damaging to a child, making him paranoid and distrustful, that the teaching itself is plain and simple child abuse.

I don’t understand why libraries often seem to raise the most ire on this blog. I just don’t get it.

Our library system recently (about a year or so ago) redid their teen/YA section. They moved all the materials to a separate area in every library – separate from the children and the adult areas. They put signs up to the effect that no one except teens were allowed into these areas.

For me, this has raised a couple of issues. First of all, why are those materials forbidden to others? There’s not any such policy for the children’s area (where the policy is just that you must be there to check out children’s books or with a child). Second, the policy is upsetting to me because it’s completely unenforced. I dislike the policy, but I’m even more upset that they made a policy that they clearly never intended to take seriously in the first place. When I’ve gone looking for something in the children’s section and it has turned out to be in the YA section, the librarians themselves have told me to go get it from there! And they can clearly see that I’m not accompanied by a teen – only a couple of elementary schoolers, who probably shouldn’t see some of the content in the graphic novels kept in there.

See now I could see the library asking them to leave IF they were showing any predatory tendencies. But 2 adults sitting and minding their own business? Thats not right!

I think the person writing the letter should have mentioned that she is a CHILDRENS book author and was looking for more subject matter.

Yes people think of parks and childrens rooms in libraries as “feeding grounds” for bad things and a library should do what they can to protect kids from that. But that means being watchful and IF there is a problem, THEN doing something about it.

My local library just went through a 16 month renovation. much of which was the childrens area. They rearranged the shelves so they aisles can be seen from the desk, added 2 staff members during “peak” times, opened up the entrance area visually with window walls and added computers near the entrance (instead of in the back room where they had been). With all that renovation, I have often been tempted to go there to sit and read instead of to one of the “back in a corner” seating areas they have in the adults sections.

Another thing. I used to have a neighbor who was a children’s author. He liked kids and often had them over his house. He encouraged them intellectually, etc. Unfortunately, he also happened to be a pedophile.

But if he had gone to the children’s section of the library, I guess he would have been allowed in because he was a children’s author. And I would not be welcome without my kids, since I haven’t published anything. Hmm.

(@daisy). The reason why people take offense is obvious. According to the original post, the author of the letter states that she was told that “they can’t have people hanging out there, looking at little children.” That is a FAR different matter than the understandable aspects you mention–eg., having a place where children don’t have to be “shushed.”

I’m sorry, but I just refuse to believe that there are really THAT many perverts & weirdos in the library. I’m sure there are some, I’m not trying for a minute to assert that there are none at all, but I simply do not believe that there THAT many, certainly not to where we need to be assuming that anyone in the children’s area is a likely pervert.

And yes, it’s been awhile, but for quite awhile I was a heavy user of the library myself, I went everyday and stayed sometimes for 2 hours or more. I never observed it to be anywhere near as full of weirdos as others had made out to be the case. Maybe that’s not the same level of experience & knowledge as someone who works there all day everyday, but that doesn’t mean I’m just going to dismiss what I’ve observed and just assume that I’m operating out of ignorance with what I think of the matter.

Nobody here, I think, means to disrespect your job & the possibility that librarians know some things. However, to me that doesn’t circumvent or override that a USER of the library has their own concerns, too–and frankly, I think their concerns matter just as much, if not more.

After all, the library is for the people who use them, not the ones who work there–just as a restaurant is for those who eat there, not those who work there.

The real issue here is this: the person was told to move to a different area of the library NOT because the children need an area to themselves with regards to not being “shushed” or to make sure there’s enough room for them, the person was moved under a “guilty until proven innocent” view of presuming her to be a potential molestor or pedophile, and to do so–risks of lawsuits and etc notwithstanding–is just plain wrong, and you don’t need to work in a library to inherently understand this.

Last school year, I mentored a student who was interested in mythology, and we spent a lot of time in the library together looking at both the kids and adult collections on the subject.

The sad thing was that this father of two didn’t feel comfortable waiting at a table in the kids’ section, so he headed upstairs and we ended up phoning each other when his son and I were finished browsing.

What are we doing? We’re kicking out some of the people who would be most likely to intervene in a bad situation. What decent parent could stand by while anyone’s child was being groomed or victimized? These are your eyes and ears.

I tend to agree with a policy that keeps adults from loitering in kids’ sections. But looking at books for a few minutes, no. As for segregating generations, I usually see kids all around every library, even those with separate kid and teen sectons.

I am much more concerned about keeping kids out of the grown up books than keeping adults and teens out of the kids’ area, however. I was told more than once at age 10-12 that I wouldn’t be allowed to check those books out anyway. (Those books were great classic literature that would be in my high school library later.) I was even “watched” by the afternoon librarians. I thought at first she was worried that me and my pal were going to get too giggly at our table. It turned out I had been branded. This painful situation went on for months; I stopped reading books for a while, as I had no school library. What did I read instead? The newspaper stories about war and poverty, the complete works of Edgar Allen Poe (book of the month club), and other light reading! So I tend not to believe that you can or should “protect” anyone from ideas.

So as a teacher then I cannot go in the library’s children’s department and pick up some books.

Or if I had children I would not be able to go and pick them up some books if they were poorly. ( I do have children but they are grown up)

Checking back in to thank you all for your perspectives and comments. To clarify, I think that I would have been free to come in and choose books, but I was not welcome to settle and stay in the room, a gorgeous, inspiring space and kind of temple to the imagination. As a children’s book author, it makes me very, very sad that the library assumes I am a risk, and shoos me from a room that, at that moment, had no children in it. I have never been asked to leave the children’s room of other libraries, including the children’s rooms in nearby Somerville, Arlington, and the main branch of the Boston Public Library.

First off, homeless does not equal criminal or pedophile. I deal with criminals day in and day out and extremely few are homeless. They are definitely more likely to be harassed for loitering but that’s about it. As a matter of fact, I seriously doubt that most of my clients know where the library is let alone spend much time there. At least half the population in prison doesn’t know how to read so libraries are not big hangout places for them.

Second, many pedophiles actually have children. An adult alone in the children’s library is not anymore likely to molest a child there than an adult in the library with children.

Third, no children’s area that I’ve ever been in is an adult-free zone. The place is swarming with the parents of the children using the children’s section; frequently two adults for every one child. Far from “having a space of their own,” they are under the constant supervision of librarians, their own parents, other people’s parents. Please explain how a a couple other adults – ones who are probably largely ignoring the children or relishing in their antics – somehow impact the children’s culture and enjoyment of the library but the constant supervision of their own parents and librarians does not. I wouldn’t have a problem with this rule if it was addressed to ALL adults – even parents – so that kids could truly have a space of their own but we all know the librarians don’t want that.

Fourth, as a kid who wasn’t a fan of kids books, I have a real issue with telling kids what books they can read and at what age. A number of posters have mentioned that kids are kept out of the young adult and adult sections. Really! I would have never read as a 9-12 year old then – instead of reading at least a book a week. Certainly sounds more like a library interested in itself more than one interested in fostering reading. But in all honesty, quid pro quo would require that children can’t go in the adult sections of the library if adults can’t go into the kid’s section of the library. Mostly dictating where ANYONE can sit and read in a public building is completely ridiculous.

Fifth, I find it very interesting the number of comments, on this thread and others, who claim to be free range but appear to only apply that to children. They appear to have a problem with putting limits on children, but have no problem telling adults where they can be and when. It seems to me that they are not actually very free range. They want a sanitized world for their children to free range about in. In other words, it’s okay to let your kids go to the library or park alone as long as there are no adults or anyone else who might actually molest them there. You haven’t disregarded the fear at all but have instead expected the adult world to cater to your children and to stay away from where ever you want them to “free range” to make you feel safe.

A separate “teen” part of the library?

This raises two issues for me.
Firstly, I was reading “teen” books from age 9. So how was I get access these books?

Secondly, now aged 22 I at times enjoy a “reliving” of my childhood, and will go borrow old favourites, from the “teen” section.

This segregation is ridiculous.

(besides… adults sections tend not to have beanbags in which to read a book!)

@baby-paramedic

We welcome kids and adults to come in and get materials. Heck, come talk to us about them, we read them all the time, maybe we could recommend some new ones for you. I don’t know any librarians who would prevent access to a collection (other than a delicate historical archive). That’s censorship, period.

We have reasons for not allowing adults to “hang out” in the Teen Room when school is not in session. I think they are good reasons, they are based on our professional experience, and they’ve been laid out by the other librarians posting. I realize other posters may not agree and that’s ok, we don’t have to. That’s one of the great things about libraries, we provide access to, and encourage, different viewpoints on the issues.

I think a lot of people are missing the point. True, there are reasons why you wouldn’t want adults camping out with their laptops in the children’s area, mainly because they’re taking up the space. But from the description, it sounds like this library is like my local library: the children’s area is near large windows with lots of natural light, making it an ideal workspace that is easy on the eyes. The “adult” seating areas are tucked away in a far corner of the building, have only a couple of small windows, and are lit primarily by fluorescent lighting, making it rather unpleasant for work or study in comparison.

Libraries spend so much time making the children’s area inviting that often the adults’ area seems like an afterthought. Personally, after being told I couldn’t sit in the only area of the building with sufficient natural light for comfortable reading, I stopped using that particular library at all.

Dude, are we on Australia time or what??

In my city, I see a lot of adults alone in the children’s section who are clearly recent immigrants working on their English skills. I’m curious, how would they be dealt with under such a policy?

I do think the idea that librarians should only start asking unaccompanied adults to leave once the section fills up are naive – managing a public space requires thinking ahead. By the time the space is filling up librarians wouldn’t have time to do things like work out who is unaccompanied and ask them to leave. So if kids do have priority on the space practically the only way to maintain that is likely to be to ask people not to be in the space well, well in advance of any likely filling up by kids.

I think Kym might have a point about how appealing children’s areas can be compared to the rest of a library. When we start to make public provision better for any particular group there is likely to be a widening of the audience that wants to use those better facilities.

It is fairly obvious that many of the commenters here are neither parents nor working in a capacity that brings them in close contact with children on a regular basis.

What’s more, there doesn’t seem to be a single benevolent thought toward children from the likes of Donna “quid pro quo”. It’s truly frightening and repelling to read her posts, because she is clearly an educated person who will never “give an inch” to a child.

Donna: what motivates you to come to this forum in the first place? What exactly are you looking to learn or do here? There must be a better way to voice your anti-social tendencies.

It makes me very sad that people are not ‘permitted’ to just have joy in children, that it has to be taken as something sordid and sinister.

Many people, especially older people, really have their hearts lifted by watching and having contact with children, but now the old geezer who likes to wave at the children in the school playground across the road, for example, is not a friendly old man but some proto-molester, apparently.

No wonder society displays increased fear of children and young people when people are not longer allowed to enjoy the presence of any child that isn’t ‘theirs’. What a sad state of affairs.

Claudia:
I completey agree and it goes both ways: my children (and many of their friends) don’t have the presence of older adults in their lives often enough because both sets of grandparents live 4000 miles away, and I feel that their lives are poorer for it. One way to solve this problem for both the elderly and the kids is to find ways to bring them together. We visit the Senior Home in my neighborhood, asked an older neighbor to read at story hour in school, and have “tea parties” with a wonderful lady we met at a museum. We have also found that crafts are a great way to involve people of all ages, such as my teaching knitting to both my kids and older adults.

Pentamom, I was thinking along similar lines. Why not post signs letting adults know (in a nice way, of course) that the resources are designed and intended for kids’ use, and would adults please enable kids to be catered to first in the kids’ section.

At a park, one would expect that adults would not keep preschoolers waiting for their turn to swing, either, but unfortunately, I’ve seen this happen. A whole family of clods, with the youngest being in his teens, made my 3-year-olds wait for them to get their fill of swinging. However, that is an unusual case. Most people are programmed to watch out for the little ones. And if we think this is a good thing, then in my opinion, we need to celebrate it as part of our culture, not cut it off.

@ prkcslog; thanks for the kind words about my books. I started my first novel when I was 13 and wrote quite a bit of it, and the novels that followed, in the children’s rooms of public libraries in Alexandria and Falls Church, VA when I was in my early twenties. This was in the early 1980s. The latter was the library where I served as a library page during high school and discovered I wanted to be a writer. I’ve never stopped thinking of them as the part of the library where I most want to be. I’m just sorry that our culture has become one where I may no longer hatch my stories surrounded by both the writers I read when little, and the brand new readers who might some day read me.

I think it is a prudent policy. There is a man in our town who has never been arrested, but is PLAINLY inappropriate with children, and this includes an incident with my own daughter. Consistent with the pedophile profile, he makes a habit of being where there are children. He frequently tries to engage children (mostly little girls) in conversation, and does not hesitate to pick up or “help” other people’s children. He frequents the library and I would often see him using the computers in the kids’ section. I questioned the librarian, and her reply was that he was visually impaired and could not use the monitors in the adult section which are recessed into the table for privacy. This made me so uncomfortable that I had a police officer friend check him out. He thankfully had no record.

I was never so relieved as the day our county library system instituted a “no unaccompanied adults” policy. This man continued to use the children’s section, until I complained. The library then set aside a special area for adults with vision problems such as his.

People need to understand that pedophiles try to find reasons to be around children. It is not an innocent behavior. It is calculating, and predatory. Parks, libraries, anywhere that children might be unsupervised. And like others have said, this does not mean you cannot get books from the kids’ section of the library… if the librarian questions you, simply explain yourself. But there is no reason for an adult to simply hang out in the kids section unless said adult has a child in tow.

@Christy I’m glad my library doesn’t have that rule. I have a right to access those books, just like the kids have a right to access any part of the library. I don’t have kids, but need kids books for my class.

@Hayley. I am sorry if you had a close-call with your child, that would disturb anybody. You didn’t deserve that, nor does any parent.

Even so, I am sorry, but consistent with Free Range, I just don’t believe predators & molestors are anywhere near as common as is made out to be. I just don’t believe it. The statistics strongly suggest otherwise. To design the world around the whole “the predators are coming” is just not the kind of world I want to see set-up.

You experienced what you experienced, not me, so you know the specifics. Even so, I think the fact that the person in question has no record and has never been arrested speaks volumes. I really have an issue with believing that he has “behaved inappropriately” or else he would’ve been arrested by now. I just don’t buy the notion that predators are “that devious” as to be able to dance right on the very razor-thin edge of the line without crossing it.

And even if this situation WERE like that, the other thing is, why punish every other adult out there for what 1 has done? Eject the one person, under the whole “management reserves the right to refuse service to anyone” banner. To segregate ALL adults for what he alone has done reminds me of when I was in high school in the 80s, our school allowed no shorts to be worn at all, even though many of the rooms had no air conditioning. Their reasoning? Because of the 2-5 people (out of the entire high school) who would wear shorts that were too short.

It was always told to us that those people were ruining it for us. My reply was always–no, you are just using that as an excuse, you’re LETTING them do so when it need not be that way.

I think “no adults in the kids section because you might be a molestor” policies are the same sort of thing, and equally wrong. You’re punishing a great deal of adults who are totally innocent of any wrong-doing, all over the actions of 1 deviant. That is unsound policy at any reasonable level of thinking, and the original poster has every reason to take offense to how she was treated.

LRH

Is the “teen section” the books with a J for Juvenile? I always hated that. Juvenile also means immature, so these were the books for the immature.

A couple years ago I wanted to read 1984 again and in our local library it was in the J section. When I tried to check it out I was told that adults were not allowed to check out J books because they were for the local school kids and all were on permanent reserve for them. Fortunately I was able to find a different edition of the same book in a different section. The policy seems insane as do the policies of book segregation. Will we next tell white people that they are not allowed to check out african american literature? It’s the exact same principle.

“man in our town … PLAINLY inappropriate with children … had a police officer friend check him out. He thankfully had no record. … pedophiles try to find reasons to be around children. It is not an innocent behavior. It is calculating, and predatory.”

Ok, so you judged some old guy wrongly, and rather than get over the fact you made a mistake, you became even more convinced he was a predatory even though the facts were that he wasn’t.

God help us.

At my local library’s kids’ section, there’s a sign that informs everyone that children have priority over all the resources in the area. So adults are welcome to use the computers, read the books, or just hang out, but they have to yield all of those to kids who want them. Perfectly reasonable, legal, and could only offend the most self-absorbed.

aside: Most homeless people are harmless, some have kids of their own, and yes, some of them are stinky. But so are lots of people who bathe in scents like deodorant and perfume: I doubt they get treated with as much suspicion and prejudice. I don’t envy the few difficult aspects of librarians’ jobs, but scapegoating perverts (I’m one and have no inclination toward children whatsoever), homeless people, and other adults with blanket rules only exacerbates the problems of unwarranted fear and suspicion in our society.

Tuppence, I was just trying to say that I have spent most of my life being welcomed into the children’s rooms of libraries: as a child, teenager, and finally adult and parent. No one has ever questioned my motives for being there, told me I was hogging resources, or asked me to prove that I was actively using the materials in order to use a table. The primary motive for excluding me from the children’s room at the CPL appeared to be the assumption that I would ogle little children, and that saddened me and seemed to be an indictment of where we find ourselves as a society. Nothing in the above comments makes me feel any differently. I am lucky that the spectacular children’s room staff at the Somerville Public Library doesn’t feel as you do.

I’m a children’s librarian.

We treat both our taxpayers AND future taxpayers the same. Same behavior guidelines, same policies.

We do not restrict access for any patron. All patrons have the right to be in all parts of the building. Yes, children in the adult section, OH MY! Adults in the children’s section, OH MY.

It’s not a freaking big deal.

We are not a school library (SO SO many reasons why I’m not a school librarian), so we do not act in loco parentis. We are not mandatory reporters. It is a public building. People who want to supervise their children can do so. People who do not want to, don’t need to. If there’s a problem, we lean on our policies, which treat everyone the same.

@Kate — “We treat both our taxpayers AND future taxpayers the same. Same behavior guidelines, same policies.” Hooray for your library!

I suspect most libraries are very reasonable about such things. As always, we only hear when there are problems.

I also wanted to add that while I don’t think it’s likely that pedophiles are snatching children from the library, the fact remains that we had, in the course of about a year, at least three cases where people were caught masturbating in the library while looking at children. This is in a large city with multiple locations. I would prefer to not have to be concerned with this kind of thing while my child was using the library. I prefer that the library have a children’s section that is for kids, for their parents with them and fun for all. If that excludes a few nice adults, well that’s too bad. I could tell you many horror stories and while staff is there to supervise, it’s not always possible to be everywhere at once, particularly if you’re doing reference work and helping people find books.

I will also add that only one of our branches has this policy–the main one, which has a completely separate room for kids, which adults really don’t need access to. The smaller branches have kids sections but adults aren’t necessarily excluded because the space is fluid. If adults park themselves at the few small tables in the children’s section they’d be asked to move, but generally there is always access to the children’s section by adults and it is in these locations where the worst things have happened. In the main branch, where the kids have a section of their own that is not easily accessible, and where the no adult loitering policy exists, nothing has happened. Perhaps those of us who work at libraries are also jaded because we understand a lot more that the idea of the library being a blissful place is so inaccurate. It’s like a social service agency where you’re going to see a group from every population, including large amounts of mentally ill people, and sex offenders. About half the people excluded from our branches were sex offenders, no matter what the crime was (being drunk, theft, pornography, etc). Interesting fact and I’m not sure exactly why that is, other than there are obviously a large number of sex offenders who do in fact use the library.

.: This is such a sad and pathetic development. We have now reached a point in society where every single adult is considered a threat to children.

I am single and have no kids, and have been a librarian for 32 years, the last 27 of those in academia. One of my jobs before my degree was working as a library assistant in the Winnipeg Public Library system. Among my responsibilities was doing Story Time once a week with 4- and 5-year old kids. I loved it. I had a blast, and developed a love of children’s picture books, and the sheer joy of watching kids react to being told wonderful stories was beyond priceless. It was an incredibly rewarding experience.

As a result, I eventually became a Big Brother, and to this day, still love working and visiting with children. Also, I developed an interest in children’s picture books, and built up a collection that I still have to this day, including many titles by Leo and Diane Dillon, who are also friends of mine.

It is SO absolutely critical that children learn that not every adult is a threat to them, and that most of us will treat them with the respect and the dignity they deserve.

So now, if any adult wants to peruse YA or children’s lit or picture books, they are no longer allowed to do so at Cambridge PL unless they bring a kid with them. What if I or someone else was doing research in this area, let alone just purely interested in the field itself, and wanted to see what was in the collection and actually borrow a book? What about the joy of discovering a new title serendipitously?

I applaud @donna (12:20) for noting that “Some adults LIKE to be around children,” and for the reasons she gives. Those and other reasons apply to many of us who love to be around children because we enjoy their company and nothing more.

But as other public librarians have noted here, apparently this is necessary now. This makes me incredibly sad to see how low we have fallen.

daisy, you make a fair point. It seems like people were criticizing the CPL for a policy it does not have.

HOWEVER, what I think was happening is that people were remembering back to a post from some time back that describe library policies that actually do ban unaccompanied adults from children’s areas, as such.

It’s unfair and misleading to tar Cambridge with the same brush, but the idea of libraries banning unaccompanied adults entirely from children’s areas is not pure fiction.

And while she probably doesn’t represent actual policy, the second librarian’s response to Ann Downer does imply a fear-based hostility to adults in children’s areas, in general.

It’s absolutely true that people shouldn’t spread misinformation about specific cases, but it’s also important to remember that getting the details wrong about a specific case doesn’t always mean that what people are upset about, isn’t actually an issue.

Daisy, even if we ignore the librarian’s second comment about adults sitting around looking at children, Ann WAS told that the children’s area was reserved for people accompanying children.

That does not sound like a place at which adults are welcome to browse the children’s collection alone.

This thread has, I think, turned borderline nasty. Not Lenore’s fault, to be sure. I sure hope I haven’t helped make it that way–if I have, my apologies.

Even so, at the risk of upping the ante even higher, my latest 2c worth.

To me, there can only be 2 possible truths in existence here.

Either you have #1, Lenore is absolutely the flakiest two-bit hack (or phony) of a pundit or columnist ever, full of more hot air than a balloon, and has perpetrated the biggest fraud ever by standing up for the original poster, because libraries are indeed a cesspool of the 3 Ps (pedophiles, pornographers, and perverts) run amok.

Or, you have #2–once again, fear has ruled the roost and people are absolutely convinced that the world has taken a downturn from 30-odd years ago and they’re making Mt Everest out of a pebble–and advocating (sometimes) outrageous and negatively-presumptive assumptions about people’s intentions over their desire to create a sterile environment for their children, the rest of society be damned.

I’m sorry–I mean no offense, but I’m going with #2.

Maybe just MAYBE there is a 3rd (that is, Lenore generally is right but is wrong for once), but I tend to think not.

Again, I’ve visited libraries quite a bit myself in recent months. I haven’t seen what is being talked about. I don’t doubt that there are SOME weirdos, sure, but to read what some say you’d think I was walking in downtown Haight-Ashbury during the 60s counter-culture.

Sorry–I haven’t seen it, and I’m not buying it.

@daisy. Lenore and Ann have NOT created some “monster of misinformation.” If any misinformation has occurred from it, it’s from people reading the original post & taking the ball and running all the way to the end-zone without realizing they were running the wrong way the whole time. Ann made it clear–she wasn’t griping so much about “her rights” as much as the chilling nature of the reason why the rule was in place–because of the presumption that every adult in an child’s area can only possibly be there for dirty, perverted reasons. She is upset at the “chilling development,” most likely in the THINKING behind such policies.

It is any surprise that Lenore supports her in this? And although Lenore isn’t a librarian, I don’t doubt her experiences as a writer and college graduate have educated her to how libraries are these days. I really doubt Lenore is writing her blog in Mister Rogers Neighborhood without ever venturing outside of the supposed walled garden of her existence. She lives in New York City & has taken the subway, for crying out loud. I really doubt Lenore is writing out of ignorance.

And as for @JC, your cases notwithstanding, I still do not buy the argument that libraries are really that packed full of weirdos. I just don’t buy it–and I don’t think either Ann nor Lenore do, either (although I shouldn’t presume to know what they think, that’s just my hunch). I don’t doubt that you’ve seen what you’ve seen & that it happened, but still–this does not equate to “you wouldn’t believe how many weirdos are in the library.”

Quite frankly, I think Lenore & Ann have exposed you and your ilk as part of the very fear-mongering that is wrong with this country, and you’re offended. Well you ought to be ashamed of yourselves, frankly, for spreading this sort of fear and rationalizing your outrageous overreactions to it.

I know you have a tough job–so what, who doesn’t? It doesn’t make you special, and to toot your horn about this smacks of condescending arrogance. There are a lot of people with tough jobs, the trick is to not let it bias your thinking. As an example, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve met police officers who had a very pessimistic view of the world and how bad people are, because he or she deals with crime everyday. That doesn’t mean I disrespect their job, I genuinely respect how tough it must be, but it surely also means I don’t let myself be swayed by the bias of their thinking.

As for the whole bit about “I want my kids to feel safe, and if that inconveniences a few adults, well that’s too bad”–that is exactly the sort of ideology that Lenore is speaking out against, and rightly so. The idea that I, as an adult, an adult with no history and/or inclination whatsoever towards molestation etc, should have my freedom restricted to make you feel better, that is highly offensive. Not for a single minute is your drivel about how “I work in a library so I know what the real deal is” or whatever (I’m paraphrasing, not quoting) is going to change that view of mine. It’s right, and that’s it.

Part of being a parent, in my view, is–yes–wanting safety for your kids, and others to not endanger them. However–it is also about realizing that the rest of the world doesn’t owe you special favors because you managed to swim upstream and spawn with your significant other. Your interests in a sterile-zone for your child don’t trump their own differing interests–your interests are no more important than theirs merely because they’re based on your children.

To wit: I don’t want my child’s life endangered when I’m driving, but I don’t expect everyone around me to all of a sudden drive 10 mph below the speed limit just because I have 2 children in my car. The roads are what they are, I have to deal with them as they are, not expect them to change solely for the benefit of my children at the expense of their own interests. To expect that they should is blatantly selfish.

And I think anyone that advocated a “child only” zone for the safety of their children, to the detriment of persons like Ann–but doesn’t care and says “that’s too bad”–you are being blatantly selfish & ought to be ashamed of yourselves.

Lenore & Ann have NOT spread misinformation–YOU have, in asserting that libraries are Haight-Ashbury circa the 60s and that all these rules really are as necessary as you think. Hogwash, bologna, and fiddlesticks. The world isn’t that crazy–perfect it’s not, and yes one should exercise due care, but to assert that libraries are the glory hole capital of the world is just schizophrenic thinking of the worst kind that we free-rangers–me anyway–seek to stay far away from.

LRH

Larry, how about #3: the post author was angry and indignant and expressed the facts with a lack of clarify, and Lenore ran with it–and then let the incorrect information continue.

I’ve been reading Free Range Kids for a while and have thought to myself many a time “at least I don’t see this type of thing happening around where I live.” Now at last it comes home and at a wonderful library I visited with my son just a week ago. In fact I’ve been there before to get books from the children’s room on my own. I guess I didn’t know I was breaking the rules and being viewed as a pervert for picking up children’s books.

“Daisy, you remarked: “The *only thing* Ann was not allowed to do in the library was hang out in the children’s room. That’s it. ”
That “only thing” is actually quite profound.”

Agreed. I live in a college town, the same one that I went to college in. One of my roommates in college was an early childhood education major (now beloved 2nd grade teacher). Our college has about 5 libraries, and yet not a single children’s book, so she sometimes needed to go to the local library. If our library had this silly rule, she would have been required to travel back and forth between the “adult” tables upstairs and the children’s books downstairs. Inconvenient at best, and for absolutely no reason. She was not then, nor is she now, a pedophile or in any other way a threat to children. I’m all for kids but they are just citizens of society, not the supreme beings around which all things must revolve. Their interests simply do not usurp the adults in the community to the extent that a non-threatening adult needs to repeatedly traverse a flight of stairs in order to complete a college homework assignment while tables remain unoccupied a mere couple feet from the books that she is using because a few believe that all adults who are not actively parenting at that very second are potentially dangerous and, therefore, need to be excluded from the environment.

“Maybe it doesn’t happen all the time — although in the main library in my city social services or the police are often called in daily — but there are definitely more problems than in random other public or semi-public places, such as the mall or the city office building.”

Except that neither of your examples are of public or semi-public places. Both are private places, open to the public. There’s a huge difference. A private entity owns the building and each of the occupants pay rent to be there. They have more ability to control who enters the facility than a building funded by tax dollars (and donations) and completely open to the public. The library is pretty unique in being a public, enclosed space. I can’t, off the top of my head, think of another one.

A true public place – say a park – has equal the problems as the library. If there are homeless in the area, they will congregate at the park more than the library.

However, it doesn’t negate the fact that the homeless and people with nothing to do during the day are not per se dangerous and should not be treated as such. Most homeless people are harmless (except maybe to the nose). Many are mentally ill but most mentally ill people are harmless. Their presence in the library makes the library a different place but it doesn’t necessarily make it a more dangerous place.

@Donna Sorry a typo in my earlier post. I just wanted you to know how well you expressed my viewpoint. Thank you.

Wow..I’ve missed a lot in a few days and I have to agree with Mim Librarian. I have a couple of points to make after reading some of the comments :
1- the policy is not to assume that ALL adults in a children’s area are perverts and I doubt any librarian feels that way
2-NO ONE IS SAYING THAT ADULTS CAN’T USE THE CHILDREN’S AREA OR MATERIALS. To the contrary, I have helped numerous adults on a daily basis (and seen ones I didn’t need to help) in the children’s and teen areas, finding resources, using the materials etc.
3-The policy is just that if an adult just wants to use a computer or his/her laptop or just sit there, they are asked to do so not in the children’s area. This allows us, the librarians, to enforce the rules if there is a pervert, and yes, this does happen, without accusations of discrimination. Same as making the tired college student wake up alongside the sleeping homeless man.

I think the main issue is that the original writer of the letter felt that the way that the librarian spoke to her indicated that she was, herself, a pervert. The way you say something makes a difference in a person’s reaction. I also don’t assume everyone is a pervert however, a library is a public space and some unsavory characters are often in it. It is our job to make sure it’s safe and welcoming for everyone and sometimes that means delineating spaces.

I am a big supporter of free range and dispelling fears about child safety. I just dont’ feel like this is an issue that falls under this category, more an issue of someone not communicating effectively.

Does this library have extra copies of the Harry Potter books in the adult section? Or do you just have to ask the librarian to go in and get them for you?

To all the people worried about homeless people in the library. Have any of you ever talked to a homeless person? I used to shy away from them too, but after talking to a couple I’ve found many of them are the nicest folks in the world. If you treat them like a regular person they truly appreciate it and give you the most genuine smile you’ll ever see. Most times I’d rather have a conversation with the homeless man at the park than the clean cut mom texting on her phone.

They love to watch and interact with my kids and dog when we go to the park. Sure some of them are a little “odd”, but there are CEOs of companies that are “odd” as well. There are many reasons a person could be homeless, but being a criminal or pedophile are not high on the list.

Slightly off-topic, but I’m a fan of satire that ridicules policy, and this is the closest current post to the subject:

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-october-5-2010/back-in-black—education-crisis

I love the bit about going into random elementary schools and offering to volunteer. o.o

Why doesn’t Cambridge Public Library uses cameras in the kids room? Wait, sorry, that is perverted! Never mind. We need a way to tell patrons that no, they are perfectly decent people even if they decide not to obey the rules of the library, and a way to tell library directors that if they enforce rules that anger hyper-sensitive patrons ( 99% of them), they better raise the salary of the librarian, and offer them vouchers for free martinis after work (CPL has great bars around btw). I agree with Rocky Cobra, if you only knew what library schools are made of, then your would not spend time discussing this.

My tax dollars pay to run the library and I think that gives me some right to determine what policies my library operates under. If I want to sit in the children’s room with my laptop and drink a coffee and leave my trash, that is my right. This is a free country, and public libraries are supposed to be public spaces. That is what I am paying for. Librarians are customer service librarians and they better start behaving that way if they want to keep their jobs. Barnes and Nobles won’t turn me away from the children’s section if I want to sit there with my latte.

Sorry but I have to laugh in agreement with Ernest! About the B&N children’s section, that is. I could be wrong but they never gave me the evil eye or kicked me out for looking at children.

I am struggling with where I come out on this as a taxpayer. The reality is, I have little say about pretty much any public service that my tax money is paying for. I don’t qualify to enjoy most of the benefits, and the rest are not really guaranteed. I mean, they tried to kick my nephew out of public school for half a year over basically nothing. They can do that. But they can’t ban a guy who masturbates in the children’s section of the library? I don’t deny that the librarians are stuck with these limitations, but I don’t agree with the logic at all. Libraries must be the only places in the USA (public or otherwise) where “everyone is welcome.”

I still say that having various adults (accompanied or not) freely moving in & out of the kids’ section, and sometimes sitting down, is good for the kids. If it’s hard for the librarians to due to the “policies,” they ought to change those policies. I totally support “kids first” and certainly don’t want the place to be crowded or stuffy – but let’s get real – there aren’t that many adults clamoring for a seat in the kids’ section. If there are, then the adult section’s resources need to be beefed up.

We discover something new about ourselves every day, don’t we SKL?

“But they can’t ban a guy who masturbates in the children’s section of the library?”

Sure they can. They absolutely can ban a person who masturbates in the child’s section of the library and have him arrested and put in prison for child molestation (if a child saw him) or indecent exposure (if just the adults saw). If your library or government is telling you that they can’t ban someone who was caught committing an actual criminal act while inside that very same library, take them to court. What they shouldn’t do is ban ALL men from the children’s section on the possibility that they will masturbate while there.

Donna, this brings up another question I have. In all seriousness – is it illegal for someone to masturbate, with clothes on, in a place where he doesn’t think anyone is seeing him? I was wondering if that was the hang-up – that maybe the behavior wasn’t illegal? I really don’t know.

Paula — if the rule is brought in because it is believed any unaccompanied adult could be a pedophile (as the Miami one seems to be) then I’m dead against. But if adult presence at a playground has meant that children were, or felt, pushed out of the facility then I could see it being a reasonable way to help ensure access for those for whom it was intended. I’d prefer to see other alternatives attempted first, but I could see such a rule being a practical approach.

I read some of the comments and someone mentioned that to get to the public toilets in that park you need to go through the childs playground, by banning child free adults they have made these toilets unavailable to adults

Wow. Stumbled on this while avoiding working on my own writing.

And I thought MY library could get annoying; now it seems like paradise–anyone is allowed anywhere, the one exception being the so-called teen area, which is for teens only and therefore usually empty. It’s also very tolerant of the homeless; after all, why shouldn’t a homeless person be allowed to hang out in the library as much as anyone else?

Can’t help being struck by the humor (and weirdness) of the phrase ‘unaccompanied adult’.

I’ve never even heard it (my kids are in their early 20’s). Seems like just yesterday that my two children couldn’t do this and that because they were ‘accompanied minors’, and I too have not so fond memories of not being allowed to do certain things because I was an ‘unaccompanied minor’!

I’ve read or skimmed most of the comments above, and on a more serious note, there is, I believe, no reference to these policies being in place at least in part because of fears of litigation. As someone who has worked in the law (and law enforcement), I don’t think we can overemphasize to what degree the explosion in tort ( or negligence) litigation in the later half of the last century changed public policy, particularly with regard to children’s safety.

What’s so odd about all of this–as Lenore points out repeatedly–is that there has never been a safer time to be a child in America–unless, of course, one is living in an extremely poor, crime-ridden area. (And what conditions are the libraries there in??)

The middle and upper middle class obsession with safety is bizarre, sad, misguided, and, in my mind, largely a response to fears created by marketing and litigation.