Truant kids in the library

Here’s A Neat LibraryLaw Blog Post on those darn kinds that keep hanging around. The question arose whether public libraries have a responsibility to report kids in the library in the daytime who they suspect are truant.

The answer seems to be Essentially, public librarians are not in loco parentis and have no duty to report suspected truancy.

March 25, 2006 by Uncategorized 5

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5 Responses

  1. Anonymous Patron says:
    March 25, 2006 at 2:59 am

    Well now
    Tell that to my coworker who cruises the library asking for ID from schoolage children during school hours. She claims a municipal ordinace obliges her to do so.

    Reply
  2. Mock Turtle says:
    March 25, 2006 at 3:37 am

    Homeschoolers in the mist
    There are so many homeschoolers in my library’s community that we would definitely ruffle some feathers if we started tagging potential truants.

    Reply
  3. Darla says:
    March 25, 2006 at 4:41 am

    Re:Well now
    Sounds like a job for the local law enforcement to me.

    We are not babysitters. We aren’t law enforcement officers either.

    Ever notice how we are expected to do everything except what we were actually trained to do?

    Reply
  4. Fang-Face says:
    March 25, 2006 at 6:32 pm

    No “duty”, but . . .
    While its true that librarians have no duty to surveille suspected truants, do they have an ethical obligation that is legally supportable? The axiom, “It takes a village to raise a child” means that all members of the community participate in guiding the child’s growth when the child is out of sight of the parents.

    Reply
  5. Anonymous Patron says:
    March 28, 2006 at 12:46 am

    Getting in trouble at the library….on my day off
    Reminds me how I once nearly got in trouble when I was younger by a police officer who grilled me about not being in school. Mind you, I had spent part of the day which we had off due to teacher workshop at the library and had just come out of it with a bunch of books. It wasn’t till he called it in and the dispatcher mentioned that the school wasn’t in session he let me go. Never apologized, just told me to be more careful (of what I’m still not sure). The sad part was the library was right next to the school I attended. You would think he would have noticed all the empty unlighted classrooms.

    Reply

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