Unattended Children Policy

Unattended Children Policy

The Lake County Public Library staff and Board of Trustees hope that the children who use our library will perceive our facility as a warm, inviting and fun place to be. Services and programs are offered to make the library enticing to children and to help them enjoy their visits and develop a love of books, reading and libraries.

However, parents and caregivers are responsible for children’s behavior and safety. Young children should not be left in the library unattended. When children are left unattended for several hours, they often become bored and disruptive. Additionally, library staff cannot know if children are leaving the building with parents or with strangers. For the protection and well-being of children who enjoy our library, the following policy has been established:

• It is the responsibility of parents to assure the appropriate behavior of their children while in the library.
• All children 8-years and younger must be attended and adequately supervised by an accompanying responsible person.  “Responsible person” refers to an adult or mature adolescent, over the age 14, other than library personnel.
• The library staff is not responsible for the supervision of children left unattended by their parents.  Disruptive children will be asked to leave. 
• Lake County Public Library assumes no responsibility for children left unattended at the library after closing. 
• When children under 12 are asked to leave the library and parents cannot be contacted to pick them up, the Leadville City Police will be contacted to assume responsibility.
• Parents and guardians are advised to pre-arrange a time to pick-up children from the library.