SAUGUS — Adults who are not accompanying a child can no longer hang out in the Children’s Room or at children’s programs at the library unsupervised.
If an adult needs to use the children’s facilities, they must first clear it with a librarian, said director Alan Thibeault.
“It’s all about being aware of who is in the children’s areas and what they are doing,” said Thibeault. “It’s unfortunate that we have to do these things, but given things that have happened recently, it’s a good idea that we try to keep updating our safety policies.”
Earlier this year, librarians and other employees completed active-shooter training, practiced sheltering in place, brushed up on fire drills, and learned CPR and how to use defibrillators.
Weeks before the Library Board of Trustees included the new rule as a revision to the library’s existing user policy in April, librarians noticed an individual who “piqued their interest.”
There was no disturbance and police were not called, but Thibeault realized there was no policy he could reference to ask the person to leave.
“I think it’s a smart thing to do,” he said. “It’s unfortunate but in today’s world, we have to have that kind of action sometimes.”
Staff members who notice an unaccompanied adult at a program or in the Children’s Room have been trained to approach the patron and ask them if they need assistance in a non-confrontational manner, said Thibeault. They then explain to the adult that the library does not allow, as a rule, unaccompanied adults to be in these areas.
The policy is not unique to Saugus. Similar actions have been taken by the Lynn, Swampscott, and Beverly public libraries, he said.
If an adult is known to the staff, such as a teacher, education student, or a parent who visits regularly, staff members do not need to question them, he said. But if the patron is unknown to the staff member, they have been instructed to speak to him or her, explain the policy, and monitor their use and whereabouts in the room.
