{"id":14478,"date":"2016-11-22T13:01:27","date_gmt":"2016-11-22T18:01:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/?p=14478"},"modified":"2025-05-27T14:50:55","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T18:50:55","slug":"library-providing-safe-space-children-caregivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/2016\/11\/library-providing-safe-space-children-caregivers\/","title":{"rendered":"How is your library providing a safe space for children and their caregivers?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"ltr\">Some kids and parents from marginalized communities, particularly those who are undocumented, see libraries as an extension of the government and therefore are reluctant to ask for help regarding issues related to opposing government policies. These vulnerable communities are among those that need the services and resources of the library the most. What are the <strong>best ways to communicate that libraries are safe spaces<\/strong>?<br \/>\n<!--more--><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">While many libraries are required to stay politically neutral, we can still use our resources to <strong>convey a message of support to the communities we serve.<\/strong> An artist is offering <a href=\"http:\/\/www.diana-toledano.com\/blog\/2016\/11\/20\/every-kid-is-loved-here\">&#8220;You are Safe Here&#8221; posters<\/a> (in English and Spanish) for free and they would be great additions to any youth services space. Consider creating displays that feature diverse characters and authors, as well as social justice and civil rights topics. The American Civil Liberties Union&#8217;s (ACLU)\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/feature\/feel-at-risk\">Feel Like You\u2019re at Risk<\/a>? is a resource list which may be helpful to you and people in your community. Perhaps even leaving print-outs of relevant sections if you know they would be useful to local patrons, removing the burden and fear in their having to ask, and further communicating your allyship.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>How are you responding to the needs of your local communities? Please tell us in the comments.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">We would also like to take a moment to reiterate the importance for diversity and inclusion in youth services at all levels. To that end, we are in the process of collecting responses to a survey to gain a better understanding of the current ALSC membership as well as other youth services providers outside the membership. It is our hope that by discovering barriers we can work to break them down to create a more inclusive, diverse membership, and eventually, profession. This work feels more urgent than ever, and we hope that you participate. The survey will be live until Tuesday, December 20th, and can be accessed here:<a href=\"https:\/\/www.surveymonkey.com\/r\/alscdiversity\" target=\"_blank\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?hl=en&amp;q=https:\/\/www.surveymonkey.com\/r\/alscdiversity&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1479901671514000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHCvCT1JlaN9VBj7QM-GyYTv5dNyw\"> https:\/\/www.surveymonkey.com\/<wbr \/>r\/alscdiversity<\/a><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Keep the conversation going here and on social media using <strong>#LibrariesRespond<\/strong> and <strong>@WeAreALSC.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: center;\">************************************************************************************************************<\/p>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><em>\u00a0Zareen Jaffery and Kendra Jones are Co-Chairs of the Diversity within ALSC Task Force.<\/em><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some kids and parents from marginalized communities, particularly those who are undocumented, see libraries as an extension of the government and therefore are reluctant to ask for help regarding issues related to opposing government policies. These vulnerable communities are among those that need the services and resources of the library the most. What are the best ways to communicate that libraries are safe spaces?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[134],"tags":[1119,1110,1118],"class_list":["post-14478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guest-blogger","tag-librariesrespond","tag-libraries-transform","tag-safe-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14478\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}