{"id":7415,"date":"2013-10-18T00:01:21","date_gmt":"2013-10-18T04:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/?p=7415"},"modified":"2025-06-17T13:49:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T17:49:12","slug":"how-to-best-serve-parents-of-our-young-patrons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/2013\/10\/how-to-best-serve-parents-of-our-young-patrons\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Best Serve Parents of Our Young Patrons"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u00a0When my husband and I were blessed by becoming\u00a0first time parents, I was able to see from a personal perspective just how our library system excelled in meeting\u00a0the needs of caregivers to young children. As I visited the library as a patron with my daughter, I tried to turn away from evaluating the story time as a manager and instead, enjoyed that program\u00a0as a parent.The question for us working in public libraries is\u00a0this: are we as children\u2019s librarians giving the\u00a0caregivers who walk through our doors the same welcoming smile and nonjudgmental attitude we give our youngest patrons?\u00a0 If the answer is \u201cyes,\u201d\u009d do our libraries\u2019 policies and procedures reflect\u00a0this same view?<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n

At our library system, we do not have age restrictions for our regular story times and do not require registration for these types of programs. While we communicate that story times are geared for a specific age range, we welcome everyone, thus allowing those parents with children of multiple ages to attend.\u00a0 With no registration required for our story times, this encourages our parents to drop by when it is most convenient for them.<\/p>\n

We have also introduced laptops that customers may use within the library. The adults frequently use these computers while in the children\u2019s department. This allows them to get the work they need to do\u00a0accomplished as well as the chance to spend that time with their child. Thirdly, we have also trained staff on the rights of those who choose to nurse in public. By ensuring staff are trained on how to respect these customers\u2019 choice, we minimize the chance patrons will feel uncomfortable caring for their child in\u00a0the library.<\/p>\n

Becoming a support to parents does not need to be at the expense of your other customers, your time, or your staff. Simple ways in which we approach caregivers can have a tremendous impact.\u00a0 The suggestions above may not be the best choice for your community, but you may have developed another procedure or policy to support those parents you serve.<\/p>\n

As a parent to a young child, I know I will continue to gravitate toward activities and places that are the most welcoming for my daughter and me to share together. Our library system is at the top of those destinations on my list. How do you provide an encouraging place for caregivers in your community? What have you most enjoyed about experiencing the library from the patron’s perspective, as a parent, a caregiver, or a grandparent? Please share in the comments below!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0When my husband and I were blessed by becoming\u00a0first time parents, I was able to see from a personal perspective just how our library system excelled in meeting\u00a0the needs of caregivers to young children. As I visited the library as a patron with my daughter, I tried to turn away from evaluating the story time as a manager and instead, enjoyed that program\u00a0as a parent.The question for us working in public libraries is\u00a0this: are we as children\u2019s librarians giving the\u00a0caregivers who walk through our doors the same welcoming smile and nonjudgmental attitude we give our youngest patrons?\u00a0 If the answer is \u201cyes,\u201d\u009d do our libraries\u2019 policies and procedures reflect\u00a0this same view? At our library system, we do not have age restrictions for our regular story times and do not require registration for these types of programs. While we communicate that story times are geared for a specific age range, we…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":151,"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":[197,7],"tags":[803,238,422],"class_list":["post-7415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogger-meg-smith","category-call-to-action","tag-blogger-meg-smith","tag-call-to-action-2","tag-serving-parents-and-caregivers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7415","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\/151"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7415\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}