Would you leave your 7 yo?

[Karel]

I work at a small town library where the children's collection is in the basement. There are three librarians and we work alone, as in - When I work, I'm the only one there. I saw the woman and girl come in, smiled, said hi and they went downstairs. A short time later, the woman leaves. I go downstairs and there is the child. I have no idea who this kid is, never met the woman and at this point I'm rather disturbed. 1/2 hour later, I take books down to put away, ask the girl her name, realizing I have seen the girl before with another family. She tells me she's seven and she doesn't know when her mother is coming back.

Mom and Dad finally come back an hour later, to check on her and gives me the whole story: They just bought a house in town, are fixing it up and this girl loves to come to the library and wanted to stay there and read. She was well behaved and seems intelligent - she was with older kids books and not in the picture book section. I am honest and say that I am uncomfortable with her being down there by herself and they all leave.

So what do you think? Did I overreact? I think I would have been more comfortable if the mother had been open in the very beginning and had introduced herself etc. Turns out I didn't even have a phone number for this family. I had no idea who these people were and in the beginning I thought Mom had gone down to the Dr. office at the other end of the block. (OK, I'll also admit that I thought the girl had been abandoned and I should call the police, but that was a bit overboard.)

 

[Pin Wizard]

She definitely should have mentioned something when they first showed up. Can't believe she dumped the little girl off! It's not your responsibility to babysit her any way. If it were me, I probably would have called the police after her response of not knowing when Mom was coming back.

 

[Karel]

It was just a really strange afternoon. I should check to see if it's a full moon. But it's better than the other night, when the toddler pulled a whole rack of videos down on himself and then got his head stuck under the desk.

 

[browneyes]

I have a 7 yo ds, I wouldn't leave him alone like that. In our library they have a sign up for any child under age of 10 yo, they must have an adult with them. I'd be hesitant to leave my 10 yo dd alone like that.

 

[Michelle]

No, you didn't overreact, how on Earth could parents think it is appropriate to leave a young child at the library as a babysitting service?

It is not your responsibility to supervise her; there are SO many things that could go wrong with that scenario, even with responsible children.

They were absolutely WRONG in what they did and you were RIGHT to tell them so.

 

[Samandmom]

Sounds like something my SIL would do.

 

[taylor1293]

No, you didn't overreact.

I would have called the police and reported her as a lost child.

Teresa

 

[aahmom1]

No way would I leave my 7 year old. Did you mention to the woman that it's a LIBRARY, you can take the books home??!! She was just looking for a free babysitter, how sad for that baby.

 

[floridaminnie]

I'm much older than 7 and my mom doesn't leave me alone in the library. She doesn't trust me around books. No, but seriously, leaving a 7 yr old left unattended in a public place is dangerous and asking for trouble. I would have called the authorties. What if she tried leaving, what would her parents have done then?

 

[Lorix2]

I wouldn't do this anywhere. I guess some people really don't think. The parents obviously felt comfortable leaving her there at a library, especially if she loves to read, she'd like it and keep out of trouble. I'm definitely not defending them and I think you did the right thing as well, it's for the child's own safety.

Glad to know there are people like you who are concerned about other people's kids well being

 

[disykat]

My kids are 8 and 10 and for the first time I left them together in the junior section while I browsed in another section - about 15 feet away in our very small library!

You did not overreact. Young children should not be left unsupervised.

 

[tiggerlover]

I have a 7 year old DS and in a public library I would never do this. However, we have a very small library (10 people could probably fit there) on our military base of about 100 families and I have left my DS in there to work on the computer while I go to the gym (10') away to work out. The only difference is this is on a gated military compound that is very, very small and patrolled by Civil police, everyone on the compound knows everyone and if there is ever anyone new we either inquiry who the person is or find out from someone else who the new people are. The librarian knows everyone and most people here do not have a problem leaving off their kids. But like I said any place else I would never leave my son alone like this.

 

[imgoingtodisney]

This happens quite frequently at our town library. Children are left alone.
We are NOT meant to be babysitters although parents think we are.
We've often had toddlers enter the elevators, go down to the main ground, leave the building and walk out into the streets because parents arent watching their children! Ive had to rescue a few myself.

 

[floridafam]

You did the right thing!

I would never leave my 7 yr old alone in a library.

 

[CamColt]

Originally posted by browneyes
In our library they have a sign up for any child under age of 10 yo, they must have an adult with them.

Thats exactly what I was going to suggest you should do.
And I agree, even if my kids were 10 I wouldnt do it.

 

[Karel]

We are very flexible at the library. I have neighbor kids coming in and out all the time, the ones that live right next to the library. I know them all very well and will tell them to leave if I don't like their behavior. They know I will call their mother.

We don't have any library policy written in stone (ie talk to us and we can arrange things to your benefit.) and for the first time I wished I had some statement about leaving children without an adult. It always seemed sort of obvious in the past though I think we'll need to come up with an actual statement.

 

[katerkat]

We have the "we're not a babysitting service" sign at my library, too. Can't leave kids under 12, I think.

 

[FreshTressa]

No way! In my opinion that is abandonment. I wouldn't even leave my 7 year old alone in another section of the library.

A year or two ago, a little boy about that age was molested in the men's bathroom at a library here. And I have also heard of indecent exposure reports from the library.

The library is a PUBLIC place. Would you just drop your kid off at the mall or the grocery store at 7??? Sounds like really bad judgement.

 

[JetMom]

I would have to sgree with the majority on this one. We take our 3 DS's to the library once a week, but I would never leave them there.

I leave them in the children;s section while I browse the adult section, but I would never leave the building!

 

[Tiger Fan]

As the mother of an almost 7 year old - NO WAY! When Emily and I go to the Library, we pick out a couple of books for her and then I make her go with me to the section I'll be in and she can look at her books. We also have a very small Library, but I wouldn't consider leaving her!!
Lisa