Librarians as Mandated Reporters and Caregivers?

Tonight was the last of four programs in the grant-funded Human Rights Video Project series (thanks NVR and ALA!) that we've hosted this past month. We watched the documentary Books Not Bars, then had some folks from the ACLU talk about various aspects of the juvenile justice system.  I don't remember exactly how the conversation came around to it, but one of the guests, a juvenile lawyer, insisted that librarians are mandated reporters. In general, mandated reporting laws say that those in certain professions are required to report suspected abuse or neglect of minors to authorities if they believe there is reasonable cause.  I was pretty darn sure that librarians are not mandated reporters. 

Someone asked the difference between teachers, who are mandated reporters, and librarians.  I tried to explain that public librarians are not trained to work with children specifically, nor do we act in loco parentis, but it was pretty clear that most of those in attendance didn't understand or appreciate this.   One woman even wondered why we didn't, as a matter of course, call in social service workers or advocates for older kids who were acting up, or try something different besides kicking out kids who caused problems. 

I ended up feeling quite defensive and not at all understood.  Of course, if any staff saw clear evidence of abuse or neglect, we'd act on it, mandated or not.  What troubled me was that I was in a room full of educated people who, largely, viewed library workers as caregivers.

For the record, the lawyer was wrong and the librarian was right.  In Illinois, librarians are not mandated reporters. Should we be?  Are we qualified?

Comments

[rochelle]

You just don't want me to bring kids downstairs... Isn't it good that we are such perfect parents?

[MG]

Okay, I understand and agree, but my question really wasn't about unattended children. Be that as it may, once again it is about how others parent and/or don't parent their own children and then how the rest of the community/society attempts to help.

Enough said.

Thanks.

[rochelle]

So, MG, the next time we have unattended children, I'll send them down to ITS for safe keeping??? ;-)

I think part of what makes the public think we are a safe, home-like space is that libraries have traditionally been staffed by women, so there's an assumption that, of course, we'll take care of your children. It's the same mindset that, in large part, keeps our salaries lower than other professionals. We've just not been able to advocate for ourselves in the way that other "women's professions," such as nursing or teaching have.

I don't believe the library is necessarily any safer or less safe than any of the places you mention, including the home. But, I'm bugged by ignorant people who make the assumption that their children will automatically be watched over and taken care of in the library. In the mall, parents will occassionally lose sight of a little one, and panic ensues. But parents don't go to the mall with kids under 5 or 6 and turn them loose. At the library we regularly see toddlers unattended, teetering around looking for lost parents, and usually find a parent who doesn't seem to understand what our concern is. But it's the expectation of safety and caregiving that I object to. And, I'm not even thinking about put-upon library staff (who mostly are not trained as child care providers or social workers), but about the kids whose parents aren't paying enough attention.

[MG]

I would argue with the idea that the library is not a safe place. It really depends upon one's conception/perception of a safe place. Would some of us consider the clergy or a religious institution a safe place? Especially after the ongoing issues of abuse within the church (catholic and/or protestant). Not to mention the abuse that occurs in homes and families, supposedly our most trusted and safe enviroment.

I don't know that one can truly place a tried and true label upon a public or private place that designates it as a place without problems or a place that one would not trust to leave their children. It should be more of an issue of degree and also depend upon your local situation/community. Does one feel more safe in leaving their child at the mall or at the public library? a school or a church? a friend's family or a relative's family? etc. We as members of a community, society and as parents make these judgements all the time. What I would like to know more about is what helps us in the public's mindset make this judgement of public/private institutional trust?

(Note/Comment: I realize that some of the comments being made here within this discussion are made with insider informaton. Most of the public does not have access to that inside information about sex offenders, etc. I would imagine that a city park, a major chain bookstore, a church or a shopping mall might also have the same sex offender patrons/customers as a library.)

[rochelle]

Thank you, Sorry Ted. I'm still feeling defensive, having heard back from said lawyer who, despite the absence of "librarian" from the statute isn't so sure we're not mandated reporters anyway. Can't I just be a concerned public worker who is morally obligated to do the right thing without having a role that connotes much more than reporting? The irony of this discussion, for me, is that librarians are ethically mandated to protect confidentiality and privacy. We regularly have patrons in the library who we are aware on the sexual offender list. Sure, it creeps me out, but they're not doing anything wrong. Is there something about the mandated reporter package that would behoove me to call the authorities and let someone know that a sexual offender is in the building within x feet of children?

Library workers have a hard enough time getting the message out that libraries are not safe places to leave your kids. Something about the mandated reporter label, in my mind, gives the idea that we are caregivers and that libraries are safe havens for children. Were that only true, but it's not.

[Sorry Ted]

Everyone in the world is a potential reporter of abused/neglected kids. But only a few statutorily defined types are mandated. I would hope Mr. Juvenile Lawyer, would check the statute before spouting off in public, or in court. But you know those lawyers...

Libraries should be places where kids can feel safe. If a librarian sees a child being assaulted they should call the cops. But librarians shouldn't get sucked into the class of folks that are required to play Big Brother.