Disruptive and Vulnerable: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Public Library Unattended Child Policies

• In Event: How Out-of-School-Time Spaces Are (or Are Not) Serving Marginalized Communities

Abstract

Public libraries are one of the last free and widely accessible, out-of-school learning environments for children who spend extended time without a caregiving adult or parent. However, public libraries have been actively working to restrict these children’s presence through use of library policies, commonly referred to as ‘Unattended Child Policies’. This study uses a critical discourse analysis of 21 United States-based library’s policies to explore how public libraries are positioning their identity and role towards these children and their families, as well as the identities they are assigning to children and their parents. These insights are used to provide recommendations to public libraries on how they might co-develop policies with families to combat decreased service or discrimination towards self-care children.

Author

• Jacqueline Renee Kociubuk, University of Rhode Island