A recent library discussion asked about policies libraries have established for truants (or potential truants) in the library. There were a lot of responses, some of them copied below; and it led us to wonder about your library policies. Do you have a policy on truant students? After looking at these ideas, do you need one? If so, CMLE Headquarters is available to help you write one!

Some of the responses to the question about policies for truant students:

• We have a Child Safety Policy, which addresses unattended young children, but our policies do not address truancy specifically.  For privacy reasons, we do not divulge that any individuals are in the library or not.  Parents, school police liaisons, or whoever, can certainly come and look.  We are not in a position to know if a student is truant and we do not ask.  We have several public and private school systems with different “no school day” schedules, we have many homeschoolers and alternative school students who use the library during the day, and we sometimes have suspended students who spend time at the library (not a bad place for them to be!).  They are all welcome as long as they follow our behavior policies, we don’t perceive safety issues, etc.  Our staff really is not in a position to enforce school truancy laws.
• I’ve always felt that if truants were in the library, they were in a safe place.  Remember that August Wilson always said he was a graduate of the Hill District Library (a branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh).
• As we don’t ask why our adult users are in the library, I don’t think it’s fair to single out children and teens. I do remember one young man showing up for a week for the entire day with no food and looking pretty tattered. I asked him if I could help, and he just said I’m expelled and I haven’t anywhere else to go. We began to talk and I recommended some books, magazines and made clear he was entirely welcome. It seems to me to assume truancy is like assuming guilt not innocence.

• We do not “ask” about truancy either other than at times to strike up a conversation with kids, ie:  No school today so you get to hang out with me? But sometimes, they offer the answer that they are truant.  I was very interested to see where this conversation went since we also only have an unattended child policy for children 9 & under, & we are currently having an issue with a brother & sister being truant quite often & using the library as there space for the day.  I do agree that if a child doesn’t offer the information on his/her own, we shouldn’t assume or outright ask for the purpose of asking/finding out whether or not s/he is truant.  However, I don’t think I completely agree that if you know a child is truant you should do nothing.  If we know a child is truant, does letting them stay suggest that we support/condone that sort of behavior?  I am particularly concerned with that when the child is truant on a regular basis, not just occasionally.  That is the case with the siblings hanging out here.  I do understand that sometimes this is the only place where this type of kid feels “safe,” & that is a very sad situation.  But, I don’t believe that is an excuse to allow them to be irresponsible to expectations they are required to fulfill.  Along with being welcoming & supportive that sometimes life is very hard, don’t we have a duty to help youth understand the importance of responsibility & consequences of their actions?  Often times, I think that is why kids openly offer information they know they could get in trouble for to us.  I think they want someone they feel respects them to offer some guidance; in particularly if they are not getting it anywhere else.  Just some thoughts.  Anyone else have different or more thoughts on this?  Or ways to handle it?

• I think it’s something you can’t have a one size fits all rule for – it depends on your community, your school, your kids, and even yourself. Personally, I do talk to the school/teachers/guidance counselor if I have serious concerns – we’re a small town and I pretty much know most of the kids. But I don’t feel I am the appropriate person to intervene in their lives. I’m not a guidance counselor or a social worker. If I saw a kid that was regularly truant and told me that’s what they were doing as a cry for help I’d probably have a quiet conversation with the school’s counselor or if it sounded like something bad was going on I’d maybe chat with the school liason officer. I have one kid who goes to alternative classes and is in the library every morning for an hour or two before school – I talked to his teacher and we agreed it was better he was here and we knew where he was than that he was wandering around town aimlessly. Could he do something better with his life? Probably. But so could a lot of adults who come in and I don’t ask them why they’re not at work during the day.
• I understand your concerns as the dilemma is a real one. There are very real consequences to being truant. The first and foremost is flunking out. Librarians are not social workers. Truancy is not the same as delinquency. The phenomena that I often observe is that teens/children are weirdly ignorant that librarians are responsible adults with the same concerns as parents and teachers and social workers etc. As a member of a community reaching out to a social welfare agency (with approval of your administration) is an acceptable course of action. Encouraging the young person to avail themselves of an agency or leaving pamphlets nearby is also acceptable. I once reached out for professional help in a similar situation and after an investigation was told that being in the library actually was the best outcome for that young adult.
• I did work with a teen who would cut class to come to the library and would stop by to talk with me. She was a member of my TAB and generally a could kid going through a rebellious phase. I had her trust and could tell her to her face not to be stupid and that she needed to go to class. All the things she ignored when her mother said them. If I had called her in as truant, she would never have trusted me. I was able to keep her from going over the line. She has since graduated and keeps in touch.  I certainly advocate talking to the teen and letting them know your concerns. But I don’t like the idea of turning them in.

(I feel like I should add that I cut school fairly often as a teen – and usually spent the day in the library! None of the librarians ever asked me what I was doing, or even talked to me. But it helped to cement a love of libraries in me, something that has carried over to my work in this wonderful profession!! So, sometimes we turn out just fine!)