Normal Approves Statement on
Story Time Distractions
At its January 23 meeting, the Normal (Ill.) Public Library board approved adding a statement to story time guidelines requesting parents “minimize the use of any distracting activities or items during the structured story time.”
The statement was written by a special committee formed in December following a dispute regarding library trustee Jodie Slothower, who had breast-fed her 2-year-old during a November program and was called by a librarian two days later and asked not to do so, the Bloomington Pantagraph reported January 24.
Slothower, who cast the only dissenting vote, criticized the statement, saying many actions—such as sign language—could be considered distracting.
The committee emphasized that breast-feeding would still be allowed in the library, as it had been in the past, and that issues would be handled by staff on a case-by-case basis. “We do not want to tie the hands of library staff in determining an appropriate remedy for any distraction,” the committee said in a written explanation of the statement.
Posted January 28, 2002.
|
