[Genealib] Re: Special Collections Usage Policies (Kelly Swartz)

[Libby Feil]

Hi, Kelly and all--
	We do not have a separate written policy for our Local & 
Family History Room, but our Library has a general policy that 
children under the age of 8 must be accompanied by a person over the 
age of 14.  However, we haven't yet had a problem with unaccompanied 
kids--it's the bored ones whose folks drag them in and make them sit 
still for hours who end up causing a ruckus!
	We actually have many kids come through, and I would hate to 
see anyone with a genealogy and/or local history room make it 
off-limits to children.  How can genealogy as a field sustain itself 
if children are not encouraged to participate?  We have many kids 
come in who are interested in our local history and our genealogy 
resources, and I am often impressed by how much they know and how 
diligent they are.  One of our most impressive researchers is a young 
teenage girl who comes in with several huge, archival, exceedingly 
organized binders of genealogy work.
	One of the previous responses to your question mentioned 
restricting the use of the collection to actual genealogy.  We do ask 
the folks who use our computers to only use them for history or 
genealogy purposes (because otherwise, we'd have the computers taken 
up all the time by people working on e-mail, job applications, and 
gaming).  However, in general, our department does not limit usage to 
"official" genealogy or history use.  How would one decide what 
constitutes a "legitimate" use?  We have a huge yearbook collection 
here, for instance, and researchers often use it to find out more 
about their ancestors, find a picture, etc.  But, we also get a lot 
of teenagers who come in to look up their parents and giggle at their 
funny hairstyles!  That's not a strictly genealogical use, but I 
think it's a great way to get kids hooked on history.
	As a room in a public library (and a room with three separate 
entrances), we can't restrict what people bring in.  What we do 
instead is ask people to look at rare and fragile materials at one of 
the tables that is within view of our reference desk and our security 
cameras.  Also, we don't allow fragile, damaged, or oversized items 
to be photocopied.  (We do let people with digital cameras photograph 
items, which we know is somewhat damaging.  However, it happens 
infrequently.)
	Good luck working up your policy!  I hope you do decide to 
let younger patrons use your materials, though.  We need to get them 
hooked while they're still young!
Best wishes,
Libby

>Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 16:44:43 -0400
>From: Kelly Swartz <kswartz at saginawlibrary.org>
>Subject: [Genealib] RE: Special Collections Usage Policies
>
>We have been asked by our administration to put together a usage 
>policy for our special collection (Local History & Genealogy) within 
>our public library.  We are interested in knowing, specifically, 
>whether you have a written policy limiting your collections to adult 
>users only, and if you do allow children, do they have to be 
>accompanied by a parent or responsible adult? I have looked at 
>several websites for public libraries that have special collections, 
>and I do not see anything specific limiting age of users.
>
>Other rules such as restrictions to photocopying, limits on items 
>brought into the collection (purses, bookbags, etc.) and any other 
>rules or policies that you have in place for your special 
>collections would be very helpful.

-- 

Elizabeth "Libby" Feil, Librarian
MA, MLS
Manager, Local & Family History Services
St. Joseph County Public Library
304 So. Main Street
South Bend, IN  46601

574-282-4621
l.feil at sjcpl.org
AIM:  sjcpllibby
http://www.libraryforlife.org/localhistory/
To subscribe to our monthly Local & Family History
e-newsletter, email me at l.feil at sjcpl.org


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