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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to wonder why nobody else seems to take their children to our local library?

62 replies

PaellaUmbrella · 15/01/2013 16:28

We have an excellent local library - it was refurbished about 2 years ago and is very modern, with a lovely reading area for children, nice little cafe etc. It's probably the best library I've ever been in.

Anyway, it occured to me today that I have NEVER seen another child in there. I've lived in the area for over 6 months now, and take DD at least once a week. We go on different days and at different times, so on the law of averages I really would have expected to have seen other children in there by now.

I just can't understand why other people aren't using it. This is a somewhat socially deprived area, so I don't know whether there's a link at all...perhaps if we were in a naice area it would be busier?

OP posts:
BabyDubsEverywhere · 15/01/2013 18:17

I never go to the library, books are so cheap these days i just dont see the need, prefer my kindle for quick reads and have always bought favourites i like to keep, and we seem to have childrens books coming out of our ears, but they get plenty of use and we pass them down and around the family too.

FiveGoMadInDorset · 15/01/2013 18:26

Our local library was small and had a lovely librarian, it is now tiny as it houses the parish council office and is run by volunteers, you can't swing a cat and I hate it, the next nearest one is seven miles away.

StarlightMcKenzie · 15/01/2013 18:28

I'm not organised enough to ensure that library fines don't cost me more than actually purchasing the books.

And also, I hate books.

helpyourself · 15/01/2013 18:31

Does it have random opening hours? I moved from Westminster where they were open every day and I used it regularly to Lambeth where the hours were very random. Only started using it again in new Borough as the hours are good again.

wigglesrock · 15/01/2013 18:43

I buy books in Home Bargains for somewhere between 39p and £1.79. I get to keep them, my kids can read or have me read it over and over and over again Grin and then I get to pass them on to my niece/friends etc.

I have to pay £1.50 to park near my library or more if I get the bus, the cafe is expensive and although the charge for rhyme time etc is very low, its still £1, the cafe is dear too.

We go in the Summer, dd1 does the reading challenge, her primary school has taken them a few times. I was brought up going to the Library but books were so much more expensive then and I was the only reader in the house whereas all my children [stealth boast Grin] like to read so buying a cheap every 2 weeks or so is handier for us.

MintTeaForMe · 15/01/2013 18:54

You could be writing about our local library OP. It is a library especially for children, newly refurbished, full of toys and books and with a lovely play area. It used to run rhyme time sessions but they stopped as no one went EVER (except me and DS, and they weren't going to keep it going just for us). In the case of this particular library I do think there is a link between its location in a socially deprived area and its lack of users. A friend of mine lives a mile away in a nappy valley and her local library is rammed at every rhyme time / baby bounce session. I just wonder whether, if there's no family history of attending libraries as may be the case with local mums, they wouldn't think of taking their own children to them. Our local soft play centre is always full, the library never.

NUFC69 · 15/01/2013 18:57

We have our DGS on Tuesdays and we have just started to take him (23 months) to our local library; however it is not open until 1.30 p.m. and we take him back home/he is collected at 4.30/5.00 p.m. It is fine now he has a nap in the morning as our afternoons are free, but the opening times do make it difficult. I have never seen another child in there and it's a lovely library with a nice feel to it.

MammaTJ · 15/01/2013 18:57

MY DC are very naughty in the library but they do love it.

They like to build towers with the little pouffees and run around. They do pick a couple of books eventually but it is hard work. I take them every few weeks.

I would love a library with a cafe!!

sherazade · 15/01/2013 19:01

Our library is badly stocked and very quiet.
We go every fortnight or so because it is better than no library at all.
Would love one like yours with a cafe! luck you!

BackforGood · 15/01/2013 19:03

What WilsonFrickett said on P1.
Perhaps you could ask the librarians if they plan to have any 'Toddler Time' events... you could even offer to hand out some leaflets to other Mums you know or the ones you see in the shopping centre.
Having a library local has always been a godsend in this house.

FairyPenguin · 15/01/2013 20:19

We have a lovely library and I do take my 3yo there about once a fortnight. I've also started taking my 5yo on a Saturday now that she is reading, to satisfy her appetite for new books (she seems to not want to re-read books at the moment).

There are 3 things that have put me off in the past (and still often do):

  1. No toilet. Not ideal with a toilet-training child.
  2. Limited on-road parking. I have driven past many a time with intentions of going, and then carried on past as there is nowhere to park.
  3. The computer in the children's section. Now I know this is educational, but if it is switched on, most of the children there will stare at it and watch other children on it. Some children are better at waiting than others. Some children, my DD included, then declares she is not interested in any books and just wants to go on the computer. Thankfully, it's been switched off the last few times I've been!

So I do go, but only when I know we don't need the loo in the near future(!), if I can find somewhere to park, and if I have enough time to let the children wait for a turn on the computer if it is on and there is a queue.

FairyPenguin · 15/01/2013 20:19

Oh, and there are no public toilets nearby, and it's not in a shopping area.

littleducks · 15/01/2013 20:27

My mum worked in libraries so I spent alot of time there. I worked in a library for a bit and enjoyed it. So am generally pro-libraries,

but now:

"I'm not organised enough to ensure that library fines don't cost me more than actually purchasing the books."
"I have to pay £1.50 to park near my library or more if I get the bus,"
"Our library is badly stocked "

are all reasons i dont go

TheFallenNinja · 15/01/2013 20:54

Damn shame. I loved the library when I was a boy and cannot wait to give DD the grand tour.

CloudsAndTrees · 15/01/2013 21:03

I used to go to rhyme time sessions when mine were little, but then the library changed and became more of a play thing rather than a reading thing, and it just wasn't what I thought a library was meant to be like.

Believe it or not, I actually wanted a place that was quiet and all about choosing books, not playing hide and seek in the shelves and running around.

The library took the 'welcoming to children' thing too far IMO and tried too hard to be like soft play but with books.

Now my dc are older, we look at books they might like on the Internet over the school holidays, or go to water stones and sit around looking at books in there, and during term time they use their very well stocked school libraries.

dixiechick1975 · 15/01/2013 21:09

I rarely take DD as it is poorly stocked - I tend to buy her sets from the book people.

If there is a toddler rhyme time maybe most people with toddlers go on that day.

AndWhenYouGetThere · 15/01/2013 21:15

Just a thought, if other mums have had similar experience to you (being the only one with a child) they may have decided they're not welcome/not comfortable. You're brave enough to continue anyway - but they may have regretted interrupting the "shh" atmosphere?

ZooAnimals · 15/01/2013 21:23

starlight do your DC's hate books?

I've never known a library to issue fines for late children's books.

Ours doesn't thankfully, our book are always a few weeks late.

ThalianotFailure · 15/01/2013 21:24

"I'm not organised enough to ensure that library fines don't cost me more than actually purchasing the books."
"I have to pay £1.50 to park near my library or more if I get the bus,"
"Our library is badly stocked "

the first 2 of these I don't get - in our borough's libraries there are no fines on a child's library cards, slightly shocked that this isn't usual? And £1.50 isn't much every few weeks when you're getting a load of free books for that, is it - again, we can take out up to 15 books at a time, is that not normal either?

Badly stocked, well, that's just crap.

I guess we are very lucky, not only did we not have any libraries closed, but a new, fantastic one opened, not our closest but we drive there every few weeks as it's so lovely. And a few are open on Sundays, and there are late night openings too. How depressing to think this isn't the norm.

oneforthemoney · 15/01/2013 21:27

This might sound odd but i stopped using our local library when they put in electric sliding doors that open when you stand in front of them.

Ditectly outside of the doors is a reslly busy road. My dd is a real handful and has a habit of bolting and i found it really hard to take the dc there and relax inside when i knew dd could easily run straight out into the street and under a car.

We have loads of books at home and they get library books from school and nursery though.

CremeEggThief · 15/01/2013 21:33

I think you should ask the librarians what their take on it is, and also spread the word around at groups you attend, as what you're describing is a real shame.

I set myself the challenge of not buying any books last year and borrowing all of my books from the library. I slipped up a few times, with the odd charity shop purchase, but I intend to do the same again this year, even though our local branch has had its hours halved. If we don't use them, we'll lose them forever :(.

StarlightMcKenzie · 15/01/2013 21:35

Our library require a finable adult to take responsibility for paying for the child's books.

And it's me that hates books.

yggdrasil · 15/01/2013 22:45

Our local little kids branch library has the following

-lots of books, beautifully arranged
-rhymetime
-a no fines policy for kids books and no charges if the books are lost
-all sorts of reading "adventure" stuff over ever holiday you could imagine, not to mention endless colouring competitions and all sorts of shit tangentially related to reading
-events with local dignitaries of the reading world.
-because its in a community centre it has all the amenities you'd want incl toilets, vending machine, and so on, plus its easy to pop into the library while your kid does spin football or what have you next door.
-It also has a playground outside which means its pretty easy to have one kid in the library reading and the other on the swings, assuming the kids are old enough.

And yet no one I know actually takes their kids. We might occasionally pop in when we are anyway in the community centre but wouldn't borrow a book.

The reason for this is simple. The librarians who work in this place are the most miserable, ignorant, people I have ever met. They are uninspiring. If you ask for a book by name, they will say something like, "Well. Have you looked ON THE SHELVES" and god help you if you are a kid or look like one because then they will actually often ignore you. They don't appear to have actually read very many books. They do not like kids or want them anywhere near their books. They are very much of the old guard who saw their job as to protect the books from, I dunno, plebs and kids. The thing is you cannot really take that approach any more because if you do, the plebs and kids will just go and buy the book from home bargains for 39p and they will be left with a P45.

I actually find it astounding how crap they are. Honestly, it would take one fucking half decent person there, with a bit of zing, or even a cup of coffee, to really get something good going on there, its such a great little library. I wouldn't even mind if they were trying to get rid of us so they could read the books...but sadly I don't think they really like books any more than kids. Which means that becoming a children's librarian may have been a sadly misguided career choice.

ZooAnimals · 15/01/2013 22:48

'Our library require a finable adult to take responsibility for paying for the child's books.'

Isn't that only if they lose/steal/damage them? Or do you actually get fined if they take them back late? How much is it?

Meglet · 15/01/2013 22:52

Our library is excellent, although it's now a Discovery Centre.

Spacious kids area, squashy cushions and nice chairs.
Board games every other weekend.
Rhyme Time every week.
First Aid courses.
Local talks.
Knitting (I think)
And the baby clinic.

We go even more often since they improved it.