Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be irritated by the rules around adult/ child library books?

128 replies

hophap · 23/02/2018 13:01

In our library any book not expressly a children’s book cannot be borrowed by a child.

However any art book with actual artists/ pictures in is adult. Local history books are adult. Music books. Maps. Basically anything not bought for cartoon/ curriculum support and whoever is buying certainly aims at the younger end of the child readers.

Is it really unbelievable an under 18 wants to read some of the adult books? Totally fine if I need to give permission/ they charge adult fines (though as most the books are generally around the same price...).

My daughter has been barred from getting a book on an artist she’s studying, I then went to say I’d give permission. Nope. The book is not dissimilar to what you’d find in most school libraries. Being out with a card or sufficient ID I could t get it either.

What is the logic behind adult/ children books being divided and able: older children being confined to kids books? Schools don’t worry if a book is appropriate by not a kids book. The library rules actually mean that yr 6 can’t get books out the library they read at school (able group- classics). By GCSE many books in the kids study area are totally babyish. I understand maybe some books require adult guidance, but surely this is solved with parental permission. I remember as a child having a green stamp on my ticket to show that my parents allowed me to borrow any book.

OP posts:
mommy2018 · 24/02/2018 19:09

Challenge it. The school are doing ur dd no favours at all.
I really sympathise with ur dd OP because as an advanced reader myself, there is nothing more boring than reading something that I find 'too easy'. I had a reading age of 17 at 11yo and it took my dad going into my junior school to challenge this 1 size fits all policy. They werent happy but did relent for those children who were advanced readers.
It was a nightmare after awhile trying to find books that a) i hadn't read and b) were appropriate on the maturity side (ie not full of explicit sex and language), and trying to find enough of these books was even worse considering at that time I could read a 500 page book in a day.

Also, it might be worth asking at ur local library if there are any advanced readers groups or even just an advanced readers book list available?
X

lightoflaluna · 24/02/2018 19:14

I have never heard of this before, especially up to 18. Maybe under 11/12 i could understand

Butchmanda · 24/02/2018 20:45

I remember I wasn't allowed to borrow Agatha Christie books on s child's ticket when I was a kid. Had to use my dads ticket and say it was for him. Rule only enforced by one particular old bag. The others were more flexible. It'd be nice if the rule could be interpreted by a human rather than 'computer says no'

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

This thread is closed and is no longer accepting replies. Click here to start a new thread.