Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Other subjects

would you leave dirty nappies in a library?

245 replies

starlover · 30/03/2006 19:02

kind of following on from the restaurant thread!

My mum works in our local library and they have a baby jiggle and rhyme time on a friday morning.

Due to persistent requests they got a changing mat so that babies could be changed if necessary and people have now started LEAVING their dirty nappies beside it! for library staff to remove and bin....

I was Shock when I heard it

OP posts:
oops · 30/03/2006 23:59

well, i won't be using the librbay to go and research any of those things caligula- am about to potty train ds1... think i'll never be allowed back tbh!Smile

hellywobs · 31/03/2006 11:40

It's not for others to deal with your rubbish. It should be taken home. What's so awful about having the nappy bag in your bag to take home - it's not unpleasant if it's just wee and if it's more, well it's YOUR child's "more" - not the library staff's. You can invite someone to visit without being expected to dispose of their rubbish. Of course, if everyone was using washable nappies this would not arise (I used disposables btw).

philippat · 31/03/2006 15:38

obviously my 'would you leave dirty nappies the the library' answer is 'no'

But for the rest, I've got to agree with Caligua and Oops and I'm sorry to say this really provides evidence for Gomez's argument on the strike thread about how badly led council services are.

With all due respect to starlover's mum and paolosgirl, the trouble is that libraries are managed by librarians. Who are fab at doing things with books, but aren't trained in venue or event management. So their customer focus is based on their users' book needs, not on the whole service providing.

If the users have requested a changing mat enough times that someone's made the effort to get one... well there's obviously a customer need that would encourage library use that has nothing to do with books.

This does NOT mean all libraries need to provide changing facilities, breastfeeding rooms, cafes, whatever... it means someone in the council needs to stop just counting qualitative performance indicators and start making some qualitative judgements as to what each venue needs to make it best fit its current users and the users it aims to attract.

I hate to see Gomez's argument proved right, because I honestly do believe that public sector workers (including me and all those librarians) work damned hard, but this is such a fine example of something that wouldn't last a day in the private sector. And it's a shame, because it could be much better with a bit of vision.

VeniVidiVickiQV · 31/03/2006 15:45

Spot on philippat.

I would also point out, at this late stage, wouldnt leave a dirty nappy in a library or anywhere else if there wasnt a suitable disposal bin provided.

In reference to other comments made, i wouldnt invite someone around to my home and expect them to take a dirty nappy, or any other rubbish for that matter, home with them. What kind of host would i be? Not a very hospitable one.

SorenLorensen · 31/03/2006 16:08

But everybody who has said "it's just a bin" - it's not "just a bin" is it? Where is this bin to go? In the middle of the library? That would put the library users off for sure. In the toilet? But then, as someone pointed out, the implication is that you change your baby's nappy in the toilet - and how can you, if there is no changing table. So if you provide a bin, the expectation is that you will be providing 'a place' to change a nappy - ie., proper facilities. This means you need a room big enough to accommodate a changing table/fold down changing table, somewhere to wash hands, etc.

So "a bin" as a solution is a little naive, I think.

The library I mostly worked in was a very old, listed building - it did have a public toilet (just one, not separate for men and women) and we had to keep it permanently locked as otherwise we would find used syringes and occasionally ODd drug users collapsed on the floor. There was not enough room in there for even a nappy bin, let alone a changing table.

If we'd had a nappy bin, it would have had to be elsewhere - behind the counter maybe..mmmm.

When someone needed to change their child's nappy they did so, usually on their own changing mat in the children's section - and sometimes, yes, we would find the discarded nappy in one of the wastepaper bins later (you get very good at following your nose when you work in a library).

So do I think nappy changing facilities should be provided? Yes - in an ideal world there would be a purpose built room with a large changing table, hand washing facilities, proper disposal and one of those automatic air fresherners that goes "phisssh" every few minutes. Never going to happen unless all libraries are privatised, though and that's a depressing thought.

SorenLorensen · 31/03/2006 16:09

Yeah, but VVV - I don't know how sociable you are but I'm guessing you're not going to have thirty soiled nappies to dispose of when you've had people round to your house.

VeniVidiVickiQV · 31/03/2006 16:27

kinda my point SL - its not comparable.

SoupDragon · 31/03/2006 16:41

Is the mat only there for jiggle and rhyme time?
How many nappies are we talking about here?
I still don't see why, if there aren't many, they can't go in a bin and be tipped in the dustbin - that's where my DDs go, they're not taken away by an expensive contract company so I don't understand the problem with having a bin.

Or just put up a blimmin sign telling people to take them home or the mat will have to be removed. That won't cost more than a few pence.

oops · 31/03/2006 16:50

omg, is this still going?
thought i'd killed it last night
my point is that libraries are public facilities, and planning should be made for these sorts of things and oublic money be used to provide said toilets etc

oops · 31/03/2006 16:54

some people have intimated that i don't live in the real world for thinking that...
well they won't get anything changed and sorted with that sort oif defeatist attitude

my pragmatic response to people leaving nappies is to say put a bin in..or stop allowing nappy wearing children in.
you won't change the general public, but you may well be able to change the minds opf local councillors etc- they have elections to fight

sobernow · 31/03/2006 17:05

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

oops · 31/03/2006 17:08

yes sobernow- Smile

VeniVidiVickiQV · 31/03/2006 17:13

Its not about living in the real world oops - its about living in North London i think Wink

Grin
oops · 31/03/2006 17:17

there just aren't vany facilities for feeding and changing except in cafes...no mall, no mothercare...
do i sound frustrTED at all.

???? Grin

oops · 31/03/2006 17:18

i pay mega council tax and don't want my own persnal facilities, just for the er community, man Grin

VeniVidiVickiQV · 31/03/2006 17:20

LOL - i wonder what mayor ken would say Wink

VeniVidiVickiQV · 31/03/2006 17:21

How will we ever manage to host the Olympics, pmsl!

TinyGang · 31/03/2006 17:23

Leaving dirty nappies for someone else to clear away is gross.

Talking about lack of facilities...We were in a little chef (I know..but we were desparate) years ago when dd was a baby and there was nowhere to change babies so they allocated one of their tables in the corner of the eating area!!Shock.

TinyGang upped and left en famille. Especially as the place was a dump of uncleared tables and the waitress came within a hairs whisper of tipping a teapot of scalding tea over dd.Angry

oops · 31/03/2006 17:24

hey, watch out, were on discussion of the day !!
hi everyone Smile

oops · 31/03/2006 17:26

is there a "nappy changing" section in the olympics, VVV Grin

VeniVidiVickiQV · 31/03/2006 18:28

Yes, i believe the Chinese hold the current world record. Grin

However, at the end of the games all competitors are required to take soiled nappies back home.

fnar fnar

MadamePlatypus · 31/03/2006 20:22

My DS has swimming classes in a hospital's hydrotherapy pool. Changing mats are provided, but you are definitely expected to take nappies home. This is perfectly fair - its no hassle for me to put one nappy in a nappy sack and bin it when I get home, but it would be a real pain for them to have to cart loads of nappies off to the refuse bins. However, as changing facilities are usually accompanied by bins for nappies, perhaps the people in the library were just on auto pilot and not thinking. Also, you can get surprisingly immune to the yuckiness of nappies when you are in the baby years, and forget that this is a temporary state not shared by the rest of society. I think a polite notice would sort it.

RedZuleika · 31/03/2006 20:54

Haven't read the whole thread but...

...if people were using (lovely, user-friendly, efficient) cloth nappies, they'd be taking them away anyway, in a properly designated washable nappy bag and wouldn't think twice about it. Putting nappies in an ordinary bin always seems a bit yucky to me anyway.

nooka · 31/03/2006 21:39

I must admit I thought libraries were places to go and spend half an hour or so to chose books to take home with you. Our local library doesn't have a loo at all, so we have to make sure we have all been before we visit, and to be honest the days when the children were in nappies were much easier! Would I prefer a loo but fewer books, well to be honest no, because I visit the library because I love books. Would I prefer a library that I paid a subscription to join or money to take books out of (which is what would happen if the private sector provided library services), but with a cafe, changing rooms etc again no, if I want to go to a creche with those sorts of facilities, then I go, and pay my money and expect a corresponding service. Yes I pay council tax, but there is this interesting idea that says that money isn't limitless, and so therefore there are choices to be made. Many libraries were designed in the days when they really were just a book storage space to visit, and until they are all rebuilt they will have limitations. If you want more, then by all means campaign for it, but recognise that it will cost more. (Can you tell I work for the public sector!!)

oops · 31/03/2006 21:56

i suppose our idea of libraries is a bit different, or our practical experience of them is different.

our library has a children's area and does lots of reading to the children and music/toy library stuff.
so there are loads of kids that are there for an hour or more.
I meet other people there and talk to them and they read with my little boy while i feed the baby, or i read to their little ones whilst they sort out their bigger ones/whatever.
the staff in the kids' library help find age specific books and take part in the reading groups etc.
as children are present for an hour at least, it is not crazy to epxect that one or other of them my need a nappy change whilst they are there- so providing facilities for this is a pragmatic way of managing the situation IMO

our library is a community service and is very very busy and popular. some people may just pop in to get books and go home, many more take part in the whole education/hanging out reading thing tbh.