Guidelines for bringing your daycare group to the Benicia Public Library

What can the library do for you?

Let’s show your daycare group that the library is more than just a place to hang out! Together we can make your group’s visits to the library special, meaningful, and fun.

Please talk to a Children’s Librarian for information about:

• Arranging a special storytime, booktalk, or tour of the library
• Fun books for your daycare group to read, either alone or out loud
• Activity books with arts and crafts, song, games, science projects, etc.
• Guidebooks to identify plants and animals on nature walks around town
• Books to help your group with their tricky homework problems
• Any other child development or curriculum needs you may have.

The library wants to help commercial daycare providers provide their daycare groups with fun and meaningful library visits. There is a large demand for library space and services. To make sure everyone gets a fair chance to use the library’s limited resources, the library has special guidelines for commercial daycare providers:

Use the library wisely

• Help the children in your group learn about the library and enjoy its many resources. Sometimes kids can’t find something that interests them on their own, so teach them to ask at the Information Desk for help.
• Arrange with parents beforehand to be sure the children in your group have library cards and can check out books or other materials.
• Limit your visits so the library remains exciting to the children. Visits more than an hour long, or more than three times a week, can make children restless and bored.

Follow library rules

• Closely monitor the behavior of the children in your group. You are solely responsible for making sure they follow the library’s general Rules of Conduct.
• Do not reshelve library materials. Once you’ve finished looking at a book, stack it neatly on a table, or take it to the check-out desk to be reshelved by an employee.

Share library resources

• If possible, avoid the peak hours of library use, between 3:30 and 5:00 P.M.
• Because the library has limited space, try to make sure the children in your group are only using their share. They shouldn’t use all four Kid’s Catalogs, use all the tables and chairs, or occupy the entire Play Pit.
• Do not let the children in your group leave their belongings unattended, or where they will block access to library materials, tables, or chairs. They should keep their backpacks with them at all times.

Be safe at all times

• In accordance with state laws, bring to the library no more than six school-age children for each adult caregiver.
• You must accompany children under six at all times. Consider asking older children to use the buddy system when they go to the restroom or are otherwise out of your sight.
• Before allowing a child to access the Internet, ask the child’s parents for permission and determine whether they wish for you to monitor their child.
• It is your responsibility as a businessperson to have the proper licenses and insurance. Know the state’s laws for child care providers and check with your attorney.

updated: 7/7/07