For Parents | Gwinnett County Public Library

Branch Hours

Visiting the Library

Important Information for Parents

When Your Child Visits the Library...

The public library offers your child excitement, knowledge, and the joy of discovery!

Library visits are an important part of a child's creative and intellectual growth. Our staff wants your child's visit to be a rewarding and positive experience that encourages a love of reading for pleasure and knowledge for a lifetime. A child visiting our libraries receives the same welcome, assistance, and respect as any other valued customer.

Your Role in Transportation

Library hours are posted at the entrance to each building and on the library web site. Please note that we close on different times during the week at different branches. Parents are requested to make sure their children are picked up BEFORE closing time.

Please note that staff will contact the police if a child is not picked up within 30 minutes. If a child leaves with the police, a notice to parents will be taped to the library door with the information on the action taken. The Library cannot assume responsibility for customers under age 18 who are left at the library beyond closing time.

Please review the library's Unattended Children Policy for more information.

Your Role in Supervision

It is tempting to believe the library is a haven that your child can visit without worrying about safety; unfortunately, this is not the case. A library is a public building, open to all. Please use the same precautions for ensuring your child's safety that you would in any other public location.

While our staff is concerned about the well-being of our customers, we cannot be responsible for keeping your child safe from harm. We must assume that all library users are able to take care of themselves OR are under the supervision of a responsible individual, such as a parent, guardian, or baby-sitter.

If your child is participating in a supervised program, please remain in the building. It is important that you be available in case your child needs to leave the program.

We also ask you to consider the rights of all library users. A small child left on his own often runs, climbs, and expresses himself more loudly than other customers appreciate. Please help us maintain an environment that allows for everyone's enjoyment by keeping your young child with you in the library.

Please review the library's Unattended Children Policy and Code of Conduct for more information.

Your Role in Selection

The public library is a place where people of all ages can find information presenting all points of view on issues of importance to them. With that in mind, we seek to buy the best available materials to meet the needs of everyone, not just the majority.

Library staff cannot make a judgment as to what is suitable material for any individual, but particularly not for your child. Because everyone doesn't share the same values or use the same criteria in the evaluation of ideas, we encourage you to assist your child in choosing materials you consider appropriate to your own family values, as well as the maturity and development of your child. The library provides professional assistance, reviews, and annotated lists to help parents match their stated needs with available materials.

You may consider some materials inappropriate for your child. In addition to material dealing with sensitive subjects such as violence, death, and divorce, the library's collection also includes titles on human anatomy and sex education.

Recognizing your right as a parent or guardian to decide what is best for your child, we encourage you to visit the library together until your child is mature enough to make independent selection decisions.

When your child applies for a library card, you must choose one of the following checkout options before a permanent card is issued.

1. Checkout privileges for the entire collection. Any item in the library's collection may be checked out.

2. Checkout privileges for the entire collection, with the exception of the Parents' Advisory section. Items in the Parents' Advisory section include non-fiction materials in the health and sexual therapy subject areas, if they are specifically intended for adults and the predominant content visually or verbally depicts human sexual acts. Materials of this nature can also be placed in this section as a result of a customer's request that a title be reviewed.

3. Checkout privileges for materials in the Juvenile and Easy collections only. When your child applies for a library card, please inform the library staff member which option you have selected.

Note to Parents of Minors who may check out downloadable media:
GCPL provides access to downloadable media through the library website. Checkout Options for Minors do not apply when downloadable audio, video, or music are checked out because the sites from which customers download these formats from a home computer do not yet recognize GCPL's checkout options for minors.

You may also select an Internet Access Option for your child.