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Jesse Carliner and Kyla Everall Playtime at Robarts Library Opening a family-friendly study space at the University of Toronto f academic libraries are sincere about their 24.4 hours for men.3 Given that the burden Icommitment to equity and inclusion, they of childcare primarily falls to women, lack must become more accessible for student of academic library support for parenting parents—a large and underserved population students disproportionately impacts women whose members may also have other margin- and has a negative effect on equitable access alized identities. Although accommodating to library resources and services, as well as children may seem to be outside the scope of overall learning and research opportunities. academic libraries’ mandate, if we are to fully At the University of Toronto, parenting stu- support research and learning on campus, we dents expressed that they have had to choose must try to reduce obstacles for parenting stu- their classes based on their childcare schedules dents however we can, including welcoming and the type of course work involved. Group their children into our libraries. To address this projects, for example, pose a challenge, be- need, the University of Toronto Libraries re- cause they may require students to arrange cently opened Canada’s first academic library additional childcare. Accessing services that family-friendly study space. are only available in person, such as consulta- tions with a librarian, can also be difficult to Parenting students in the United States arrange, due to the challenges and expense and Canada of finding childcare. In the United States, 4.8 million undergradu- ate students are raising children,1 and there What are libraries doing? is a trend among U.S. institutions that cater There are few services to support parent- to so-called nontraditional students to pro- ing students in academic libraries. In Cana- vide family-friendly library study spaces. da, some universities have activity packs or Information about the number of students child-friendly resources that children can use in Canada who are parents is not collected while their parents study.4,5 One has a cor- systematically, creating an invisible popula- ner in its basement where parents can bring tion. However, in the 2016 Canadian Gradu- their children,6 but there are no dedicated, ate and Professional Student Survey, 49.3% of respondents reported that family obligations were an obstacle to success, with 14.3% re- Jesse Carliner is communications and user services porting that they were a major obstacle.2 librarian, email: [email protected], and Kyla According to Statistics Canada, Canadian Everall is user services librarian, email: kyla.everall@ utoronto.ca, at the University of Toronto Libraries women spend on average 50.1 hours per week on unpaid childcare, compared to © 2019 Jesse Carliner and Kyla Everall C&RL News February 2019 100 secured study spaces available for parenting they were not welcome. When students did students. Such rooms are more commonly bring their children to the library, this would found in smaller American universities and occasionally create conflict with other users colleges, as well as European academic li- over noise issues. braries. In the 2016 the University of Toronto Li- In particular, there is a noticeable gap braries LibQUAL+ survey, the library received among the libraries at top-ranked research- a comment from a doctoral student requesting intensive universities. A review of the websites that the library provide a designated study of the top 25 ARL libraries found only one space for students with children, citing many mention of family-friendly space.7 such spaces that they had seen in European universities. The University of Toronto context According to The University of Toronto’s The University of Toronto is a public re- Family Care Office, although the majority of search-inten- graduate stu- sive univer- dents at the sity spread University of over three Toronto are campuses in women,10 and around there were Toronto, On- previously no tario, Can- academic ser- ada. From vices or spac- 2017 to 2018, es for parents the universi- who may ty had a total have need- enrolment of ed to bring 90,077 stu- their children dents.8 The to campus. University Therefore, of Toronto the Universi- A selection of tweets responding to the opening of the Robarts Libraries sys- ty of Toronto Library Family Study Space. tem is the Libraries de- largest academic library in Canada and is cided to address this need by developing a ranked sixth among peer institutions in North family-friendly study space in Robarts Library. America.9 The system consists of 44 libraries, with around 500 librarians and paraprofes- Proposing the space sional staff members. In our large and complex library system, a Prior to the development of the Family family-friendly study space did not fit neatly Study Space, the John P. Robarts Library, the within any one department’s responsibilities largest on campus and the primary social or expertise. Developing the space would sciences and humanities library, had a policy require cross-departmental collaboration for allowing children 12 and under to accompany successful completion and operation. The their parents to the closed stacks. The policy, project team comprised of staff from the li- however, was not posted publicly in the brary’s public services departments, library building or on the website. Under this policy, facilities, and the university’s Family Care children had to be accompanied by a caregiver Office. In order address the administrative at all times. Although children were allowed challenges to developing the space, the proj- in the library, the lack of a publicly posted ect team proposed the project directly to policy may have created the impression that the chief librarian who had set aside money February 2019 101 C&RL News from the operating budget to fund innovative intended user population, the space was ideas that did not fit within the library’s orga- developed in an enclosed room accessible nizational or budgetary structures. only by key fob. Renovations to the room In order to secure approval, the team also included painting, upgraded tamper needed to address concerns about liability and resistant electrical outlets, low emission risk management regarding children in the li- carpet, and improvements to the room’s brary. The team reached out to the University ventilation system. As part of the project, of Toronto Family Care Office to ask them to nearby nursing facilities were upgraded. serve in an advisory capacity on the project To make the room comfortable and and to address concerns about risk manage- enjoyable for children, we provided ment and liability. The Family Care Office child-sized furniture, toys, and a mat and assured the foam ring for library that infants and there were toddlers. We no additional also stocked liabilities or the room risk to having with a “take- children in a-book, the library. As leave-a- in any public book” library space, care- of children’s givers are re- books. We sponsible for chose this the safety and model in or- behavior of der to avoid their children the compli- at all times. cations of The chief li- University of Toronto Family Study Space Robarts Library. Francesca creating a brarian also Kennedy/University of Toronto Libraries. special loca- consulted with the university administration, tion in the catalog that is only accessible who were very enthusiastic in their support. to users of the Family Study Space. Creating the space Managing the space In designing the space, the team envi- We developed the Family Study Space us- sioned a room that would work for as age policies so that the space could be many users and their children as pos- self-monitored, flexible, and operated in sible- from small children, to older chil- accordance with existing library and uni- dren, to users working alone or on group versity policies. In the process of estab- projects. Additionally, the room would lishing the policies, we consulted with ideally have the same features and tech- other libraries with similar spaces to learn nology that our other group study rooms from their experiences. We discovered and study spaces had. that there were a wide variety of mod- With these considerations in mind, the els for access and use. Some libraries re- room was furnished with presentation quired that their family room be reserved facilities, white boards, comfortable seat- in advance, while others were first-come, ing, and workstations. The space was also first-served. We also found that there were soundproofed to avoid noise complaints some rooms that were child-friendly, but from other users. To ensure the safety not reserved for the exclusive use of par- of children and reserve the space for the enting students. C&RL News February 2019 102 The library decided that the room would caregivers resonated across the universi- be for the sole-use of the University of To- ty, Canada, and internationally. ronto affiliated caregivers (students, staff, The announcement generated a great and faculty) with children 12 and under, deal of discussion, positive feedback, who would be required to register for an and engagement on social media and in access fob. The room would be available university and local news outlets. The for use on a first-come, first-served basis response indicated considerable interest at any time that the library was open. In and demand for family friendly services order to avoid creating additional barriers at academic libraries and within higher to access, reservations are not required. education. Many former students, both The room policy emphasized that chil- from the University of Toronto and else- dren were not to be left unattended in where, commented via social media about the room or anywhere in the library, and how a family-friendly study space would that caregivers are solely responsible for have made a significant difference for their children.

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