New Library Policies Target Disruptive Teen Conduct

Due to allegedly inappropriate behavior by teens, the East Lansing Public Library now has designated areas for the age group, labeled with signs that alert visitors to the area being monitored. Other parts of the library have signs that designate the spot as a quiet area.

The library also distributed a flyer outlining new rules for teens, and including possible penalties: “[e]ffective October 29, 2018, one violation of the Patron Code of Conduct will result in dismissal from the library for the day, or longer, depending upon the violation.”

During recent renovations, a Teen Center and Maker Space were added for teens, but these spaces were not previously labeled with these signs.

According to Olivia Wellman, a junior at ELHS and regular library volunteer, the library had been getting complaints about the behavior of teens.

“The library was getting complaints, specifically from parents, usually, and college students,” Wellman said. “But mainly it was parents and the staff, themselves. They believed that it wasn’t a good environment for the other patrons.”

The library director, Kristin Shelley, declined to comment for this story, saying in an email that she wanted to wait “to see how some of the procedures we have put in place are working before I respond.”

According to Sophie Kucharski, a junior at ELHS who goes to the library after school every day, students’ behavior included profanity and rowdiness. She added that a television in the teen center had been damaged, and is still not working.

“There were a couple of middle schoolers and they were horse playing and the TV got hit with something and it just got worse from there,” Kucharski said. “Eventually it just stopped working.”

Kucharski added that not all of the teens display bad behavior.

“There’s this one group of kids that I call ‘My Group,’ we’re usually a lot better mannered and pick up after ourselves a lot more,” Kucharski said. “And there’s another group of kids that don’t really respect the place very much, and it’s really irritating.”

According to Kucharski, teen behavior started to go downhill after the library’s teen advisor, Jessica Lee-Cullin, left. She was tasked with managing the teens and their behavior.

“The teen librarian that was there for the longest time recently left and things kind of fell apart after she left,” Kucharski said. “But we’re trying to get order back into this place.”

According to Kucharski, the library hopes the new policies to deal with the behavior.

“They brought in this recent new policy where if they hear any cuss words from you, you’re out for the day,” Kucharski said. She added, “They’re really cracking down on bad behavior, so hopefully that’ll shape some things up.”

According to Andrew Wells, Principal of East Lansing High School, he has been aware of students attending the library, but hasn’t observed any of the behavior himself.

“I haven’t observed the behavior,” Wells said. “I have had conversations with people about library behavior.”

He added that he had gone to the library once this year to see how students were behaving.

“I did go over there yesterday, and the library seemed to be pretty calm,” Wells said. “And that was a one-day snapshot. But I’ve heard about the behavior that is obviously not conducive to being at the library.”

Wells explained that he will continue to support the library, but that it will be hard considering it is not a part of the school district.

“I’ll lend my support by going to the library every now and then, and then also speaking to students about the expectations,” Wells said. “It’s a little challenging because it’s not a part of our instructional day at East Lansing High School, it’s not even an extension of our program.”

Wells also explained that even though the library is not a part of the school district, students still need to understand that they are in a public facility and need to show respect.

“It’s a public facility and it’s important that our students understand they are in a public facility,” Wells said. “There are rules, there are expectations, just like being in school, and they need to abide by those rules and expectations.”

In October 2018, Wells emailed the library code of conduct to ELHS families.

“I’m going to continue to work with the director of the library to create an atmosphere that’s a positive experience for all,” Wells said.

Wells also said that the school district is not the only authority responsible for students.

“Not only do we, the school, have a responsibility, but I think parents have a responsibility to convey the importance of the expectations at the library,” Wells said.

Although the library staff is having trouble taming the students’ behavior, Wellman said that the staff still enjoys having them there.

“They love the students,” Wellman said. “They want them to come to the library, they want to help them in any way they can.”

MacDonald Middle School Principal Amy Martin and Superintendent Dori Leyko did not respond to a request for comment.