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Keeping everyone safe in the building is essential. However, having children in our libraries brings new challenges from a health and safety perspective. In this section we share what we have learned from our own experiences.
Who needs to be involved in health and safety?
Talking to a wide range of stakeholders can help you to make your family room as safe as possible.
Liaising with your institutional health and safety team is essential. They may want to visit the space and go through any risk assessments that you develop.
It is also important to involve the cleaning team to ensure that all products used in the room are suitable for use in an area used by children.
Safety features
- Install plug socket covers to prevent children from accessing electrical outlets.
- Use tables with rounded corners or add corner protectors to rectangular tables.
- Add finger guards on doors to prevent injuries.
Emergency preparedness
- Clearly display a floor plan showing fire escape routes. .
- Consider the additional risks if the room is used by multiple groups simultaneously, such as conflicting needs of families.
Supervision and security
- Ensure the family room is not easily observed by other library users to protect children's privacy and safety.
- Regularly check the room and keep records of these checks, as accident claims can be made until a child turns 18.
- Develop a lost child policy for the room and the wider library.
Child friendly environment
- Provide non-toxic crayons, toys, and other materials suitable for children of all ages.
- Use robust furniture designed for nurseries or schools rather than domestic settings to ensure durability and safety.
Building a case for a family room
Preparing health and safety documents can be part of a wider business case to gain approval for a family room. In this instance, you might like to consider the following:
Liaise in advance with your university Health and Safety team to put together a high-level risk assessment. More detail can be added once you have obtained approval or funding. Align with your university’s children on campus policy. You may need to challenge this policy; if so, speak to the “owner” of the policy.
Prepare an equality impact assessment or statement to support your business case. You can also advocate with EDI colleagues to support your business case. Give examples in your business case of where a Family Study Room has been implemented successfully in other universities.
If you are able to, add in supporting student feedback. This may be in the form of written feedback from the Student Union or feedback from parents and carers in support of the idea, which could be obtained via a short survey or focus groups.
Work out the costings to show that an existing library space can be converted cheaply into a pleasant family study space. You may need to think about buying robust child-size furniture. Cost this from an educational or library supplier rather than somewhere like IKEA.
Further reading
Lahlaf, A. (2025) Repurposing Library Study Space to Create a Family Study Room: A Case Study at University of Bradford. In Everitt, R. & Everitt, N. (eds) Privileged spaces: Academic Libraries in University Estates Strategy. Facet Publishing, 101-103.
