Raise awareness of the importance of safeguarding children and young people
Promote better understanding of safeguarding issues
Ensure work in this area is coherent, and effectively coordinated across government
Reinforce existing activity by proposing new actions to plug gaps and improve linkages

Libraries can promote the safety of children and young people by:

Ensuring library staff are trained and aware of safety issues for children and young people in their libraries
Risk managing environments and activities
Promoting and hosting activities about empowerment, health, well-being and community safety
Providing materials for loan which support families in staying safe

TRF has developed a list of service impact outcomes (Word, 184kb) which will help you to consider ways of contributing to the ‘staying safe’ outcome.

What does ‘safe’ mean...

Parents and carers expect the library to be safe and when consulted, children and young people themselves tend to name this as a key requirement of an ideal library. They often give a wide range of interpretations of ‘safe’, including

Safe from strangers
Safe from being hurt
Safe from disrespect from others - including children, staff and other adults
Safe to be myself

Health & Safety and Child Protection in your library service...

Find your library service child protection guidelines
Find your library service health and safety policy
Your local council will have a Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) where key agencies work together to safeguard children and young people. Find out who represents the Library Service on this board
Look at the Chartered Institute for Library and Information Professional's guidelines (launches new website) to promote child safety in public places

Get your service noticed…

Are other local services aware of your contribution towards 'staying safe'? An advocacy strategy can improve the support, appreciation and status of your service - and the funding.

TRF offers advice and guidance in developing an advocacy strategy.

TRF provides quick and easy access to reports and case studies to support you in planning and advocating your services.

Plan, evaluate and build your partnerships…

'Staying safe' is a shared responsibility between many local agencies. Think of the common ground between these different agencies using TRF's advocacy tool

The TRF planning and evaluation framework has been developed in consultation with library practitioners and is being used by library authorities, and by national reading initiatives, to plan and assess the impact of key elements of their services for young people.

Further information...

Related websites for further exploration of staying safe:

The NSPCC has launched a scheme to help organisations protect children and young people.
Read statistics from the National Youth Agency about why 'staying safe' is a government priority.