“Quiet Space” Hours at the Main Library

DML Adds Provision to Quiet Space and Library Conduct Policies

(February 14, 2025) Dayton Metro Library’s Main location in downtown Dayton will no longer limit patron entry in the afternoons from 2 - 6 pm, although it will remain a “Quiet Space.” All ages will be welcome within a newly outlined provision to its Library Code of Conduct policy: Students After School: Adult Chaperone Required (ACR). This provision will take effect Tuesday, February 18.

The guidelines of this provision include the following key points that youth, parent, and guardian patrons will need to take note of before their next visit to the Main Library:

  1. Beginning Tuesday, February 18, from 2-6 pm, Monday through Friday during the school year, individual patrons aged 17 and younger (youth) will need to be accompanied by a chaperone (i.e., parent, guardian, or other) to enter the Main Library and its premises (buildings and grounds).
  2. DML’s executive director will determine the timeframe that is considered the “school year” for purposes of this ACR addendum and is subject to change based on Library interest.
  3.  Youth who are pre-registered for a Library program or tutoring session or are otherwise expressly authorized by a Library official to be present in the Library are not required to have a chaperone.
  4. Chaperones accompanying youth patrons must be aged 25 or older and must remain on the premises at all times. Chaperones are responsible for and will be held accountable for the actions of the youth they are accompanying.
  5. Both youth and chaperones will be required to provide proof of age upon entrance to the Main Library. Alternative Library services will be suggested to those without sufficient identification.
  6. Sufficient identification could be a student ID, a valid driver’s license, a valid state ID, a military ID, or a passport (so long as it has a photo and the date of birth is tamper-proof).
  7. Youth who violate the Library’s Code of Conduct policy while on Library premises may be asked to remain with their chaperone through the duration of their visit, and/or may be subject to other enforcement of the Code of Conduct.
  8. All patrons, including youth and their chaperones, are expected to abide by the entirety of the Library’s Code of Conduct, including this addendum.

Additionally, the Library reserves the right to ask any patron for proof of ID upon entering the Library and restrict the use of its facilities and premises to patrons who do not adhere to the Library Code of Conduct. Library staff and/or DML’s Safety and Protective Service Officers may ask those who do not adhere to the policy to modify their behavior or leave the premises. They will also ask adults using youth spaces in the Library to vacate as needed.

For more information, please direct calls to the Library’s Ask Me Line at 937.463.2665. You can read the full Code of Conduct Policy online here.

Main Library Adopts “Quiet Space” Hours

(January 6, 2025) Effective Monday, January 6, Dayton Metro Library has deemed the entirety of the Main Library, located at 215 East Third Street, Dayton, 45402, as a “Quiet Space” between the hours of 2 - 6 pm, Monday through Friday.

DML views this decision to be the best course of action due to several recent events at the Main Library involving violence. “These changes will allow us to remain open and provide services to those who wish to use the Main Library appropriately and in compliance with our Code of Conduct,” states Executive Director Jeffrey Trzeciak.

The Main Library’s “Quiet Space” policy:

  • Groups of two or more are not permitted to congregate in any part of the Library.
  • Group work must be conducted in a group study room. Access to group study rooms is restricted to those with a reservation, or in consultation with a Library staff member.
  • Video games and other group activities are no longer available in the Teen Edge area.
  • The Green Screen Room must be reserved in advance. Access will not be given unless it is booked in advance or in consultation with a Library staff member.

Anyone violating the new rules will be asked to leave the Library without a warning.

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