This document is designed for everyone who comes into contact with children and young people, regardless of your status (volunteer, employee, etc.). The information below is designed to keep you and the users safe and make sure everyone has fun.

Remember, you are in a position of trust and responsibility. Following the guidelines below with reduce the likelihood of misinterpretations of your actions.

Representatives of the Sling Library will:

Good Practice Guidelines
Make plans with the best interests of the participants at the core and take into account participants’ particular requirements e.g. religious, cultural or ethnic considerations or special needs

Ensure that activities, including any equipment used, pose no danger to participants and are not likely to cause an accident

Ensure that their behaviour and language is appropriate for the participants, taking into account age, gender, cultural background etc.

Be friendly and approachable but keep professional boundaries

Always work in an open environment (e.g. avoiding private or unobserved situations and encouraging open communication)

Build balanced relationships based on mutual trust which empowers participants to share in the decision-making process

Always put welfare first, before winning or achieving goals

Make activities fun, enjoyable and promote fair play

Give enthusiastic and constructive feedback rather than negative criticism

If any physical contact/support is required by the practitioners, it should be provided openly and with explanation and permission should be sought prior to any contact.

Treat all participants fairly and with dignity and respect

Practices never to be sanctioned
Taking on the responsibility for tasks for which you are not appropriately trained, for example first aid or physically restraining young people

Allowing or engaging in any form of inappropriate touching

Failing to act upon and record any allegations made by a participant

Allowing participants to bully or undermine others

Incidents that must be reported/recorded
If any of the following occur you should report this immediately to the appropriate officer (key contact at agency, institution, etc.), make a record of the incident and as soon as practically possible, inform the librarian:

If you accidentally hurt a participant

If a participant seems distressed in any manner

If a participant misunderstands or misinterprets something you have done