The Toronto Public Library is apologizing after a Toronto woman says her lost child was denied help at a library branch.
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Megan Kinch posted to social media site X on Friday that her daughter was refused help at the Riverdale Library, located on Broadview Ave. at Gerrard St. E., after her separate day youth program ended two hours early.
“My 11 year old got lost and asked for help at a library. They told her she couldn’t call her mom from the phone and should use a payphone,” Kinch wrote. “She said she didn’t know how. They said they couldn’t help and she ended up crying alone on the street corner.
“Kids who get lost should be able to get help at the public library,” she added. “She’s fine because a random person waiting for the bus let her use their phone.”
TPL told the Toronto Sun it realizes there was a failure in this case.
“We sincerely apologize for the incident at our library branch where an 11-year-old child was denied access to a telephone,” a TPL representative wrote in an email.
“This is simply not okay, and it doesn’t align with our commitment to serving all community members, especially children, with care and compassion. We have reached out to the family through social media and are hoping to connect with them.
“We view this as a very important opportunity to review and reinforce our staff training protocols to make sure nothing like this happens again. Keeping our community safe and welcome is at the heart of what we do.
“Our branch manager is personally handling this matter and hopes to be in direct communication with the family. We want to speak with them and learn from this experience.”
The Sun has reached out to Kinch for comment.