Open Forum

Hi everyone,

I'm currently reviewing some of our gallery policies, and one issue that keeps coming up is whether baby bottles and sippy cups are permitted in the gallery spaces. We don't permit food or drink in the galleries, but this has always been a gray area, and one that I want to address directly. I've compared the policies of several different institutions, but I don't see a single, across-the-board answer. Some places prohibit everything food and drink related, including baby bottles, while others permit baby bottles and bottled water only.

What is your museum's policy regarding this issue? As a collections person trying to ensure the safety of our holdings I'm inclined to prohibit everything and therefore remove any questions, particularly since our audience already has a tendency to try and touch the works. At the same time, however, families with young children is a demographic that we're trying to engage more deeply, and such a policy may be regarded as a bit extreme and uninviting. Then there's the issue of visitors who need constant hydration for health reasons.

Are far as our collections go, we're a tripartite collection encompassing art, historical Western artifacts, and rocketry equipment. The rocket materials and artifacts are kept behind glass cases for the most part, though there is a replica workshop where everything is exposed and cordoned off only by rope barriers. The art collection is displayed in your typical gallery fashion: works in paper are covered with acrylic, most of the paintings aren't.

What are your thoughts on this issue? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

-------------------------------------------
Sara Woodbury
Curator
Roswell Museum and Art Center
Roswell NM
-------------------------------------------

I definitely recognize the difficulty of forming this policy. A simple rule (no liquids...no exceptions) would be the most clear-cut. However, as you said, it would be a barrier for families with very young children. Infants need to eat frequently and it would be difficult for families to enjoy your space (especially if they had older children also) if they had to leave every time the baby was hungry. Bottles have a low spill rate, and infants using them are usually more closely monitored then older children with cups.

It would be worth considering if baby bottles at least could be allowed in the space. In New Mexico, the breastfeeding law is fairly clear a mother can "breastfeed her child in any location, public or private, where the mother is otherwise authorized to be present." (NMSA 1978, Section 28-20-1 (1999)) Since nursing mothers can be in the space, extending that courtesy to bottle feeding parents as well would build a good relationship with young families.

Sippy cups is more of a gray area, and one where I think you could draw a line (especially since those might have milk, juice or water in them). If you do decide to prohibit sippy cups, try to identify a space that is nearby where families could go for a snack/water break. Also, it will be critical to provide your frontline staff/security officers with kind ways to help direct families to the spaces when they (invariably) pull out a cup in the gallery. Most families are just trying to keep the peace, not flaunt the rules with the hope of harming objects, so being able to give a short explanation of why the rule is there and tell them a nearby place where they can enjoy their snack will go a long way.

I will be interested to hear more from others about the water bottle policy for adults, that is not something I have as much experience with.

-------------------------------------------
Sarah Erdman
Cabinet of Curiosities, LLC
Washington DC
-------------------------------------------


-------------------------------------------

Hello all,

Young mothers bottle-feeding (breast feeding in public is not something you see in Kuwait) - no problem but we ask them to sit on the blocks away from the object or leave the child in the stroller.  Sippy cups we don't allow in the exhibition space at all.  If the kids are really young, we will find a space for them to have a quick drink (in a corridor or, weather permitting, outside).  If the kids are older, we ask them to wait until they leave.

We have a big problem water and adults . . . It gets well over 120 F in Kuwait in the summer and everyone (me included) is attached to a water bottle virtually 24/7.  Our security is trained to encourage new visitors to sit for a minute in the reception area, relax, cool down and drink some water.  Then, when the people are refreshed, they can put their water in the lockers available and enjoy the exhibition.

So far, with these approaches, we've had no real problems or complaints.



-------------------------------------------
Susan Day
Education and Communications Consultant
-------------------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 12-09-2014 08:56 AM
From: Sarah Erdman
Subject: Baby bottles and sippy cups: What's your policy?

I definitely recognize the difficulty of forming this policy. A simple rule (no liquids...no exceptions) would be the most clear-cut. However, as you said, it would be a barrier for families with very young children. Infants need to eat frequently and it would be difficult for families to enjoy your space (especially if they had older children also) if they had to leave every time the baby was hungry. Bottles have a low spill rate, and infants using them are usually more closely monitored then older children with cups.

It would be worth considering if baby bottles at least could be allowed in the space. In New Mexico, the breastfeeding law is fairly clear a mother can "breastfeed her child in any location, public or private, where the mother is otherwise authorized to be present." (NMSA 1978, Section 28-20-1 (1999)) Since nursing mothers can be in the space, extending that courtesy to bottle feeding parents as well would build a good relationship with young families.

Sippy cups is more of a gray area, and one where I think you could draw a line (especially since those might have milk, juice or water in them). If you do decide to prohibit sippy cups, try to identify a space that is nearby where families could go for a snack/water break. Also, it will be critical to provide your frontline staff/security officers with kind ways to help direct families to the spaces when they (invariably) pull out a cup in the gallery. Most families are just trying to keep the peace, not flaunt the rules with the hope of harming objects, so being able to give a short explanation of why the rule is there and tell them a nearby place where they can enjoy their snack will go a long way.

I will be interested to hear more from others about the water bottle policy for adults, that is not something I have as much experience with.

-------------------------------------------
Sarah Erdman
Cabinet of Curiosities, LLC
Washington DC
-------------------------------------------


-------------------------------------------

The rule in the Museum is no food or drink in the galleries.  In the Discovery Center we allow bottles and sippy cups as long as the parent is holding the child.  No snacks in the room and no running around with sippies!

-------------------------------------------
Kathleen McNeece

Smead Discovery Center
Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Cleveland OH
-------------------------------------------