A library in New York has apologized to an Indian American woman after an employee of the public library asked her to stop breast-feeding her daughter in public. “We will be giving our staff additional coaching to remind them about the proper practice for maintaining a welcoming environment,” CBS New York online cited a library statement as saying Sept. 22.
Sherry Singh, a regular visitor at the Forest Hills Library, was told last weekend to stop feeding her child in the library and to breast-feed her four-month-old daughter in the restroom.
“Me and my other daughter were playing with puppets, when this little one started crying. I started nursing her,” Singh was quoted as saying.
“An employee came over and told me not to breast-feed my daughter there,” Singh said.
Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said the law allows breast-feeding in public. It has been the law for quite a while. It is every woman’s right to breast-feed in public,” Lieberman said. Singh has accepted the library’s apology and is not taking any legal action, but she wants the story to go out to educate others.