Supervision for Minors

Agathos Books lets users ages 13–17 add a trusted adult as a supervisor. Supervision is optional, minor-initiated, and gives the supervising adult visibility into reading activity and active loans.

Who Can Use Supervision

• Minors (13–17) can invite one adult to supervise their account
• Adults (18+) can be invited as supervisors—they do not set it up themselves
• Under 13: Agathos Books does not allow accounts under 13

The minor controls the supervision link: they add it, and they can remove it at any time.

Minor Privacy Defaults

When a 13–17 year old creates an account, their profile is hidden by default and direct loan messaging is off by default:

• Their profile and reading activity are not visible to other library members
• Direct messaging on a loan (chatting with the other party about pickup, the book, etc.) is off
• They cannot change these settings themselves if they have a supervisor—the supervisor controls both toggles
• Contact info (email, phone) is never shown to other members, regardless of age
• Getting help from a library admin is always available, even when direct messaging is off — this is the safety valve

Minors without a supervisor can choose to turn either on themselves from Settings → Privacy (Visible to library members and Direct messaging).

Adding a Supervisor (Minors)

1. Go to Settings
2. Under Family, tap Supervision
3. Enter your supervisor’s email (they must already have an Agathos Books account as an adult)
4. Tap Add supervisor

Your supervisor is notified in-app that you added them. They can now see your reading activity and active loans.

What a Supervisor Can See

Supervisors open Settings → Supervised accounts (under Family; the row shows once you supervise someone, with their first names). Each child they supervise is a dashboard:

• Borrowing — Books currently borrowed, with cover, due date, and status
• Activity — Recent reading and library activity (last 20 events)
• Privacy — Profile visibility and direct messaging (admin help on a loan is always available)

When they supervise more than one account, a name row at the top switches between dashboards.

Supervisors cannot:

• Create or delete the minor’s account
• Approve or block individual loan requests
• Control which libraries the minor joins
• Switch into the minor’s account to act on their behalf

Supervision is about visibility, not control over every action.

Removing a Supervisor (Minors)

You can remove your supervisor whenever you like:

1. Go to Settings → Supervision
2. Find your supervisor
3. Tap Remove
4. Tap Remove supervisor to confirm (or Keep supervisor to leave things as they are)

Your supervisor is notified, and the link is cleared immediately. Your profile visibility reverts to your control.

Turning 18

When a minor turns 18, they can upgrade their account themselves:

1. Go to Settings → Supervision
2. Tap Update my age and confirm

This does four things:

• Marks your account as an adult
• Clears any supervision link (your former supervisor is notified)
• Sets your profile to visible by default (you can still hide it from Settings → Privacy)
• Turns direct messaging on by default (you can still turn it off from Settings → Privacy)

Tips

• Supervision is meant for trust, not surveillance—talk to your supervisor about what they’ll see
• Only add someone as a supervisor if they already have an Agathos Books account
• If a supervisor deletes their Agathos Books account, supervision ends automatically for any minors they supervised, and those minors are notified in the app

Related Articles

• Privacy and your data

Still Need Help?

If you have questions about supervision, contact support.