a gritty blow-by-blow tale of more than 20-year history dealing with the Hyannis street population. The head librarian, who has worked at the facility for 35 years, described death threats from deranged patrons, fights, assaults, and sex in the bathroom.
“The library does become a day center if you let it go,” said Ann-Louise Harries, head librarian.
Dealing with mentally ill, intoxicated or otherwise disruptive patrons is a task they don’t teach you in librarian school. But it’s part of the job in places like Hyannis that are located within walking distance of shelters, halfway houses and human service organizations.
No it is not
Being a librarian does not require that one deal with lawlessness. The police department is the agency tasked with that responsibility. They are trained and equipped for that duty.
A good reference librarian can provide you with their telephone number. Public assignations, public drunkenness, threats, violence none of these are something with which a librarian should be required to deal. Call the police.
Where do these idiots come up with this crap.
Re:No it is not
The problem is that we do deal with this. Whether we should have to or not is a purely academic debate as reality dictates otherwise. And the thing is, it’s not just because we’re librarians. We deal with it as citizens and as a people. I’ve been accosted on the street and they didn’t know what my occupation is.
So I still had to deal with it.
Librarians, and anyone else, need to be prepared to handle situations like this if for no other reason than this one: Police are, by their very nature, a reactionary force. They don’t show up until after something happens. While it’s happening, you’re on your own. Best be prepared to deal with it.
Re:No it is not
So call the cops.
Walk away from those that accost you, shoot those who cause or attemp to cause you grevious bodily harm.
Yes the police respond to crime, they investigate crimes, and very infrequently their presence at the scene of a planned crime prevents crime, but they have no duty to protect us( Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Department and of course the old standby Riss v. City of New York)unless you are already in prison or police custody.
However if you call the cops over and over and over and over on people violating the law, be it at the library or on the sidewalk both the cops and the bums are going to get tired of it and move it along one way or the other.
I carry a gun because I can’t carry a policeman.
Hyannis Library Web Page Force Feeds Audio
The culture at work at the Hyannis Library requires you to listen to an audio message every time you load it web page (http://www.hyannislibrary.org/).
It becomes quite obnoxious after the third time.
Re:No it is not
So when did this become the function of the public library? If I had wanted to be a social worker or a saint I would have taken a course of study to prepare myself to become one. A library is a business, as noble as we think we are, and if the patrons/customers who are paying for the service can’t use it, who do we serve?
I’m also not bleeding all over myself feeling sorry for the homeless since many of them have substance abuse or mental problems that I am not equipped to deal with and libraries should quit the Mother Teresa act by providing space for individuals to act out in anti-social ways.
Re:Hyannis Library Web Page Force Feeds Audio
The homeless like it though.