Parents urge more precautions at city library

An Anonymous Patron writes “Parents urge more precautions at city library. A sex offender was arrested at the New Bedford (MA) library.
On Saturday, two homeless men, including a repeat sex offender, were arrested after an 11-year-old boy told officials the men threatened to “snatch him” in the library.”

September 21, 2004 by Uncategorized 2

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2 Responses

  1. Eli says:
    September 21, 2004 at 6:54 pm

    Library Safety
    The public library should be a safe place for families. This subject has been discussed here very often in regard to collection development. The issue of safety in general needs to be addressed as well. There was an unfortunate case of a girl in Philadelphia attacked in a rest room in the main library. I think library safety is more than mechanical protections it is also a staff mindset. People often mistake security concerns for compromising our constitutional rights. In any public place there are rules regarding observing potentially harmful behavior. In the case of a business, to not do so is bad for business. In an era where library patronage is being impacted by the INTERNET it is unwise not make library safety a pressing need. It is also advisable to make access to sexually explicit materials limited. Would a sex offender without the INTERNET be more prone to use the library computer to access the porn for one does not have to expend money? Is it possible that after using the computer the offender may look for an immediate victim? We cannot be sure of the answers. One thing we can be sure is that as responsible professionals we need to provide the highest levels of professional service, build collections with community needs and concerns in mind, and finally to be aware of unwanted and potentially damgerous activity. If we are not part of the solution we are part of the problem

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  2. Steffers says:
    September 21, 2004 at 7:22 pm

    security guards are only human
    And, unfortunately, can’t be in every place at once. I think, in this case, it is definitely a case for better ground personnel. I work at a medium size public library, we have a permanent security staff augmented by some contract employees. Our permanent staff make rounds of all the floors every 15-30 minutes, plus we have cameras covering most everywhere (we even have dummy cameras so you never know what is a real camera and what isn’t). This isn’t to say that we haven’t had incidents but if there is an active security staff you can help prevent bad situations and respond quickly when they do occur. Also, a good portion of awareness needs to be ingrained in staff members. Frequently, it is the desk staff who notice or witness incidents before security can arrive. If your staff members and security staff can’t maintain an effective, fluid grasp on what is going on within their building/department then you will not be able to offer the public a safe library.

    It is unfortunate that many places cannot or will not pay for security guards or even assign a police officer to the building. I wonder if in this case whether better communication between law enforcement and the library would have helped. Definitely having a staff member whose primary job is security would go far in keeping track of the malicious people that wander in.

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