A stern “shush” doesn’t cut it anymore.
Once relied upon as hushed oases of learning, American libraries are now under siege, with staffers from California to New York complaining of rampant disorder and daily peril.
“There are times now you feel more like a security guard than a librarian,” one Brooklyn library employee told The Post this week. “This isn’t what a lot of us signed up for.”
Many libraries have turned into de facto shelters for those on the margins of society, including the homeless and mentally ill, a trend that has surged since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Exasperated staffers are witnessing public sex, drug use and worse while suffering sexual harassment and explosions of violence on a routine basis.
Much of the disorder, they assert, takes place within close proximity to children.
“It’s sad,” the Brooklyn librarian said. “You’ll see parents come in with their kids after they first move here. They’re excited, they get their card, then you don’t see them again after awhile. They’ve told me firsthand that they just don’t feel like it’s a safe environment.”
In an unprecedented recent case, veteran Iowa librarian Jennifer Goulden filed suit against her former Des Moines branch, asserting administrators ignored her complaints of chaos — and even retaliated against her for speaking out.
Goulden catalogued a string of troubling incidents, including patrons masturbating to pornography at computer terminals within feet of children and threatening her with violence after she rebuffed their advances.
Goulden said her alarms were either downplayed or ignored by administrators, and she eventually quit her position for her mental health in her lawsuit.
“The challenges librarians are facing right now are off the charts,” said Ryan Dowd, the CEO of a company that provides training for public facing employees, including librarians.
Dowd said many library staffers get no training in areas they likely never thought they would have to master — like dealing with a heroin overdose or someone in the throes of a schizophrenic episode,
The problem, he said, has exploded since COVID — and libraries are on the frontlines of the nation’s worsening homeless crisis.
A branch in Antioch, California abruptly shuttered in February after employees complained of unaddressed sex inside and outside the branch, drug use and violence.
“We’ve also had drug activity and drug use both inside the library and on library property,” Brooke Converse, a Contra Costa County Library System representative, said at the time.
“People having sexual intercourse inside the library or on property in full view of patrons and staff. We found bullet casings on library property.”
The location only reopened after employing an armed security guard who checked all patrons prior to their entry.
Desperate librarians in Long Beach, California, issued so many pleas for help local politicians passed a law permitting the suspension of disruptive attendees. Their complaints ran the gamut — from unclothed patrons sleeping inside location to fistfights in the stacks.
“We need to protect our patrons and our staff,” said Long Beach library director Cathy De Leon after the measure was passed last month.
Florida authorities reported in February that 27-year-Christian Stark filmed at least four children inside a Tampa library bathroom — and even recorded himself masturbating at the branch. He is currently in custody while awaiting trial.
A Nashville library was locked down last August when gunfire erupted inside the facility during a fight between juveniles, leaving three people injured.
“At the public library?” asked librarian and witness Brent Dickerson after the incident, according to the Tennessean. “You’d never think that. But we’re living in a different time now. I don’t know. It’s unbelievable.”
Librarians are also having to manage brazen drug use inside their places of work. Some complain of open marijuana use, while a Boulder, Colorado location had to shutter for more than a year after methamphetamine residue was found in restrooms.
A study by the San Diego Union-Tribune found police are called to the city’s $185 million main branch — where a man was shot dead last August — roughly once a day.
Librarians told The Post they remain committed to providing inclusive spaces for their local communities, but a lack of mental health support and overwhelmed administrators are making the situation untenable.
“We want to do our jobs,” one said. “In a lot of communities, people have nowhere else to go. Most of the people who come here don’t cause any problem at all. But there has to be more support, more of a plan to deal with what’s happening.”
Others, including Goulden, said they’ve been forced to develop tactics to parry constant sexual harassment from patrons who can become aggressive.
While many cities contract with security firms to maintain order at local libraries, their presence isn’t always effective.
A 23-year-old former New Orleans library guard was hit with attempted murder charges last year after she fired at a patron who had thrown a brick at her colleague.
Staffers at the location complained the security firm failed to properly train their employees, and claimed they would often escalate tense situations needlessly, according to Nola.com.
With libraries also becoming culture war flashpoints over events like Drag Queen story hours and controversial book being available to under 18s, locations across the country have also been on the receiving end of bomb threats and other forms of harassment.
“I’m checked out at this point,” the Brooklyn staffer said. “No pun intended. I’m just trying to get through the day.”
The American Library Association did not respond for a request for comment.