Security Issues? Call Mr. Graham
By
Michael Rogers — November 15, 2006
There was a time when talking too loud or returning a book late were the
worst library offenses. Times have changed, with recent shootings,
stabbings, kidnappings, rapes, and even a car purposely driven through a
library wall with lethal intent. Since security isn't covered in MLS
programs, librarians must seek professional help, and the expert they
turn to most often is Warren Graham.
Graham has spent 25 years in security, including 17 at the Public
Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, NC, before retiring in 2006
to establish Warren Graham Training and Consulting. He regularly travels
across the country to all varieties of libraries providing security
training; his book Black Belt
Librarians (Pure Heart Pr.) details his methods. Graham told
LJ that he gets “a great
sense of fulfillment helping libraries control their environment.”
Communication is key
If there's a single golden rule, Graham said, it's to “never think about
confronting the patron. It's all about communication. If you think, for
example, 'The patron is doing something that is against the library
rules so now I need to confront him about it,' you'll tense up mentally
and physically. You'll be working against your own viscosity. Most
patrons will comply if you ask them the right way, and that is what I
train staff to do.”
Library location rather than size is a more important factor in
security, and even facilities serving their patrons well aren't immune
to confrontations. Says Graham, “It amazed me during my 17-year tenure
at the library in Charlotte that although the level of service provided
to the patron continuously improved (with Internet access, for example),
the stress level of the patron gradually increased. All libraries share
the challenge of communicating with the stressed-out patron in the most
effective manner.”
Geriatric fisticuffs
Graham has seen a lot in his career, as his book attests, and he shared
a favorite war story: “On 9/11, just a couple of hours after the Trade
Center attacks, I was called to the reference area to break up a fight
between a 78-year-old and a 68-year-old. One had bitten the other on the
shoulder, and when I arrived they were still swinging at each
other—swinging very slowly, but with bad intentions.”
Colorado Springs Gazette
October 16, 2006
It's somewhere to be
Tommy Arlow read Friday at Penrose Library. Arlow said he puts books
back on the shelf and finds them again when he returns. (CAROL LAWRENCE,
THE GAZETTE)
For the city's homeless, Penrose Library offers a warm, safe place to
spend the daylight hours
By CARY LEIDER VOGRIN THE GAZETTE
When Dave Linebaugh unlocks the doors at the Penrose Library downtown at
10 a.m. on weekdays, there's usually a small crowd waiting for
him.'Welcome to your library,' Linebaugh, a security officer, often says
to those who file in. It's his way of conveying that the library is a
place for everyone.
Mothers with toddlers pass by, seniors and students. Many of the faces,
though, he recognizes: They are the homeless regulars who hang out at
the library every day and usually stake out tables and chairs on the
building's west side, which offers sweeping views of Pikes Peak.
Linebaugh calls Penrose an 'equalizer' within the community ' a place
where lawyers linger among the stacks with day laborers, where people
who can't afford a computer can access the Internet. A place where
patrons are on equal footing, as long as they follow the rules.
Each day, Penrose logs 1,500 to 2,000 visits ' a cross section of
society. The homeless have long sought out Penrose as a refuge from the
streets in cold weather or as a place to wait until the soup kitchen, a
block away, opens for lunch.
Linebaugh and other security officers expect they'll see even more faces
from the street as winter sets in.
UNCOMFORTABLE FOR SOME
When the downtown library opened in 1905, philanthropist Andrew
Carnegie, who had donated $60,000 toward its construction, sent a
telegram that read, 'Cordial congratulations upon opening of library,
free to all, the People's University.'
The library remains free and open to all, but a two-page 'Code of
Conduct Policy' now exists to ensure that all library users are served
in a nondiscriminatory and safe environment.
Although the library has been praised for its even-handed enforcement,
not everyone feels safe at Penrose. Security officers say more than
anything, many people aren't comfortable being around the homeless.
It's an issue elsewhere downtown, where business interests say
aggressive homeless are scaring people. The downtown Business
Improvement District and Downtown Partnership recently hired off-duty
police officers to patrol the streets in response, though some say the
problem has been overstated.
At the library, some users reportedly avoid the downtown branch, driving
out of their way to use another facility; patrons also have asked
Linebaugh and other security officers why they let the homeless in, why
the library doesn't 'do something.'
The officers and other staff members say the homeless are not at the
root of most problems.
'We could have as much trouble with an Avon Lady,' said Sydne Dean,
associate director of public services for the Pikes Peak Library
District, who recently recommended the staff read a guide titled 'Black
Belt Librarians: Every Librarian's Real World Guide to a Safer
Workplace.'
In addition to the homeless, security officers encounter patrons irate
about fines, erratic behavior among the mentally ill, couples in
compromising positions and computer-users viewing sexually explicit Web
sites.
KEEPING THEM AWAKE
Michael Popolano, the head of security for the library district, said
even though Penrose logs thousands of visitors a month ' more than
50,400 in August ' the number of incidents requiring security
intervention there since the start of the year is low, around 30.
That's not to say security officers don't have frequent interactions
with the homeless to remind them of the rules: No sleeping or
panhandling, and the bathrooms aren't a place for personal grooming.
'I kinda watch that in the morning,' Linebaugh said of the restrooms.
'They're coming in from the evening. There has to be some reminders that
this isn't the place that occurs.'
Offensive body odor, which violates the rules for 'personal behavior' in
the library's code, is one of the more touchy subjects.
Last week, two people were asked to leave because they smelled.
'One took exception to it and challenged what was being said,' Linebaugh
said. 'The other explained that he had a physical outdoor job and that
he would take care of it.
'I'm not here to embarrass people. It's a delicate issue.'
He directs the homeless to places where they can shower, often handing
out a brochure listing service agencies.
Next month, the library plans to implement a rule similar to one
airlines use: Backpacks and carry-ins must be small enough to fit in a
bin or they won't be allowed inside.
The homeless will be given a month's notice before the change goes into
effect.
'They need some time to start making some alternate plans,' Linebaugh
said. 'These are their belongings. We don't want to spring this on
people.'
IN FROM THE COLD
Friday, Tommy Arlow came in from the streets not long after the library
opened and browsed the paperbacks before choosing a Western titled, 'One
Last Town.'
Arlow said he comes to the library a couple of times a week to read and
relax. He said he has no identification, so he puts his book back on the
shelf when he's done and finds it the next time he's there. He sleeps
outdoors and said when it gets really cold, he'll be at the library more
often.
Another man, who would identify himself only by his first name, Dan,
said he's been coming to the library for years. At 45, he has been
homeless on and off for nearly two decades.
He spends his nights in a culvert near Fillmore Street and walks
downtown in the mornings.
'I go to the soup kitchen, and then I come here,' he said. He spends the
day reading comic books, Stephen King or Dean Koontz. He avoids anything
depressing.
One day last week, he was walking slow, nursing cracked ribs he said he
suffered in a fall. He hadn't slept much the night before.
'The people are really good here, but you can't go to sleep,' he said,
exhausted, yet clearly aware of the rules. |
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