By the Executive Board of AFSCME Local 2822, representing 347 frontline Hennepin County Library workers
Our hearts hurt for the library patron who was reportedly arrested at East Lake Library in February. According to library workers who were there that day, this was a deeply traumatic incident. Frontline library workers have little to no control over decisions to call the police.
Having police involved in library incidents is not the norm, but having a person in crisis at our public libraries HAS become the norm. Many of your local library workers are struggling to support community members in acute crisis every single day.
Libraries are one the few remaining open, public spaces. In a perfect world, libraries would be safe spaces glowing with information and democracy and community. In our imperfect world, it often means that libraries are places of last refuge for people who have fallen through the cracks of a broken system. And with all of the ongoing crises, library workers have never seen it so bad in our library communities.
Hennepin County Human Service Hubs have not fully reopened to in person service since the beginning of the COVID pandemic, so many county residents in need end up coming to libraries for support instead. And when the community is in crisis, library workers are in crisis. We spend our days trying to solve problems that are way over our heads, with the weight of knowing it isn’t enough. We also do this work with very real concerns about safety. According to the 2022 Urban Library Trauma Study, 68.5% of library workers have experienced violent or aggressive behavior from library patrons. Your frontline library workers regularly experience or witness: physical violence; stalking; sexual harassment and assault; threats of violence; threats of violence with weapons; slurs of all kinds.
What is happening in our libraries is only a symptom of larger societal needs; we as a society need to make sure people have access to fundamentals. Until we get to that place where these root structural problems are solved, how can we all support library patrons in crisis, keep libraries as welcoming spaces for all, and make sure library workers are safe at work?
AFSCME library workers have always been fighting for safer and more supportive libraries, from getting sharp containers and security trained in administering Narcan in public libraries, to calling out the County for racist hiring practices. But we need the support and solidarity of our library community. Can we count on you to advocate for robust and fully funded community services?
Editorial Note: alley Editorial Leadership Committee member Lindsey Fenner works at Hosmer Community Library and is a proud rank-and-file member of AFSCME Local 2822. She doesn’t speak in any way for Hennepin County or Hennepin County Library.
AFSCME Local 2864, which also represents library workers, declined to comment at this time.
This article appears side by side with Library Patrons Union Protests…
