Millennium Library incidents, visitors down since security changes

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This article was published 31/01/2024 (624 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A new City of Winnipeg report is offering hope a security overhaul is producing positive results at Millennium Library.

Council approved a long list of safety and security changes for city libraries in July 2023, which funded five more security guards at the downtown Millennium branch and up to eight more community safety hosts city-wide.

It also funded 4.2 full-time staff positions and another two community safety hosts to reopen Millennium Library’s Community Connections space, which has now resumed assisting vulnerable patrons with social supports.

The first quarterly update to track the results of those investments was released Wednesday. It shows incidents and library visits counted from October through December 2023 and the same span of 2022, offers some initial promise, said Karin Borland, manager of library services.

“I think it is encouraging, to a degree. If we look at 2022 for Millennium, (there were) 264 incidents… the three months (of 2022) and, in 2023, it drops to 187. That’s not a huge drop but… we were adding personnel within the building whose job (included reporting) on incidents,” said Borland, noting extra attention could have triggered an increase in incident reports.

Millennium Library attendance dropped to 39,810 in October 2023 from 61,302 in the same month of the previous year. It was 32,430 in November 2023, down from 51,551 in November 2022.

Borland said it’s difficult to confirm the cause of the apparent decline.

“We can’t say (with) scientific certainty what the reason is. We know that downtown workers have reduced in number. We know that some people choose not to enter the lobby due to (security) screening,” she said.

The report suggests adding community safety hosts has helped staff feel safer.

Facility safety was thrust into the spotlight on Dec. 11, 2022, when 28-year-old Tyree Cayer was stabbed to death inside Millennium Library. The library didn’t fully reopen to visitors until Jan. 23, 2023, with metal detectors added.

The screening devices will remain in place at least until a report on redesigning Millennium’s lobby is completed, which is expected in the fall.

Coun. Evan Duncan (Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood), chairman of the community services committee, said community safety hosts are making a difference.

“We’re going to see the library staff better-supported, so they’re not dealing with individuals who may be in crisis,” said Duncan.

The councillor said ensuring the downtown library is perceived as a safe space is key to attracting patrons. However, he stressed the City of Winnipeg lacks the resources to provide social services and needs assistance from the provincial government.

He also believes the controversial use of pre-entry metal detectors must continue.

“I think it’s a sad state of affairs that we have to report on number of public incidents at (our libraries). As long as we’re doing that, I think that, unfortunately, we’re going to need metal detectors at Millennium,” said Duncan.

Meanwhile, advocates have consistently called on the city to remove the screening devices, arguing they aren’t effective and create a barrier for vulnerable people.

“The security screening inappropriately keeps a lot of people from accessing the resources, the space, and it does almost nothing to impact the actual incidents that (occur there),” said Joe Curnow, a member of grassroots group Millennium for All.

Curnow noted matters recorded as safety incidents at libraries vary widely, including harassment, inappropriate behaviour, intoxication, medical conditions and theft — which she believes security screening would not prevent.

She cautioned against drawing conclusions about how effective the current safety strategy is from just a few months of data and urged council to continue funding safety hosts, Community Connections and additional library staff in its next budget.

Borland said the city still hopes to eventually move away from metal detectors. “To the best of our knowledge, we know that we are the only large urban Canadian library with a metal detector and we would like to not have that distinction.”

The city report also offers some detail on incidents community safety hosts have responded to. In October 2023, that included 84 of 94 “emotionally elevated” interactions being de-escalated, which was credited with preventing calls to emergency services.

During the same period, the hosts referred 117 people to social supports and used the opioid antidote naloxone six times.

The head of the union that represents library staff said he believes the overall security changes are making the Millennium safer, but needs to consult with employees to determine if more changes are needed.

“(Compared with the time) prior to them not having metal detectors… not having community safety hosts, absolutely, I would say that it’s safer,” said Gord Delbridge, president of Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 500.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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