It was just another day at the Bartholomew County Public Library — patrons were checking out movies, others were reading books and resource officer Pat Bryant was keeping a watchful eye over the lobby.
Bryant, a former Bartholomew County Sheriff’s deputy and DARE officer hired by library officials in October to oversee security, was on the lookout for some of the issues that have caused concern for library patrons and staff recently. Those concerns include homeless people sleeping on the floor and loudly using profanity and reported drug use occurring around the library’s exterior.
As Bryant walked through the interior of the library and then around the exterior of the building, he checked several of the nooks and crannies where some library visitors have been known to break the rules and, in some cases, the law.
Those areas include the parking lot, the north side of the library property along Sixth Street, and the more secluded areas of the interior and exterior, including exterior stairwells along the library’s east side, next to Irwin Gardens. Homeless individuals have been found sleeping in the exterior areas around the library on occasion.
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By 10:45 a.m., Bryant said he had already completed seven patrols of the library property without finding any issues.
“They hired me to come over to cut down some of the problems (the library was) having as a whole,” he said. “We were having people who were doing a little bit of vandalism. We have cut down on that. There were some homeless using some drugs, but we’ve cut down on that quite a bit.”
When Bryant started in October, there were six to seven incidents at the library per week, he said. He estimated that there are around six to seven issues per month now.
“The most common issue we have right now is that we have a lot of (mentally ill) homeless (people),” Bryant said. “We’re just dealing with them and keeping them calm so other patrons don’t get too frightened. Some of them will be sleeping. Some will walk around talking and screaming and using profanity. This is a family atmosphere that we try to have over here.”
A national trend
The Bartholomew County Public Library is one of many public libraries across the country experiencing similar issues, reflecting one of the major challenges facing many libraries today. That challenge is how to serve all members of the community, especially the homeless who may be suffering from mental illnesses and have diverse needs, while maintaining the image of being a safe place for all patrons.
“It’s certainly something that libraries across the country are dealing with, especially in certain communities where there’s a lack of affordable housing,” said Lucinda Nord, executive director of the Indiana Library Federation. “Some libraries have gone to the extent of hiring social workers or have very targeted outreach programs with folks with housing challenges. Some have convened public forums so the community is better informed of the issue.”
In 2018, there were 5,258 homeless people in Indiana on any given night, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
Until October, incidents at the Bartholomew County Public Library, including homeless sleeping on the floor and using profanity, were on the rise, prompting library officials to take measures, said Jason Hatton, library director.
Even though the library has hired off-duty Bartholomew County Sheriff’s deputies as independent contractors to patrol the library facility for several years, Hatton said he felt the library needed to “ramp things up a little bit” and hire Bryant as a full-time resource officer.
Hatton also instituted a new policy requiring library staff to take an online training course about how to handle situations with the homeless population.
“It’s a public building, so we have lots of people coming and going,” Hatton said. “At that time, we had gotten to a point that some of the patrons were no longer listening to staff, so we needed to ramp things up a little bit. The problems were increasing and getting more severe. A good portion of that was coming from the increase of drug use around the city, and I think we definitely saw that here. We had found needles on the property, the verbal disagreements were getting more intense. I’m not sure why that is. It just seemed like the intensity was growing. But the vast, vast, vast majority of patrons use the facilities the way that they should be.”
Memorial Day incident
Columbus police are investigating reports of a battery that allegedly took place outside the library at around 5 p.m. on Memorial Day. On social media, the incident was described as a rape, but police said it has been categorized as a battery at this time.
The police department is not releasing any more information about the incident while detectives continue their investigation, said Lt. Matt Harris, Columbus Police Department spokesman. The library was closed for the holiday the day of the incident.
Library staff have conducted their own investigation into the incident and have turned over surveillance footage to police, said Hatton, who added that the people involved in the incident appeared to know each other.
“I will say that this incident is not something that the rest of the city should be worried about,” Hatton said.
Bryant said he has not encountered any physically violent patrons since he started in October. However, he said there had been some cases of people he characterized as mentally ill homeless individuals “yelling and screaming at people and cars,” as well as drug use in the vicinity of the exterior of the library, which he said is not nearly as prevalent as it used to be.
“This is not just a library problem,” Bryant said. “This is a community problem that we really, truly need to deal with as a whole.”
Hatton said he believes the library is still a safe place for everyone in the community.
“We strive to be a welcoming, warm place for everyone, and as a public institution that is challenging,” Hatton said. “We have people of all stripes and avenues who come to us. We want to make sure that everyone feels safe to be here. Everyone is welcome here as long as they are behaving properly.”
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”For library patrons” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
If Bartholomew County Public Library patrons see something concerning while at the library, they should notify a library employee, said resource officer Pat Bryant, who oversees security.
Library staff will then notify Bryant, who will investigate and notify police if necessary.
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