How these local libraries grapple with the cost of safety, amid ongoing security incidents

A rural public library system in southwestern Ontario has had to add a full-time security guard at one of its 14 branches because of an increase in security incidents in recent years.

Oxford County Library hired security at its Tillsonburg branch last summer following a spike in incidents inside and around the library, including suspected drug use, harassment of front-line staff, theft and emotional outbursts from patrons.

Although a guard's presence has helped to deal with incidents as they happen, security costs have totalled more than $83,800, a two per cent increase in cost for the library's $6.1 million budget for 2024, according to the library's CEO Lisa Marie Williams. 

"It's a budget pressure that we weren't expecting before. In a rural system, our budgets are already slim compared to urban settings so it does take away from other services when we can't add into that budget," she said.

"While our incident numbers are not necessarily going down, they're not getting to the point where we might need interventions from police because they're able to be dealt with sooner."  

A CBC News investigation last week found that there has been a dramatic rise in security incidents at public libraries in Canada's major cities and smaller communities. 

It's a trend that nearby urban centres like the London Public Library have dealt with for a number of years, predating the COVID pandemic, said CEO Michael Ciccone. 

"When you have crises like homelessness, mental health and opioid addictions that we're experiencing, these things tend to leak into libraries," he said. "Our staff really do have to face a lot and they're not necessarily trained to deal with it." 

Ciccone said his staff and security guards often have to go into bathrooms and ask people doing illegal activities to leave, which puts them on the receiving end of racial slurs and other profanities from angry patrons. Many are regularly calling biohazard teams to clean up and police to deal with aggressive customers and vandalism, he said. 

Measures libraries are taking 

The London Library has increased security at the Central Branch downtown — its largest location which accounts for more than 55 per cent of all incidents — and has hired a guard at the Crouch location on Hamilton Road, Ciccone said. The library started tracking security incidents in 2021, which shows a decrease so far in 2024, compared to previous years. 

The library also has a full-time transitional care worker employed through the Canadian Mental Health Association and received additional funding to continue the program through 2027. 

Staff are receiving updated emergency and crisis prevention training and although these measures are important, they're also costly, said Ciccone. He estimates they take up about $1 million from the library's budget, of which security costs around $600,000.

"We've put a lot of measures in place to try to avoid having incidents, and I don't know what more we can do than what we're already doing without additional funding," Ciccone said. 

"This is not a library problem, this is a social and political problem. It's not something libraries can snap their fingers and solve, we're doing everything we can within our capacity and budgets but we need help from provincial and federal governments." 

Williams noted that $5.2 million of the library's budget is covered by taxation through a levy for seven of the eight municipalities in Oxford County. While she said there isn't a need for additional security at other branches yet, it's something her team is constantly monitoring to ensure a safe environment for both staff and patrons. 

Her staff also receives regular training on de-escalating situations with disgruntled patrons, along with counsellor support when needed. They have the ability to issue temporary bans ranging from one day up a year, depending on the incident, Williams said.

Both Williams and Ciccone emphasize that although security incidents make up a small fraction of the thousands of visitors at libraries each year, they are still very safe and inclusive environments for everyone.