Millennium Library to reopen Monday with metal detectors among interim security measures

The City of Winnipeg says it will bring back airport-style metal detectors at the entrance of the Millennium Library on an interim basis, and the building will open back up to the public on Monday.

The city said a walk-through metal detector will be in place for all visitors entering the branch, as well as metal detector wands as the municipal government waits on recommendations stemming from a comprehensive risk and security audit of the facility, according to a news release issued Wednesday.

Ensuring there are no weapons entering the facility is critical to the safety and well-being of staff and visitors in the downtown library, the city said.

"This really was an interim plan to get open," city CAO Michael Jack said. "In terms of the balance between accessibility and security, we undeniably wanted to ensure that we were focusing on the security aspect."

The library has been closed for more than a month after 28-year-old Tyree Cayer was stabbed to death on the main floor of the downtown facility. 

The city said there will also be an increased security presence on site, with two police officers and an additional four security guards during this interim period.

Teams with the Downtown Community Safety Partnership will do extra patrols around the library, including through the lobby and park, and will use the former gift shop space as a base, the city says.

The Community Connections space that was dedicated to providing visitors with information and social services to meet their basic needs will be closed until further notice, the release said.

The Library's Community Crisis Workers, staff who can connect individuals with community agencies and organizations that provide social services, will still be present at the facility.

Instead of in the lobby, the crisis workers will now be located in their offices on the second floor of the library, which is also an interim change, the city said. 

In 2020, the metal detector and bag checks were scrapped in response to a public outcry. A group called Millennium For All held a series of rallies and addressed city council, calling the security measures "regressive."

The group previously called on the city to adopt more community-led strategies and roll out initiatives like the Community Connections space, as the library has in recent years, "which de-escalate and create a sense of welcome," said Joe Curnow.

"What we're seeing today is that the city is backing out of all the progress that they've made over the last two years and doubling down on a failed policy that made no one safer," said Curnow, a spokesperson with Millennium for All.

'Building a culture of safety'

Curnow said research suggests alternative methods of "building a culture of safety" are what is effective.

Those methods include upping the staff-to-patron ratio by hiring more library workers, and employing city workers to perform security duties rather than hiring private contractors to do the job, said Curnow.

Winnipeg has about half the staff in its public library system relative to Edmonton, Curnow cited as an example.

"When you have a higher staff-to-patron ratio it creates a different culture on the floor," she said.

"Bringing security in-house … you don't have like the revolving door of security who don't have relationships with patrons, who don't have an investment in creating a culture of welcome."

In December, Winnipeg's mayor Scott Gillingham said the library can't reopen the way it closed.

"These interim measures will help ensure staff and patrons feel safe and supported while work continues on the comprehensive security audit," he said in Wednesday's news release.

The first of two reports expected from the audit will include a list of immediate and short-term safety measures that can be implemented, while a second report will provide longer term suggestions.

Winnipeggers split on security measures

Arvand Mathru says he appreciates that there will be more security in place at the library the next time he goes to pick up a book.

"It's good to see there will be some mechanisms in place like police and security," he told CBC News.

Anmol Ghuman believes Winnipeggers will be split on how they feel about the new measures.

"I do think it's going to make some people more safe, but others more uncomfortable, because a library is supposed to be a space open to anyone, so it can make people less likely to come," she said on Wednesday.

Richard Kellie said he doesn't think the security will impact him personally, but doesn't like the idea of the space becoming less accessible to those who need a warm place.

"A library is a free and open space, and it just seems like they're restricting people from going in there by putting that security up," he said. 

"A lot of people like homeless people or people who might use that place as a place to sit will feel intimidated by it and not go in, so there's a resource in the community that's not going to be used because of it, I think."