Thunder Bay library looks to increase security after staff member assaulted

The Thunder Bay Public Library (TBPL) will be requesting additional funding from the city to improve safety and security after a staff member was assaulted on late Tuesday afternoon at the Brodie Street branch 

"We had a patron come into the branch who had actually been banned from the building for her behaviour in the past, and had a no trespass order out with the police," library CEO Richard Togman said. "When one of our staff members attempted to call the police to have her removed from the building, she was violently attacked by that member of the public."

The staff member received medical attention, and the Brodie Street branch was closed on Wednesday as a result of the assault, giving staff a chance to access mental health support.

In an interview with CBC, Togman said the library has seen an increase in security-related incidents including public drug use, intoxication, assaults and threats.

"We look at the first quarter of this year compared to the first quarter of last year, we've got a 38 per cent rise in the number of incidents happening at the branches," he said. "That's over 75 incidents just in the first quarter of this year alone, so more than one every single day."

Over the past decade, the library saw an average of about 225 incidents annually, Togman said. In 2024, the library saw more than 500.

Togman said while all branches are affected, the Waverley and Brodie branches — which are located in Thunder Bay's north and south cores respectively — are seeing the most incidents.

"We've for, awhile, tried to handle these matters internally, hired community facilitators to try to de-escalate and mitigate some of the more violent incidents," Togman said. "But at this point, we just don't have the resources to cope with what we're dealing with, and will soon be going to city council to ask for additional funding purely for safety and security upgrades at the library."

Those upgrades could include hiring security guards, installing better cameras or changing the layout to allow for better sight lines.

"As a system, we're trying to improve our relationships and get involved in some of the task forces around safety and security in the downtown cores," Togman said. "In general, we have a pretty good relationship with the police in terms of them responding to incidents and kind of caring for staff. But knowing that the police are already overstretched in our city, we're not always top priority and we can't always be responded to the fastest."

Togman said it is critical the library gets support from council on this issue. 

Nicole Dalmer, assistant professor in social gerontology in the department of health, aging and society at McMaster University said libraries across Canada are seeing an increase in security and safety incidents.

"Public libraries increasingly are trying and are being asked to, I think both implicitly and explicitly, to act as these community hubs," Dalmer said. "I think that's because of a result of so many social services being cut."

"This, as a consequence, brings a lot of folks to the library because they might not have elsewhere to go, whether that's seeking assistance with ... needing a washroom, needing someplace that's warm or cold depending on the weather, or just not simply just not having anywhere else to go where there's no expectation of payment."

"Library workers are encountering a lot of folks who have a lot of complex and maybe challenging needs."

Dalmer said the issue is being discussed by the Canadian Urban Libraries Council, and within larger Canadian public library systems. Underfunding is a major contributor to the problem, she said.

"Staff are being asked to do so much, not only in providing access to information services and support, but acting as kind of a frontline worker," she said.

She said some public library systems are forming partnerships that see social workers brought into library branches.

"With Hamilton Public Library right now, I'm doing a study with them to evaluate their new social work program," Dalmer said.

"Part time social workers ... have an office in the central branch, so that if someone's experiencing a moment of crisis, or if it's something that goes beyond the skills and capacities of the library, workers are able to refer them right then and there to a social worker who has that training and those skills to really address what might be happening."

Margaret Demillo, president of CUPE Local 3120, which represents about 70 workers at the TBPL, said the union has asked for security guards at branches as a short-term solution, as well as various procedural and policy changes, to increase safety at TBPL branches.

Demillo said the local union is going to work on a campaign to support safety in libraries and is hoping to have public support.

"We need it to be a safe workplace for us, and we need it to be a safe place to visit for the community, so we're going to ask the public to put pressure on council to make sure we have those resources."