Bathroom mirrors have been covered in lipstick, elevators urinated in, seniors on walkers nearly plowed into by teens racing down aisles and brawling teens broken up.
The Gilroy Library recently became the first library in the eight branch Santa Clara County Library district to add part-time security as part of an effort to prevent vandalism, keep noise levels down and stop rowdy kids from running through the building.
Since opening, the library has been plagued with the kind of graffiti that’s etched into windows and mirrors. Some of it’s not profane, such as a “Jane loves Tom” note but it’s still costly, library officials said.
The goal: keep librarians concentrating on their real work, which is helping patrons find the perfect books, according to library personnel.
The Gilroy Library sees between 1,200 and 1,500 patrons walk through its doors on a daily basis, according to Community Librarian Lani Yoshimura. Just last September, the library spent $8,000 to replace broken windows and damaged mirrors, according to Derek Wolfgram, the Deputy County Librarian for the Santa Clara County Library District.
“It’s not like we’re dealing with security because people need to fear for their safety,” said Wolfgram with a laugh. “It’s really a behavior management issue and allows us to kind of preventatively deal with some of those behavior challenges with groups of kids running around and being disruptive.”
The contract with San Jose-based Orion Security went into affect at the end of January and costs $9,240 for a three-month contract, according to Wolfgram. Orion Security was selected in part because they provide security for other libraries and “understand our policy as the security guard as customer service as opposed to the security guard as hardcore rule enforcer,” Wolfgram said.
The company has selected just one officer to work at the library from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. The officer describes his role in the library as that of a “deterrent.”
“I just make sure people know there’s a security presence here,” said the guard, a medium-set redhead who prefers to go by “Bob” to protect his identity. “In any security job, you’re a deterrent.”
In addition to keeping track of middle school and high school aged troublemakers, Bob is also responsible for regularly checking the locks of library doors, one of the “little things” that takes up staff time and keeps them from attending to patrons, Yoshimura said.
The arrival of a new security guard correlates with a decrease in the number of times the police department has responded to calls at the library.
From January through March, the Gilroy Police Department responded to about one to two calls a month. Last year, that number was closer to three to five calls a month, said GPD Sgt. Pedro Espinoza.
On March 5, police responded to a call that children between the ages of 12 and 13 years old were in the alley between City Hall and the library swinging a pole at a light, explained Espinoza. There was no vandalism, and the children were warned to stop their behavior and move along.
Part of the issue with controlling behavior issues at the library is that the space is large and the staffing is limited, explained Yoshimura. That’s because the former Gilroy library was about 12,000 square-feet and had only one floor; the current facility is about 54,000 square-feet with two floors, Yoshimura added.
“We are really happy to have [security] here,” Yoshimura said. “It’s really freed our staff up to do work.”
