Worcester Public Library details safety, staffing and facilities steps after rising incidents

Jason (executive director of the Worcester Public Library) told the board that the library is intensifying safety and security work after months of rising incidents downtown and inside library branches, and said the city manager added a security guard to the library’s budget.

The update summarized incident data, staff training, changes to on-site security and recent facility work at the Francis Perkins branch. Jason said incident reports show the largest concentration of events between about 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., and that some spikes align with police shift changes. He said the library has added training for staff on de-escalation, mental-health response and on enforcing the library’s patron behavior policy, and that staff are being asked to file thorough incident reports to support operational and legal responses.

Why it matters: trustees and staff said the library is a public-access space that often becomes the de facto point of contact for people in crisis. Board members were presented data and staffing options intended to reduce harms to patrons and employees and to improve coordination with city public-safety resources.

Most important facts

- Staffing and city support: Jason reported that the city manager included one additional security guard for the library in the city budget; once hired, the guard’s hours are expected to fill existing coverage gaps so that, "come July, we'll have 2 people at all times." He said a full-time security position salary is approximately $43,000–$45,000 (salary estimate provided in meeting discussion) and that benefits and other employer costs are extra. The position had been funded previously from ARPA and ARPA interest in earlier years; future permanent tax-levy funding remains under discussion with City Council.

- Incident data and operations: Presentations showed incident frequency concentrated in daytime open hours, with a peak window roughly 10 a.m.–3 p.m. The library’s heat map and time-of-day analysis also pointed to shifts in call-response times that overlap police shift changes. Staff were urged to document incidents with neutral language, a clear chain of events, and attached screenshots of the incident-report SharePoint form.

- Training and response tools: Staff have completed assigned trainings on homelessness and behavioral challenges, the patron behavior policy was updated in late 2023, and the library has installed desk-level call buttons to summon on-site security. The library retains Narcan for overdose reversal; an anonymized incident report shown to the board described a person found unconscious in a restroom who was revived with Narcan, refused medical attention and left the building.

- Facilities work and radon mitigation: Jason said radon mitigation at the Francis Perkins branch is complete. Short-term detectors showed a one-day average of 0.61 and a seven-day average of 0.84 (these are the library’s internal detector averages); library staff contrasted those readings with previous results in the 20s and said standard mitigation action is required when levels exceed 4. The library is awaiting confirmatory canister results from the city’s public facilities team before scheduling a reopening celebration.

- Approach and policy limits: Jason emphasized the library will not adopt metal detectors or search patrons, saying, “We don't get to mandate how people come to us in crisis. The only control we really have is how we respond to crisis,” and, “We are not a building that will ever be one where you have to walk through a metal detector to come in.” He also reminded trustees that the patron behavior policy — approved and overseen by the board — governs acceptable use within the building and that any citywide security unit assigned to library posts must abide by that policy when operating inside library facilities.

Discussion and next steps

Board members asked about the full cost to have two guards every day and whether funds exist in the library budget to sustain a larger security complement; the presenter said the added guard’s salary is roughly $43,000–$45,000 and that additional staffing would require budget shifts or further city funding. Jason described ongoing coordination with the Department of Public Facilities and a city plan to consolidate security services under one umbrella; he said the library will insist that guards working in library spaces enforce the library’s patron behavior policy.

Jason also described communication work with downtown partners on public-restroom access and noted ongoing misalignments between city departments’ perspectives and the library’s day-to-day reality; he said library staff and the day-shelter committee are participating in city conversations.

Ending

Trustees did not take a formal vote during the discussion; the meeting record shows the board received the report, asked budget and operational follow-ups, and will monitor hiring progress for the city-funded security position and test results for Francis Perkins before scheduling the branch reopening.