Libraries

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A public library that keeps the public out: Somerville closing central library for hours each weekday after bad behavior (www.bostonglobe.com)

submitted 2 months ago by CyberpunkLibrarian@lemmy.ml to c/libraries@literature.cafe

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Seems to me that there might have been a better way to handle this.

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[–] Nougat@fedia.io 9 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I'm willing to bet that if I had rolled into a library and started tossing firecrackers around, I would have been arrested. There is a problem with petty crime on public property; why is there not a police presence? The reason the assholes keep doing this is because they don't experience any consequences, and just closing the doors isn't a consequence.

That would be the reactionary part of an appropriate solution. The preventative part would be to only allow library access to people over 18 with ID (at least during the hours they've instead decided to close the doors to everyone), unless accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

[–] revelrous@sopuli.xyz 7 points 2 months ago

In general librarians are looking out for their communities the best they can with the meager resources provided. Libraries barely get funding to keep in books, much less security guards and lawyers. Who would enforce the age gating? Maybe it's an acab type of town, and closing the library for a spell is safer than calling the police. From the article they planned to put cameras in the library, which would help find-out come home to it's fuck-around.

[–] Maggoty@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

Heck with some of our fellow Americans these days... causing a closure would be the entire point.