Sault public library looking for more funding for security

The Sault Ste. Marie Public Library is hoping the city will come forward with some money to help deal with a worsening security situation at its downtown branch. The request comes as city council gets set for budget deliberations.

The library is asking the city for more than $160,000, which would go toward the hiring of a security guard and what they are calling a ‘social services technician.’

In a report to council this week, the library's CEO Matthew MacDonald outlined a number of incidents that have recently occurred recently – including a violent encounter with a patron.

"An individual almost injured a staff member,” said MacDonald.

“We immediately banned that patron from the building – but it's very concerning because he did attack one of our staff members before leaving."

Earlier this year, the library also began locking its washrooms to combat drug use in the building. However, MacDonald told CTV News that too is still a problem.

“We had an overdose in one of the washrooms,” he said.

“At the same time, we also had a Toddler Time program going on as well and the washrooms are just outside of our programming room. And we had to hold in the families while that overdose was being taken care of.”

The CEO added that other northern communities, like Timmins for example, have had security personnel in place for some time and the public is telling him that security is an important issue.

• Download the CTV News app now and get local alerts on your device
• Get local breaking news and updates sent to your email inbox
• Want more local news? Check out the Sault Ste. Marie page

“They want to be safe when they come to their public library,” said Timmins Public Library CEO Carole-Ann Demers.

“So, having a security guard on-site does help.”

Demers told CTV News that security guards in libraries are common throughout the province – adding her staff also have different things such as regular walkarounds of the library that staff d along with things like security cameras.

The Sault Ste. Marie Public Library does currently employ security – but only for a few hours on Sundays and on-call as needed.