Infinite Learning And The Ever Growing Concern About Violence In Our Libraries

For those seeking a career in librarianship, many would not consider the amount of emotional labor that goes into the daily workings of a library. However, guiding people to and through their information needs has always been a labor of love. I’m not surprised that burnout has been a hot topic for librarians, considering that shrinking budgets and ever-increasing workloads have been a harsh reality for many (Simon, 2020). Many librarians have also expressed that they feel that they have to display positive emotions and suppress negative ones while interacting with patrons (Simon, 2020). My previous career required nothing but emotional labor (many times physical), and it definitely can be taxing. I’ve been interested in the type of emotional labor that librarians are dealing with because every time I go to look at the news, libraries are constantly at the center of a controversial debate. From book bans to drag queen story hours, librarians are constantly bombarded by political groups who claim that they act in the name of public safety, while still threatening the lives of library staff and patrons. While book bans make national news headlines, some incidents only make it to the local news station because the political motivation for the danger appears to be lacking.

Recently, The Antioch Library had to make an emergency closure because of safety threats to staff and patrons. This particular branch had made several calls to emergency services over a period of several months because of a fire being set just outside the library, verbally abusive behavior towards staff and security, drug use on library property, and sexual intercourse in full view of patrons and staff (Goard, 2024). This has resulted in the city and Contra Costa County implementing emergency measures and funding so that the library can have an armed guard outside of the building during operation hours. While I personally believe that adding more weapons to the situation is not the answer, I empathize with the individuals having to make such critical decisions within a limited time frame.

Libraries have been facing such a staggering increase in violence over the last several years that the ALA wrote a statement to FBI Director Christopher A. Wray in 2022 because of the alarming increase in bomb threats and other threats to physical safety that caused five different public library systems to close. The library branches that had to temporarily close were the Hawaii State Public Library System, Salt Lake City Public Library System, the Denver Public Library, the Fort Worth Public Library, and the Nashville Public Library (Jcarmichael, 2022). While these threats have not been deemed related by the FBI, the trend of librarians fearing for their safety seems interconnected.

How does this relate to infinite learning? It seems like a larger conversation needs to happen at the national and local levels regarding public safety in our libraries. While a large portion of the violence happens for far-right-wing political reasons, many of the issues that took place at The Antioch Library show that a community impacted by poverty poses a serious threat to everyone. On a more interpersonal level, learning how to handle the seemingly endless emotional labor takes time and training. Learning how to manage emotional labor takes deep reflection and introspection. I know this because I had to do it repeatedly to manage my mental health over the last decade of my career in direct service to the public.

We recently had an incident at my branch involving a very verbally abusive patron that I luckily was able to witness and intervene, even though I am still a library page. While I was reshelving our DVD and BluRay Sections, I heard loud screaming from our main circulation desk. Thankfully, there was plexiglass that I was able to initially see through, and I was able to see how hostile the patron was getting. I walked out of the DVD section to get a clearer view. The patron was physically posturing at the library clerk while calling the clerk all types of obscenities. The clerk, who was being extremely patient, attempted to clear up what she called a miscommunication and was still willing to help the patron obtain a library card. The patron did not like being asked for an ID to show her address. She claimed another city library let her get a card without an address, and that she shouldn’t have to give out her address at all since she just moved here. Now, for someone like me (who worked in a psychiatric unit), incidents like this are my bread and butter. I listened, scanned my physical environment, and assessed the physical body language of the patron. I made eye contact with the clerk to let her know I was there to support her. With how hostile the patron was (she was inching closer to the desk with her hands waving wildly), I knew I didn’t have time to grab the supervising librarian. With someone like this, you don’t need to get hostile back to make a stand. I chose to physically position myself near enough so the patron could notice me, but far enough away to show that I was just watching her. I also kept my shoulders relaxed, my hands below my abdomen, and my legs in a steady stance. I also had to display a non-threatening but still mean business look on my face to show the patron that the behavior they were displaying was completely inappropriate. Now, there are other details that I am not going to go into here about the rest of my assessment of the situation (this is all from my experience working with psych patients), but to make a long story short, the patron saw me and immediately took several steps back from the clerk. She kept yelling and eventually stormed out and said she would return. From there we informed the circulation supervisor of the situation. Shortly afterward, the patron came back and slammed one of our books on the ground in response to us asking for a recent address, in order to obtain a library card.

I wanted to highlight this incident because no one at my branch has this type of experience and training. I never expected them to. While librarians can be amazing at de-escalation, the average MLIS program does not prepare them for this level of behavior. Also, this incident happened in a wealthy neighborhood. Even though these types of incidents happen less frequently, they are still increasing in wealthier enclaves. We also recently had patrons spit on each other because of a claim that one of the patrons was slamming his computer mouse too noisily. Now imagine having to brave incidents like this more rapidly because your community is underserved systemically. How are librarians going to combat this?  I don’t have all the answers, but it definitely seems to me that our professional collaborations need to reach our therapeutic practitioners and providers. We have to recognize that while we serve patrons, our patrons are growing increasingly more violent and unstable. The message that I consistently receive through these violent times is that our communities need our care more than ever; we just have to figure out how.

References: 

Goard, A. (2024, February 18). Antioch Library temporarily closed due to concerns over escalating crime. NBC Bay Area. https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/antioch-library-closing-crime/3456892/

Instagram. (n.d.-b). https://www.instagram.com/p/C5jBDAaseVZ/

Jcarmichael. (2022, September 29). Letter of concern to FBI regarding threats of violence in libraries. Advocacy, Legislation & Issues. https://www.ala.org/advocacy/letter-concern-fbi-regarding-threats-violence-libraries

Simon, K. (2020). Emotional Labor, Stressors, and Librarians Who Work with the Public. School of Information Student Research Journal, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.31979/2575-2499.100106