Glens Falls library gets tough on troublemakers

Libraries have a bit of an interesting mission. Especially in smaller communities like many of those in the North Country, they serve as community center offering space for story hours and meetings; they’re a nice, quiet place to read; obviously they give people access to free books (and increasingly e-books); and, as anyone who’s spent a workday in the library knows, they provide a place to go for people who otherwise might not have one.

As in any organization that has a lot of “stakeholders,” as they say, some of those purposes are sometimes, well, at cross-purposes: And one of those ways is highlighted nicely in a story this week from the Glens Falls Post-Star. The Crandall Public Library in Glens Falls has a new director, Kathy Naftaly, and she got permission on Wednesday to suspend the library privileges of those who “disrupt library users and staff by loud talking, horseplay, drunk and disorderly or harassing conduct” for a year (oh, horseplay, the trouble you create!) The suspension actually also includes a section of Glens Falls park that’s directly outside the library. More detail on the kinds of infractions that could get you ousted from the library is in the article, along with a lot more interesting stuff about the situations in other area libraries, and how everyone’s handling security.

The plan has its supporters, including one commenter on the story who likens the ambiance in the library to that of a bus station. And it’s not just “horseplay” that’s a concern (really, that word should become obsolete — it’s apparently been around since 1589, and it makes everyone who uses it sound like a gym teacher from the 1950s): On Wednesday, the library suspended the privileges of a man who’d been advertising on Craigslist for men to meet him in the library restroom for sex (it’s not clear in the article whether he was using one of the library computer terminals for this purpose, although Naftaly does say it’s rare people are found looking at pornography on said computers.)

The new library rules also have their detractors, including library board President Sanford Searleman, who expressed concern that the library environment would become too sterile.

You only have to create a disruption in the library one time to be banned under the new rules, and board member Richard Leonelli pointed out that it’s important in this sort of situation that people be informed about the new rules. “It’s going to be a big change. It’s going to be hard on the staff.”

For her part, Naftaly thinks the changes will be well-implemented: “I trust our staff and I trust the security, with a little direction on our part, to handle it fairly.” Lots of potential abuse issues here, so let’s hope so.