MEMBER SIGN IN
Not a member? Become one today!
         iBerkshires     Berkshire Chamber     MCLA     City Statistics    
Search
North Adams Library Concerned Over Drug Use In Building
By Jack Guerino, iBerkshires Staff
02:06AM / Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Print | Email  


NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The trustees and staff are concerned about people using the North Adams Public Library as a place to do drugs.
 
Library Director Mindy Hackner told the trustees Monday that she was worried about people going into the bathrooms and employee-only areas to do drugs.
 
"The problem with libraries are that they are anonymous spaces ... and they are taking advantage of that anonymity," Hackner said.
 
Libraries throughout the country are dealing with this issues, she said, and many bigger ones carry Narcan, a nasal spray that reverses the effects of an overdose.
 
A recent Associated Press story detailed how the heroin and opioid epidemic is spilling over into public buildings designed for reading and quiet research in the same way it's infiltrated other public spaces. And the American Library Association is encouraging training for librarians on how to interact with "special populations" and partner with social services and police.
 
Hackner said those who are caught using drugs in the North Adams library are banned but it is hard to catch everyone.
 
In the past, bathrooms have been kept locked and patrons who need to use them must ask for a key.
 
Hackner advised against this.   
 
"This is a very small percentage of people who are doing this and I'd hate to see the rest of the public punished," she said. "It is a problem and I don't want people to think of our library as a place where they can go to engage in this behavior." 
 
She said new signage will be placed in hopes of keeping people out of areas closed off to the public, such as the third floor.
 
Trustee Rich Remsberg said although the trustees should first serve the library, he felt that if there are any intervention opportunities they should point violators in that direction.
 
"I think a more constructive involvement with the people rather than just picking people out and putting up signs would be better long term," he said. "That will only protect us so much for so long and I think having a healthy ongoing relationship with the problem benefits us in the long term."
 
Hackner thought it most important to keep violators out of the building so it is a safe place for patrons and employees.
 
"I would be heartbroken if any of my staff found someone who had succumbed to an overdose in this building," she said. "It would change forever how we feel about our work."
 
However, she said would talk to police director to see what options are available and to what local programs possible addicts could be directed.
 
In other business, the library director said she has been in contact with Neu Tradition, custom millwork manufacturer, about replacing the "Juliets" and porch surrounds with a polycarbonate material. 
 
"It is a polycarbonate material with a metal inside. It looks like wood but it's not wood so it is going to last forever," Hackner said. "It is amazing, and these guys have done work in Amherst College and all over the place."
 
She said she has yet to receive a quote from them.

The library has been blocked by the Craigslist site for Albany, N.Y.

"Apparently someone must have done something on Craigslist that they didn't like from our Wi-Fi in the parking lot or from our computers because the nabbed our IP address and they have blocked us," she said.
 
She said patrons often search Albany's Craigslist and the library has contacted the site to clarify the issue.
 
The trustees also decided it was time to update policies that are more than 10 years old.
 
"They are awful," Hackner said. "We have to go through them policy by policy and clean them up."
 
Hackner said they were loaded online before she came on as director and she cannot take them down. She said once new ones are created she can link to them on the library's website. 
 
She said she would send the trustees recommended updates and they can walk through them at a future meeting. 
 
Trustee Nicole Prokop is moving and a new member will have to be appointed. 
0Comments
More Featured Stories
NorthAdams.com is owned and operated by: Boxcar Media 102 Main Sreet, North Adams, MA 01247 -- T. 413-663-3384
© 2011 Boxcar Media LLC - All rights reserved