DESIGNING LIBRARIES
Drunks, vandals and body-cams – how libraries are tackling anti-social behaviour
A 2025 survey of library services in the West Midlands revealed that many had experienced an upturn in anti-social behav- iour, vandalism and criminal activity since the COVID pandemic. Service heads from 14 authorities reported a wide range of problems including drunken behaviour, racist comments to staff and customers, and assaults on staff. Ayub Khan MBE reports.
A NUMBER of measures have been considered or imple- mented by library authorities to tackle these problems and make libraries safer and more comfortable places for staff and customers. These include techno-solutions such as CCTV, staff body-cameras and trigger panic buttons to alert help, alongside other measures such as de-escalation training, employing security staff, and r eviewing library layouts to eliminate blind spots.
Impacts
Of course, behavioural issues in libraries extend beyond the West Midlands. The increasing number of incidents has both a financial and human cost. One London Borough recently conducted a survey to quantify the impact on staff. It found:
l 76 per cent had experienced a challenging interaction with library users – 82 per cent in the last year;
l 76 per cent of interactions recorded by female staff;
l 92 per cent verbal abuse, seven per cent physical and verbal, one per cent physical; l 45 per cent felt incident had some impact;
l 28 per cent felt unsafe, 72 per cent felt safe, and 21 per cent expected to have to deal with incidents themselves; l no pattern of perpetrator (children, teens or those with additional needs).
Good design can help iron out anti-social behaviour.
Meanwhile mitigating measures and work to repair crim- inal damage can be expensive and repetitive. Thefts and damage to library roofs, for example, can and do happen repeatedly. In Nuneaton, Warwickshire, costly and essen- tial repairs are keeping the central library open – despite it being scheduled for replacement as part of a major urban regeneration project. The current library, designed by Fred- erick Gibberd, opened in 1962 and – externally at least – looks much the same today.
Can design offer solutions? The question is whether library design – the building and its internal layout – can help reduce problems. The converse is undoubtedly true. Take, for example, a smart, Scandinavian-style library in the
8 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL DIGITAL
north of England which boasted a mezzanine floor and bal- cony – over which unruly visitors lobbed various items onto customers and staff below. Two separate access stairways made the perpetrators’ escape easier. Such design malfunction only becomes obvious when the library has a problem with visitor behaviour but that, sadly, seems to be on the rise. And with many public library ser- vices looking to use technology to extend opening hours into unstaffed periods, there are extra risks to consider. There is no easy solution. Public libraries extend a warm welcome to all – but clearly not everyone can be trusted. I recommend checking out the Design Out Crime report (
https://tinyurl.com/DesLibs251) from the Design Council for a broader context and, more specifically, the Creating Safer
Rewired 2025
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