SF Main Library implementing new strategies to curb unsavory behavior

http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/sf-main-library-implementing-new-strategies-to-curb-unsavory-behavior/Content?oid=2645140

San Francisco is hoping to start a new chapter in the Main Library’s troubled story as it ramps up investment in custodian and security personnel following a string of complaints and unsavory incidents that renewed the focus on patron behavior.

The institution has been marred by violence, drug use, sleeping patrons and deplorable bathrooms. In September, a 61-year-old man suffered bloody wounds when he was struck by a chair while using a library computer. In August, complaints over bathroom conditions escalated to the point where City Librarian Luis Herrera began to monitor them himself. And the number of patrons found sleeping, which is a violation of library rules, grew by 80 percent to 1,065 incidents last year.

In response, last week library officials unveiled increases to both security and custodian staffing as an interim solution and asked the City Controller’s Office to audit both functions, which is expected to lead to more sweeping reform. The library has been operating with about 13 security officers and 33 custodians.

New software is being piloted to better analyze and report public safety incidents. Currently, security personnel simply record incidents manually. In fiscal year 2011-12, 4,412 incidents were recorded, ranging from assaults to drug use.

In a new $188,000-a-year agreement with the Police Department, the library will have Sgt. Dave Hamilton on site five days a week as head of security. On-site police presence was irregular in the past.