Library must be made safe for users, staff By: Editorial Posted: 7:00 PM CST Friday, Dec. 16, 2022 Last Modified: 10:05 PM CST Friday, Dec. 16, 2022 Updates

Opinion

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This article was published 15/12/2022 (740 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The slaying of Tyree Cayer, who was fatally stabbed at the Millennium Library last Sunday, has reignited calls for the library to reinstate the controversial airport-style security it abandoned in 2020 after pushback from critics.

In an interview with the Free Press, a former library employee described the metal detectors and bag searches as “a necessary evil.”

“Necessary evil” seems the right thing to call them. They are a Band-Aid that may prevent a knife or machete from making it through to the carrels, but metal detectors and bag searches are not, on their own, going to stop violence. That’s why such tactics are sometimes referred to as “security theatre” — feeling safe and being safe are not necessarily the same thing.

Addressing violence in a meaningful way will require much more ambitious systemic fixes, which could take the form of downtown warming shelters, supervised injection sites and bolstered addiction and mental-health supports that meet people where they are.

A dearth of wraparound supports for addiction, homelessness and mental-health issues, all rooted in harm reduction, has put outsized pressure on the library as one of the few accessible places in Winnipeg’s downtown that is free, warm and relatively safe.

The Millennium Library, by virtue of its size and location, has had to be much more than a library, which is why it established a “Community Connections” space, with crisis workers on site. The library has long been a refuge for people from all socio-economic backgrounds, from all postal codes.

And, as critics and advocates pointed out back in 2019, the presence of metal detectors and bag searches doesn’t necessarily make things safe, and can be particularly alienating for people who are already marginalized.

But a dearth of wraparound supports for addiction, homelessness and mental-health issues, all rooted in harm reduction, has put outsized pressure on the library as one of the few accessible places in Winnipeg’s downtown that is free, warm and relatively safe. Safer, at least, than being unhoused on the street.

That lack of support has also meant those working in the downtown library are essentially required to double as front-line addictions and mental-health support workers. And last Sunday, library staff who were on duty at the time had a front-row seat to the fatal stabbing.

When discussing downtown safety, people often point to neighbouring Canada Life Centre and the presence, at events there, of metal detectors through which patrons must pass before entering the facility. But violence — often fuelled by alcohol served on the premises — can still happen, as when a fan was recently shoved down the stairs and injured during an altercation in the stands at a Winnipeg Jets game.

A fundamental difference is that it can cost hundreds of dollars to even set foot in the arena. Same for security checkpoints for passengers headed to departure gates the airport. In that context, one might be inclined to ask how — and whose — safety is prioritized.

The library must be made safe for its users and staff. Newly elected Mayor Scott Gillingham says it won’t reopen until that’s the case. “I’m committed … to make sure the library does not reopen the same way that it closed,” he said. “There needs to be other measures in place to ensure the public can have confidence, and our staff can have confidence, that it’s a safe space to work in and a safe space to visit.”

Whether they’re reinstituted as a “necessary evil” or not, metal detectors and bag searches are too-easy answers to the vastly more complicated question of safety in Winnipeg’s downtown. If the city and province are truly serious about making downtown Winnipeg safer — for everyone — they must relieve the pressure on the Millennium Library by addressing the gaping holes in our social safety net.

Let the library be a library. For everyone.