Protesters hope to persuade city to scrap screening measures at Millennium Library

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This article was published 01/04/2019 (2098 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Hundreds of protesters gathered at the Millennium Library hoping to persuade the City of Winnipeg to turn the page and close the book on its new security screening system.

Millennium for All, described in a statement as a grassroots community group, organized a silent read-in Tuesday afternoon. The goals: to force the city and library management to immediately scrap the patron screening measures, fund and house social services and supports, meet with community organizations by June 1, and change services at the downtown library to better meet the needs of marginalized people.

The protesters — armed with books and signs that read “WPL: Paradise Lost”, “WPL Pride not Prejudice”, and “WPL: Selected Poems not Selected People” — filled the lobby between the main-floor front doors and the security entrance.

Ray Eskritt, an anti-poverty advocate with West Broadway Community Ministry and one of the protest organizers, said the screenings — which began in February, and force library patrons to go through metal detectors and have their bags checked or they wouldn’t be allowed in — should be stopped.

“I feel for people who need to carry everything with them,” Eskritt said. “This is unconscionable, especially in a taxpayer-funded space.

“I used to come here all the time. This was a second home, but now I won’t access it. If there are community concerns, it should be addressed in a different way.”

Eskritt noted the library’s plan to install free lockers for people to stow their personal items, before going through the screening, was something that should have been done first. “That’s a result of zero community consultation.”

Sarah Broad said when she first moved to Winnipeg three years ago, she spent a lot of time at the library.

“It really felt like it was my community,” the protest co-organizer said. “When the security went up, I was really frustrated and angry about it. I know it is exclusionary and some people won’t come because of it… It is our public space and it is free… There are very few of those places left in any city.”

A statement from the City of Winnipeg said the screening measures were initiated because the downtown library “is accountable for providing safe and welcoming environments for all residents and staff.”

“This decision to implement security screening was based on a marked increase in the frequency and severity of incidents over the past few years — most significantly increases in incidents involving intoxication, substance use and violent or threatening behaviour, often with weapons.”

A city spokesperson said in recent years incidents have jumped 75 per cent.

Sitting on the floor, reading Simon Winchester’s The Man Who Loved China, protest member Jude Carlson said she’s not persuaded the security screening is needed.

“Maybe the staff and police have some reasons I don’t know about, but I don’t see it,” Carlson said.

“It seems to be bigoted… this isn’t a library problem. It is a social problem. It is addiction and it is mental illness… If someone sips a mickey of vodka, big deal.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca