By Bob Seidenberg
Evanston Public Library trustees approved a budget amendment on June 21 to change five part-time safety monitor positions to full-time positions, creating greater coverage to respond to safety-related issues.
At the meeting, library trustees voted unanimously to approve Interim Executive Library Director Heather Norborg’s recommendation to increase the library’s safety monitor budget by $154,561 to support the cost of moving safety monitor positions from part-time to full-time.

Evanston Public Library – main building
The main branch of the Evanston Public Library is shown here. Credit: Bob Seidenberg
The average part-time safety monitor salary cost of $23,000 will go up to $55,000 ($40,000 in salary, benefits and taxes) as a result of the change.

Officials had previously been exploring contracting with Skokie-based Phoenix Security, which currently provides services for the Morton Civic Center, the Robert Crown Community Center and other facilities, to fill in staffing shortfalls.

The company proposed providing a dedicated security officer at the main library branch during all hours, at a cost of about $109,000.

Some library trustees, though, had voiced reservations at the board’s May 17 meeting about moving forward with Phoenix, questioning whether the firm’s practices were in line with the library’s emphasis of moving away from policing and employing de-escalation techniques for dealing with people experiencing crises.

Phoenix has begun holding training session for its officers in de-escalation, said Leon Mitchell, the firm’s president and a former sergeant with the Evanston Police Department.

At the June 21 meeting, several library trustees spoke in support of using the library’s own safety monitor team. At the board’s April meeting, John Devaney, the library’s facilities manager, said of members that it’s “a structured team,” which, while not making a lot of money, “brings a tremendous skill set.”
“What I like about this [is] we’re not doing policing,” said Trustee Benjamin Schapiro at the June 21 meeting. “We’re doing intervention and de-escalation, and we need staff to have control over the people that will do that so we can train them properly.”

Board President Tracy Fulce noted how close in cost the in-house program is with Phoenix’s, “but sounds so much more comprehensive.”

“And it’s an investment in our people,” she added. “That’s the signal.”

In her memo recommending the move, Norborg noted that the library’s goal is to provide two monitors on duty at the main library branch, 1703 Orrington Ave., and one at the Robert Crown library branch, 1801 Main St., at “all times the libraries are open to the public and to also have enough coverage for monitors to participate in ongoing, regular meetings, training and mentoring sessions with the safety manager.”

She wrote that “increasing the five safety monitor positions to full-time would move us toward that goal.” She said the increase in hours would allow officials to provide two monitors on duty at the main branch and one monitor on duty at the Robert Crown branch “for most of the hours the libraries are open to the public, plus covering opening and closing duties.”
Library officials have taken a number of steps in recent months to respond to an increase in safety-related issues, including a Jan. 9 incident in which an off-duty officer working as a safety monitor drew his gun while allegedly being beaten by a homeless man.

Effects of manager’s departure felt in library staff

Norborg noted that the library’s safety team “has been stretched thin” following the resignation of its safety manager in November 2022.

“In addition to hiring, training, managing and mentoring our safety team,” she explained, “the safety manager is also responsible for a physical presence in the public-service areas of our libraries and allows us to have up to two safety team members on the floor at all times during opening hours.”

Officials posted the position after the departure of the previous safety manager, she said. But in light of community feedback regarding the incident that occurred in January, a revised job description was drawn up, she said.
Library officials have taken a number of steps in recent months to respond to an increase in safety-related issues, including a Jan. 9 incident in which an off-duty officer working as a safety monitor drew his gun while allegedly being beaten by a homeless man.

Effects of manager’s departure felt in library staff

Norborg noted that the library’s safety team “has been stretched thin” following the resignation of its safety manager in November 2022.

“In addition to hiring, training, managing and mentoring our safety team,” she explained, “the safety manager is also responsible for a physical presence in the public-service areas of our libraries and allows us to have up to two safety team members on the floor at all times during opening hours.”

Officials posted the position after the departure of the previous safety manager, she said. But in light of community feedback regarding the incident that occurred in January, a revised job description was drawn up, she said.

The revised description drew on “research of best practices from other libraries, and emphasized de-escalation and restorative justice practices in dealing with individuals in crisis situation,” she said.

Library sought stop-gap measure in police patrols

As an immediate short-term measure, Norborg said, officials have asked the Evanston Police Department to add the main branch to its daily rounds in the downtown area, with uniformed police officers making stops inside the library twice a day.

“Community sentiment regarding increased police presence in the library is mixed,” she reported. “As an organization that serves vulnerable populations, ultimately our goal is to reserve the use of police department assistance for immediate safety emergencies that require a police response. The increased police presence is intended to be a temporary stop-gap measure to help ensure the safety of our staff and patrons until our safety team staffing is stabilized, or alternatives such as a contracted security firm can be implemented.”

Norborg said officials have also scheduled a building survey with the Evanston Police Department “to review and offer recommendations on ways to improve the physical spaces inside the building to be able to prevent and respond more quickly to emergencies.”

Library to expand training

“The library already uses The Librarian’s Guide to Homelessness, considered the gold standard for libraries across the country in implementing a range of de-escalation techniques applicable to vulnerable people,” Norborg wrote. “Following January’s incident, we required members of our safety team to immediately review this core training. We will continue to require regular review of these modules for all staff.”

The library has also collaborated with Connections for the Homeless on a pilot training program on de-escalation techniques, she reported, and has also worked with Trilogy Behavioral Health.

Norborg observed in her memo that “recent increases in safety issues experienced by EPL are not unique to our library.

“Though it is too early for definitive trend data, anecdotal evidence from across the country points to a recent increase in safety threats in public libraries when compared to pre-pandemic data,” she wrote. “Public libraries face a range of different kinds of threats with many potential influencing factors – the rise of book bans and attempts at censorship have made libraries a more likely target for threats, while socioeconomic pressures have created more desperate and stressful situations for some of our most vulnerable patrons, who are statistically more likely to be targeted victims of crime.”