By Michael Bielawski
Burlington’s Fletcher Free Library is getting a new position to deal with increased “sadness” on its premises.
The city’s job description states, “This position is responsible for providing a variety of patron behavior supports including the management of patron behavior and general safety in Library buildings and our Library grounds.”
The city is committing about $100,000 per year of this new position, the City Council unanimously approved the request at their Oct. 7 meeting.
It continues that this person should be involved in various community engagements, one being safety.
“This position will provide Safety & Security training and processes for the staff, and will partner with the Burlington Human Resources Department and with the Burlington Police Department when appropriate,” it states.
The Queen City has seen a dramatic uptic in crimes since defunding its police force in June of 2020. The year of 2024 has seen highs or near highs in multiple serious incident categories, especially retail theft and drug overdoses. The library is located in the belly of the beast, right in downtown, congested with drug related and homeless activity.
Also among the job description it states to “Develop and lead Safety and Security Trainings and processes for the staff. Partner with the Burlington Human Resources Department, the City’s Safety Manager, and with the Burlington Police Department when appropriate. Training may include, but is not limited to: de-escalation, mental health first aid, active shooter, stop-the-bleed, and basic first aid.”
“The sadness that they see in the library.”
The minutes of the Nov. 7 City Council meeting reveal that folks observe “sadness” in the current atmosphere at the library. It states, “Councilor McKnight asked how this role will improve the library experience for lifelong learners. Director Danko said that the library is a microcosm of the community and the way that they approach the sadness that they see in the library is something that everyone can work through together. She said that she hopes this position will be another front-line employee to help manage the different situations that arise in the library on a day-to-day basis.”
The minutes also indicate that the Library’s director Mary Danko spoke to the Council.
“She said that the bulk of this position’s work would be to ensure that warm hand-offs to other agencies and services is occurring for individuals who need them," it states. "She said that this would also be a resource for the whole community. She said that because this is through the Howard Center, the position would have support from the Howard Center through supervision and peer support."
She also detailed some of its funding. It states, “She noted that this will be funded for the first year partly by the Mayor’s Office and partly through a private donor through the Friends of the Fletcher Free Library.”
The American Library Association acknowledges that as homelessness increases in society, so does their use of public libraries. It states, “People experiencing poverty or homelessness constitute a significant portion of users in many libraries today and this population provides libraries with an important opportunity to change lives. As the number of poor children, adults, and families in America rise, so does the urgent need for libraries to effectively respond to their needs.”
There was an amendment at the November 7 Council meeting to require the city to examine what tangible impacts this position would make. The minutes state “Councilor Litwin [Evan Litwin of Ward 7] made a friendly amendment to also require that Director Danko establish metrics by which the position will be evaluated and report back to the City Council on those metrics and the outcomes of the evaluation of this position prior to the end of the first contract term.”
The author is a writer for the Vermont Daily Chronicle
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