Hannie started her new job in a library in a big city with great enthusiasm. But when her trial period was over after two months, she thought it was enough. “Sleeping homeless people and young people with big mouths. I didn’t feel like it anymore. I just didn’t feel safe.”
In the library where Hannie* worked, homeless people came in early every day to warm up, she says. The library had a special protocol for the homeless, according to Hannie. They could only be sent away if they were asleep, smelly or fell asleep at the computer.
“Things like this bring a different audience to the library.”
“I have never been approached aggressively myself, but colleagues have. I have once left someone alone because I was afraid he would become aggressive.” Everyone is welcome in the library and the organizations behind it would like to keep it that way. But according to Hannie, that protocol was ‘going too far’. “These kinds of things bring a different audience to the library. And other people just don’t come anymore.”
Not only the homeless, but groups of young people also cause a lot of nuisance, says Hannie. “Young people from all backgrounds, immigrant or native. As soon as they are in a group they feel strong. They have a big mouth, are rude, talk to employees in a derogatory tone or throw books off the shelves.”
“I really think it’s an urban problem.”
So when her two months of probation at the library were up, she decided not to stay. She did not think her work situation was safe. “Then I heard that other colleagues also dared to say it.” But as far as she knows, nothing has changed yet. She finds it ‘deeply sad’ that security guards have to be brought in to keep the library safe.
Fortunately, she was able to fall back on her old job. She doesn’t know whether she ever wants to be a library employee again. “At least not in the city, because I really think it is an urban problem,” she says. “In a village I think I still dare to do it.”
*Hannie is not her real name, it is known to the editors.
YOU MAY ALSO FIND THIS INTERESTING:
Nuisance forces libraries to take action: security guards are increasingly needed
