Two libraries in my network recently had some problematic patrons who got themselves officially trespassed from all district libraries for a year. While there were some tense encounters and some potentially unnecessary conflicts during the peak COVID panic at some branches resulting in arguably frivolous banishment due to power-tripping managers, these two recent events seem entirely justified.
Horrible Patron A was discovered to have cut pages out of dozens of library books. Who does that? It wasn't even some kind of protest based on the books in question. These weren't contentious political materials. No, someone just decided X-Acto blades should be applied to recipes, interior decorating ideas, and gardening books. What is wrong with her? We don't know, but we do know she isn't allowed on library property for a year. Hundreds of dollars of library materials need to be replaced, too, and I hope these charges have been applied to her account as well.
Horrible Patron B was brought to the attention of staff because of profanity use at a public computer. B was asked to stop swearing. Instead of being a decent human being and correcting himself, B shouted at the librarians, swore more, and generally created a scene. The county sheriff was called, and while no charges were filed, he was also formally trespassed for a year.
I have little experience with people behaving so horribly they needed to be banned from my library long-term. We have asked a few folks to leave for the day, but I only recall one occasion where someone was trespassed from our little branch, and I don't think I have told that tale here yet.
Our tiny branch once only had one librarian scheduled to work each Saturday, and when I first started, we had an incident. I was fully certified to work alone for the first time after completing my probationary period and training. A particular middle-aged woman was known to have problems with returning her materials on time, and she would borrow literally dozens of DVDs each visit. Earlier in the week, she had discussed paying her overdue fees with my manager so her account could be unlocked. She shows up that Saturday with cash, and was quite irate that I couldn't magically use managerial power to unlock her account and allow her to immediately borrow items even though my manager had very clearly explained the situation.
This was only the first of many tense encounters with this batty old lady over the next several months. It all came to a head one day, another solo Saturday, when she again wanted to borrow a massive stack of DVDs. Closing time was looming, and she again had some overdue fees to settle before I could check out to her. This time, there were no account management issues. I just needed several dollars. ten cents per item per day added up fast when there were that many items. She said she would run home for cash. I warned her how close it was to closing time, but said I would keep her stack of items at the desk so she could still borrow them if she returned with the necessary funds before I locked the doors.
She was not back when door-locking time arrived. I locked the doors and returned to the evening closing procedures she had interrupted by arguing with me over her fines and movies. At five minutes past the hour, my vacuuming was interrupted by Crazy Lady beating on the window and shouting, "I WANT MY MOVIES!" I pointed to the closing time on our front window and went back to work. She hit the glass even harder, and I decided to place myself well out of sight for a while until she left. Once I was sure she was gone, I let myself out and went to the city park to catch the tail end of a music festival while I unwound from the stress.
While there, who should I see but my manager? She asked how the day had gone, and I told her. She said that was not acceptable behavior by our patron, and the next week I saw an announcement that she had been trespassed for a year.
The story doesn't end there, though. Nope. I called her a "psycho," and while I may not be legally or medically qualified to bestow that epithet, it is nonetheless appropriate, See, well before her period of penance was over, she hit the local news. Selling her prescription psych meds and methamphetamine to an undercover cop is a one-way ticket to the pokey. I have my complaints about the War on Drugs and police entrapment schemes, but I can't say I'm sad to have never seen that bitch since then.
What kinds of outrageous behavior have you witnessed in the wilds of public spaces? How can we better respond to such incidents and encourage people to be better human beings in general?
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