When firecrackers were hurled through the doors of Somerville’s Central Library, the staff knew it was time to respond to years of “inappropriate behavior” by teens who frequent the library.
For three weeks, starting in February, teens threw fireworks outside and inside the building, including in the book drop, according to two librarians employed by the Central Library.
The behavior has escalated so severely in recent months that the two agreed to speak only on the condition their identities remain anonymous, so they can protect themselves from backlash or harassment.
The city announced Aug. 27 that Somerville’s Central Library will close temporarily from 2 to 4 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays. (It reopens on Sundays this week.) The building is on Central Hill at 79 Highland Ave. – next to Somerville High School at 81 Highland Ave.
The change results from two years of librarian debate on how they can best address behavioral concerns, what they called some unproductive conversations with the Mayor’s Office and fear for their own safety. Librarians said they hope to create a safer environment for themselves and library patrons.
During a firecracker incident, one librarian remembered assuring patrons the sounds they were hearing from inside the library weren’t gunshots. “When your building is full of flammable paper objects, it can definitely stress you out. You’re like ’Oh, are we going to have a fire happen? What do we do?’”
The librarians detailed a year of increasing fights inside and outside the building involving an estimated 30 to 50 teens shouting, kicking and shoving, with some incidents forcing librarians to intervene physically. “It’s scary to be in that situation, and it’s scary for our patrons to think that might affect coming into this building and using it,” one said. Patrons trying to use the library have encountered rock throwing and people being hit with sticks. Patrons have complained that they have been hassled while trying to pass, and smoke has been blown in their faces.
After violence, librarians have noticed broken furniture and given out bandages. The teens “took things way too far than is appropriate,” one librarian said.
A message was sent to Somerville police on Sunday seeking data on teen incidents at the library, but there was no response in the following days.
Meeting with mayoral staff
In March, librarians met with mayoral staff to offer suggestions and ask for resources. “We know that we’re going to have a lot of social issues come across our doorstep, because we are one of the last free and open social spaces that people can go to and we welcome everyone. It’s just sometimes we are unequipped to deal with what that means for people,” one librarian said.
After a meeting with mayoral chief of staff Nikki Spencer, the librarians were notified weeks later in a three-page letter that the pandemic was responsible for the surge in bad behavior and that the grievance would have to be negotiated with their union. The library’s director responded by putting capacity guidelines on the building’s Teen Room, but that led to teens occupying other spaces in the building, which led to conflicts with adults, the librarians said. Some patrons decided visiting the library in the afternoon wasn’t worth the hassle.
“It’s really hard to have adult patrons coming up to us and saying, ‘Why can’t you keep them in control?’ Well, they’re teenagers, they’re going to do what they want,” one librarian said.
The Teen Room was later closed.
Finally, when one teen threatened a librarian for asking them to leave, the library cut the hours most likely to be used by the group.
Societal issues
Not all teen visitors cause a disturbance, the librarians said, and even those that do may be releasing energy after school or feeling frustrated with the lack of teen spaces in the city. This frustration can bubble up and cause the teens to scream in librarians’ faces and call them names, the staff members said.
“The teens don’t feel like they’re listened to, and they don’t feel like the city is making the space for them. Certainly, when the library closes during after school hours, that really is something that makes them feel like that is echoed, which is never what we want the message to be. It was just that we were not prepared for school to reopen,” a librarian said.
A spokesperson for the city confirmed the belief that broader societal issues were at work. “The behaviors we’ve encountered reflect broader systemic issues affecting community public safety, and we are actively working to address the underlying causes,” Grace Munns, deputy director of communications, said by email on Monday.
Munns said the city is looking to enact long-lasting solutions, including installing cameras and hiring a social worker. Two librarians have confirmed the wiring for surveillance cameras is underway; a social worker has yet to be hired.
Lack of a teen center
Messages were left Friday with library and police officials in Cambridge to see if the issues were affecting the neighboring city; Cambridge’s Main Library is, like in Somerville, next to its public high school. Robert Goulston, a spokesperson for the police, said the department’s Family and Social Justice Section hasn’t seen teen disruptions at Cambridge libraries.
A City Council order seeking a staff update on a permanent location and regular hours for a teen center was sent on Aug. 22 to a housing and community development committee. Sponsor Kristen Strezo, a councilor at large, said “a lot of our teens are still seeking a place, a consistent place, [where they can be] busy and engaged and happy.”
Though there have been “rumblings from the administration that there are plans and thoughts that this could be happening,” Strezo said of a teen center, the strain on librarians and concerns as school restarted highlighted how “we still don’t have something in place.”
Somerville librarians hope to see a solution soon. “We love to see what else we can do for the community, and we want to be able to keep doing that work in a safe and happy way for our patrons,” the Somerville librarians said.
This post was updated Sept. 7, 2024, with comment from Cambridge police.
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Station police officers in the library after school. When the teens cause a disturbance, arrest them. Continue until the teens change their behavior or all disruptive teens are arrested. What am I missing here?
It is less expensive and more effective to hire a social worker.
Good on the library staff.
Where are we to find all these social workers who are willing to take on potentially dangerous jobs with no backup at much lower pay than a police officer. Whoever is doing this job needs to be highly skilled at de-escalation. At some point some of these disruptors will need to be removed from the library immediately and perhaps given a time out such as they can not return to the library for a week or a month. Enforcing rules…who can do that.