Last week, the staff was in shock due to what occurred the previous Friday. Not one, but two overdoses.
#1 11:00 a.m. outside the building on the stairs surrounding the building. Paramedics weren't
able to revive the idividual.
#2 Found at 6:05 p.m. in the 1st flr Men's Restroom by a custodian. Paramedics were called and
once again, they weren't able to revive the individual.
I had never known it to be so bad around here in one day. Thursday of last week, I received an e-mail from a friend of mine who manages a branch library in a neighboring city. The contents of that e-mail took me back to my days of working as a Children's Librarian in the hood.
She wrote:
Nexgrl, I am so sorry that I haven't called or responded to your e-mail, but it has
been quite hectic around here. The was a major drug bust at one of the houses
across the street. They arrested a lot of men and confiscated a lot of product and
weapons. The police had the streets surrounding the library blocked and we were
not permitted to leave the premisis for quite some time.
(the next paragraph is what did it for me)
That same week, a man attempted to rape an elderly woman inside the library. He
tried to drag her down the stairs into the basement. We heard her screams, called the
police and the library assistant ran after the assailant. He caught him, and held him until
the police arrived.
I was so sad for my friend and what everyone had gone through, especially the elderly
woman. This week, one of my co-workers told me that my friend's brand new Children's
Librarian quit on the spot because she didn't like the way the attempted rape was handled
by staff (Clearly, this is a woman who only took the job working in the hood until something
better came along. She just didn't expect to see violence up close and personal.) Prior to
hiring that woman, my friend had gone about six months working as the only librarian
because no one wanted to take a job working at that branch.
***Update: My friend sent me another e-mail. She wanted to clarify. Her former Children's
Librarian was raised in the same neighborhood as the library is located. She was never
exposed to that type of violence, having only gone to private schools. I went to private
schools also, but I saw all kinds of stuff going to and from school.
4 comments:
When I think violence or "the element", for some reason, I don't think library. Hood or otherwise. Those things would shock me too.
Wow.
b.good
Things have changed when it comes to the libary. Sometimes that change is for the worse, sad but true.
WOW...I am in complete shock! Drug overdoses, rapes...at the friggin library??!!! That is beyond scary!
O.Diva,
I had never experienced overdoses in the library until I began working at this one. Now smoking cr*ck in the bathroom that happened all of the time at the previous library. This particular attempted rape wasn't in this library system. There was an attempted rape at the branch I worked in. The victim was a page and she had to testify against the man.
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