Winnipeg's Millennium Library reopens with walk-through metal detector 6 weeks after fatal stabbing
New measures cost 'in excess of $10,000 a week,' city's chief administrator says
A walk-through metal detector, security screeners and uniformed police officers are now part of the experience at Winnipeg's Millennium Library as the city tries to address violence at the downtown building.
But it's still a place to relax and read, City of Winnipeg chief administrative officer Michael Jack says.
"Beyond that, this is the library you know and this is what it looks like," he told reporters on Monday as the lights of an airport-style screening area glowed behind him.
The downtown facility reopened Monday for the first time since the stabbing death of Tyree Cayer, 28, on Dec. 11. Four teenage boys — two 14-year-olds, a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old — have been charged in his death.
Asked if he believes the new measures will make staff and the public feel safer and more confident using the library, Jack said "we're hoping."
"We know not everyone will be, we know there's a real division of opinion about these measures — some would like us to go further, some didn't want us to have to come this far," he said.
"No building can be guaranteed to be safe. We do think these are reasonable measures."
The strict security is an interim measure, Jack said, repeating what the city has been saying since it became clear earlier this month that was the direction in which the library was headed.
The city is waiting for recommendations from a comprehensive risk and security audit of the facility before deciding on any permanent changes.
"We really do want to be relying upon expertise here … [but] security needs to be paramount in this interim phase," Jack said.
The hope is to be able to use "less obvious or less intrusive" means to make the space safer, he said.
"Everything is on the table right now. This really is a work in progress. We didn't foresee the tragic death that was going to precipitate closing."
The initial set of recommendations from the security consultant is expected within a few weeks. That will need to be evaluated by the city before any decisions are made about the next steps, Jack said.
"We have asked them, of course, to make a whole host of recommendations, including items we can act on very quickly," he said.
The review will also look at the library's entire layout, furniture and amenities.
"Anything we can act on immediately, without needing more budget from [city] council, we will be acting on," Jack said, adding that bigger measures may require asking the city for more money.
The current measures are costing the library "in excess of $10,000 a week," he said.
This is the second time the library has increased security at the entrance. It was beefed up in 2019 with security screeners checking bags and using metal detector wands on visitors.
The measures were met with an immediate backlash and scrapped the next year.
The current walk-through detector — which cost $6,000 — is focused on finding weapons, not food and alcohol and other items that security had taken out of bags during the last go-round.
"There is no interest, in this interim measure, in detecting anything other than weapons," Jack said. "That's all our security personnel will be instructed to look for."
Uniformed officers are present to deal with other illegal activity. They will patrol both the inside and outside of the facility, Jack said.
Mayor Scott Gillingham, who toured the library Monday afternoon, said he was happy to see people back inside, accessing the books and computers and all the other services.
"That's the message I certainly want to send to the people of Winnipeg: the library's open," he said.
As for the security measures, he echoed Jack in emphasizing the measures are interim but immediately necessary.
"I don't think anybody in our city wants to see the need for police in our libraries, but that's where we are today," Gillingham said.
"We have to make sure the library is safe. We we need the public to have the confidence that they can come to the library and it's a secure space for everybody."
Remove security, risk losing staff: union
The union representing library workers says if the city decides to scale back the security, it will likely lose staff.
"Our staff have raised concerns about the right to refuse unsafe work," said Gord Delbridge, president of CUPE Local 500.
"I can tell you right now that I've heard from staff that have said if they don't have security measures in place … a lot of them were inquiring about the right to refuse and not showing up to work."
Delbridge called it unfortunate that the current type of security is necessary, but said the violence that occurs in the library shows it is.
"At the end of the day I think it relieves some of the anxiety from some of our members," he said, adding the only way around the security is to address social issues such as poverty and homelessness.
"We need to put resources in place to help people. We need affordable housing, we need addictions crisis support and mental-health support. That's what's going to make our community a better place."
Library visits dropped in 2019 to 608,692, more than 250,000 fewer visits than in 2017 (861,997) and well below 2018 (855,192). When that data came out last month, the city attributed the decrease to the enhanced security measures.
On Monday, Jack said he fully expects another drop-off.
"We know this will likely result in another drop in attendance in the first few weeks but we also know it's an interim measure," he said. "We tried our best to find the balance we needed to get open again, bearing in mind the significant concerns being raised by staff for their own safety.
"I don't think the interim measures are the right long-term balance. I'm hoping with some more thoughtful measures in place, we can get there."
'Pure theatre'
Helmut-Harry Loewen, who visited the library to return a book and check out some new ones, was critical of the new security.
"I'm really not happy with this. I'm really irritated and annoyed, but that's how our city operates," he said, calling it "quite a procedure" to get through the line.
Loewen, a former instructor of criminology and sociology at the University of Winnipeg, said there is no evidence in research literature that says more policing makes people safer.
Like Delbridge, he said the problems are deeply rooted in social problems, which is where the city needs to focus attention — not on metal detectors.
"The city is creating the impression that they're doing something, but what we saw here today is pure theatre."
Loewen called the death of Cayer horrific and said he understands staff are traumatized, "but this here will not address that."
Hamse Abdi has been living in Winnipeg for two months and the Millennium Library was the first place he visited.
He's used it to improve his English and as a place where he can settle in for some time. He has never encountered any problems there, he said.
"You can't imagine how much I missed [it] … while it was closed. It is like home for me," he said, welcoming the reopening.
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With files from Cameron MacLean