Library workers punched, spat on: Security incidents on the rise in public libraries, data show

Once seen as oases of calm and quiet, libraries across Canada are becoming increasingly chaotic – even dangerous – with staff often ending up on the front lines of crisis.

Data obtained by CBC News shows there's been a dramatic rise in recent years in the number of security incidents — things like physical assaults, suspected overdoses, and thefts — at public libraries in Canada's major cities.

CBC News obtained data from 11 public library systems across Canada, spanning several years. 

Toronto Public Library (TPL) experienced the largest spike between 2022 and 2023: in 2023, the library had 2,334 incidents, up from 1,362 the year before — a 71 per cent jump, the data shows. TPL also reported a 529 per cent increase in the number of suspected overdoses between 2022 and 2023. 

"These increases are most significant at branches located in the downtown core of Toronto, and reflect broader societal issues that are playing out across our communities, including in our public spaces," a TPL spokesperson said in a statement. 

While Toronto's data is staggering, the same trend is playing out elsewhere.

The Winnipeg Public Library experienced a 21 per cent increase in the number of incidents between 2022 and 2023. Meanwhile, Vancouver Public Library saw a 14 per cent increase, according to its tracking. Only Calgary's incident count remained the same per patron visits from 2022 to 2023. Mississauga's rates declined notably from previous years, in part because the system's main branch was closed for renovations between March 2021 and February of this year. (Note, each system keeps its own data and the definition of a security incident can vary; most include suspected overdoses or intoxication, harassment or threatening behaviour, violence, theft and/or trespassing.)

Drug and alcohol use, including overdoses, seem to be a leading incident reported in most cities.

"There is a crisis on the streets of Toronto and the streets in all the communities across Canada," said Siobhan Stevenson, a University of Toronto professor in library and information sciences. 

"Libraries, because they're open and free, they're like canaries in the mine." 

CBC spoke to several librarians across the country to better understand how these statistics play out in real life. One librarian working at a branch in the Toronto Public Library system, who CBC News is not identifying because of the risk of repercussions on the job, said that there's a sense that staff in the most affected branches have to be "on high alert all the time." 

"Sometimes you're like, 'Oh my gosh, I didn't expect to be calling 911 every week,'" she said.

The librarian said people have thrown books and spat at staff, there have been verbal assaults as well as attempts by some patrons to follow staff home. "Just profound anger, and we're there and it's directed at us," she said, adding that colleagues have been punched.

"I feel it in my body, like my joints, my muscles," she said. "It really takes a toll on you."