The Eindhoven Library now has full-time security personnel on duty. Security costs the library €9,500 per month.
The reason is that “so many” violent incidents are occurring in the library. “The staff on the work floor no longer feel safe”, said team coordinator Mayke Weber on the talk show Eindje van de Week.
Albert Kivits, the director of the Eindhoven Library, confirms that security has been on the premises for three weeks. “A female employee had received death threats. We filed a report”. It ultimately turned out to be a disturbed individual who had made threats in several locations throughout the city. But this is certainly not an isolated incident. Several other incidents have occurred.
People go berserk when you confront them about their children’s behaviour. It happens regularly. We even found children in the library who had been wandering around unsupervised for hours. We eventually tracked down the parents.
According to Kivits, there’s excellent cooperation with the police, the homeless shelter Springplank 040, and the GGZe (Municipal Health Service) to resolve the incidents. In addition to hiring full-time security, the house rules have been tightened, children’s toys have been removed from the library, and staff members are being trained to handle these situations.
The Eindhoven Library isn’t the only one in need of security. “In Helmond and Oosterhout too, these kinds of things happen. In Almere, they even had to call in police dogs to remove someone from the library”.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Seetha
