Words of encouragement and Lots of team love

What happened yesterday at Simmons was terrifying. I have witnessed fights between gangs with baseball bats in staff parking lots, intentional fires, constant gang-related graffiti tagging of library property, and dozens of angry unreasonable patrons in my long career. I've had guys with long bowie knives on their belts corner me in my office. I have been personally threatened and so have my children.  I had a man tell me he killed his father and would be pleased to do the same to me. But I have never seen a patron physically attack a staff member. 

Mental illness is a big problem and as public servants we see evidence of it everyday. I cannot tell you that we won't ever be threatened again, but I can promise you that we will do everything we can to keep you safe while keeping the library open and accessible to the community. Sometimes that's a difficult balance. Everyone has the right to use the library as a publically funded institution. Until they break the rules, we can't keep them out and even if they do break the rules, we need to be very careful about responding in a legally reasonable manner. In this case, the law is clear.

The man who attacked us yesterday has been charged with a felony. Battery is not always a felony  charge, but attacking a public employee is an automatic felony. That means he will serve time and he will get mental illness treatment. And the judge will ban him from visiting us for a very long time. 

I know many of you are rattled by this incident, and I can't blame you. You signed up to help people, not be hurt by them. I can't tell you what's right for you, but I hope you'll stay and have a long career in public libraries the way I have. Because for all the stories I can tell you about the people who were scary, I can tell you a thousand about the people whose lives I changed for the better by the work I've done in public libraries. You all have good hearts and that's why you chose public service. You want to help people. Stay. Help them. We'll do our very, very best to make your decision the best one you ever made.

Bright spot nomination from Zander: "I'd like to nominate Michaela in OPE and Aaron in the Marketing team for a Bright Spot.
Jason Rimkus with KCM asked if he could do a film program/presentation for May the Fourth last week. I said it sounded like a good idea and I'll see what we can do. I talked with Michaela who loved the idea and let me know exactly what information she needs to create and promote an event with a short turnaround time. Aaron also jumped in and was able to create a great image for the event on short notice. Event link is below.

Star Wars: How Did They Film That?

From Barb:
I nominate Phillip for his willingness to fill shifts at Simmons in support of their staffing needs. Thanks for always being so helpful!

From Karen:

"Thank you YFS staff!! You are the best!! I appreciate each of you for all the different talents you bring to our team! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

Thank you Hilary for the book recommendation for my grandson. He is a reluctant reader and it's hard to find him something that he wants to read. Thank you so much!!

Thank you Lisa Rivers for your storytime book and music suggestions. The families really loved everything. Thank you so much!!!

Thank you Shawn for your help with the Sheep to Sweater program. The kids loved carding the wool and making beads. Thank you!!

Thank you Amy Rae for taking time out of your busy day to create a Star Wars scavenger hunt for me to put up on May 4th. Looking forward to kids and adults participating in this one. Thank you!!

Thank you Jessica for bringing in your spinning wheel to the Sheep to Sweater program. The kids really thought it was great to see and they loved being able to ask you questions. Thank you!!

Looks like it's finally going to get warm tomorrow! Enjoy the weekend, everyone!

Barb