During the Mar. 11 meeting of the Hamilton Public Library (HPL) Board, representatives voted to require visitors to the Central Library in Downtown Hamilton to either provide a library card or a valid piece of identification to enter the facility.
The vote passed 7-2 with only Councillor Cameron Kroetsch (Ward 2 – Downtown Hamilton) and citizen board member Kojo Damptey voting against the move.
The policy, which was introduced as a two-month pilot, comes as the Central Library deals with multiple mental health and addiction-related incidents.
The branch previously announced on Jan. 26 that they would be closed on Sundays for the foreseeable future and will open one hour later (9 a.m. instead of 8 a.m.) on all other days of the week.
Paul Takala, HPL’s CEO and Chief Librarian, then wrote in a Feb. 18 report that he was considering a “temporary closure of the Central Library to disrupt the pattern of drug use while making physical changes to the first floor.”
At the time, he also said that an “alternative approach would be to temporarily require a library card to enter Central Library.”
The move comes after reports that “security measures and collective efforts to limit drug consumption in the library have not adequately addressed the problem.”
In Takala’s Feb. 18 report, he said, “We now not only have to be concerned about drug use in the washrooms, but we also periodically encounter drug consumption in our public spaces. Drug paraphernalia and illegal substances are being found all too often. The drug activity, combined with mental health outbursts, is deterring a lot of people from coming to Central. This is especially true of families with children.”
In a presentation to the HPL Board on Mar. 11, Takala wrote that, under the new policy, “everyone is welcome to come into Central, provided they identify themselves and are willing to be accountable for their actions while at the Library.”
The policy began on Mar. 16, coinciding with the beginning of March break.
Greeters are now stationed at the interior entrance to scan library cards.
Visitors without library cards can also provide identification and will be issued a visitor pass.
The library says that security and “community connectors” will be nearby to support conversations, card registration, and de-escalation.
In addition to Kroetsch and Damptey opposing the policy, several activists attended the meeting, carrying signs against it.
The new requirement was also opposed by the Hamilton Public Library Workers Union (CUPE 932) and a group called “Library Workers for Safe Consumption Sites.”
The CUPE 932 executive members wrote a letter to the HPL Board, labelling the policy as “carding.”
Despite the opposition, the majority of the HPL Board agreed with the pilot, which will now run for two months.
After those two months, the pilot will be evaluated, a report prepared, and HPL will recommend actions to move forward.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
