Wednesday, December 29, 2010

You Can't Live in the Library

Yesterday one of our regular community users was arrested and charged with "criminal trespassing" and "failure to control/comply" (both misdemeanors). Our janitor had noticed hair clippings in one of the men's bathrooms for several months until yesterday when he caught this man shaving and bathing in one of the sinks. Campus Public Safety was called and I guess the guy was taken out in cuffs. Previously, one of my coworkers had found an iron and a bag of belongings back in Government Documents and thought it was probably his. As she and Gwen noted... No one goes back in GovDocs so when people wander back there you have to wonder.

Anyway, I think he trespassed to other places on campus so that is why they took it so seriously. As you can probably tell, the only details I have are from my coworker Tom who saw the arrest and information from the county jail's website. Even though it's winter intercession, the library is still open and those of us who didn't take vacation days are still here. It's been nice to get writing done (all I hear is my space heater!) but when something like this happens it's nice to have 2 other people present in your department. I hope this man gets assistance because he never bothered or even approached anyone so I don't think his intentions are bad - he probably just needed a warm place to sleep and a computer to watch YouTube videos on (these are basic needs, people).

Related story from Laura about an NYU student (of course his major is creative writing) living in Bobst Library: http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2004-04-27-nyu-student_x.htm

1 comment:

  1. I keep thinking about (and feeling bad for) this guy. It's a really extreme example, but it really points out the way that libraries need to be so much more than just "information hubs" for people.

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