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Saint Paul Public Library outlines expanded safety model after $1.5 million grant
Summary
Library staff presented a multi-pronged safety update including site-specific playbooks, a pilot for vapor monitors, naloxone training for safety specialists and plans to scale restorative practices and staffing in 2025. Staff said the work aims to keep library employees safe while preserving the library as a low-barrier public place.
Saint Paul Public Library staff told the Library Board and city council members on Feb. 5 that a safety model funded with $1.5 million in one-time city funding has supported new staff roles, training and technology intended to make library spaces safer and more welcoming while preserving their role as a low-barrier public place.
Library staff said the safety of library employees is their highest priority and described three pillars of the updated plan: building a culture of safety, responding consistently to incidents and adopting restorative practices. Rebecca Ryan, a library presenter at the meeting, said "the safety of our staff is our highest priority." She added that the library remains a place where people “do life” — sheltering from weather, accessing bathrooms, attending meetings and using materials — which makes managing safety and service simultaneously complex.
The city-funded efforts already in place include: site-specific safety playbooks that lay out actions (lockdown, secure, etc.) using a common standard response protocol across branches; five safety specialists hired in December 2024 with training in behavior management, first aid/CPR and administering naloxone; and a pilot of vapor monitors in restroom facilities at the Rondo branch. Alex Corey, introduced as the library safety manager, described the playbooks as "living documents" and said the standard response protocol gives staff shared language and actions across branches.
Staff presented system-level metrics and operational details. In 2024 the system reported roughly 32,000 open hours and about 1,200,000 in-person visits; staff said fewer than 1% of visits resulted in an incident report. Staff described the library's existing code of conduct and banning guidelines (for example, a 30-day ban for certain behaviors when the individual is identified) and said banning alone has proven insufficient for some lower-level behavior issues.
Robert Lee Edwards III, a library safety specialist, recounted front-line encounters with patrons and emphasized relationship-building as a de-escalation tool. "I show up to the library every day ready to serve," Edwards told the board, describing greeting routines, helping patrons with services and how calm body language has helped resolve confrontations.
Staff described other implementation details: the vapor-monitor pilot at Rondo has reduced staff exposure to suspected restroom vaping and the 2025 budget includes funding to expand those monitors to additional branches once operational guidance and rollout materials are finalized. The library also said it is working to hire a sixth safety specialist to create flexible, systemwide coverage; staff said some branches are “hot spots” and a floating specialist would be deployed as needs arise.
The library emphasized that restorative practices — facilitated conversations, circles and alternatives to bans — are a central next step for 2025. Ryan and other staff cited the city attorney’s ETHOS program as an example of cases that respond well to restorative approaches. Staff also noted efforts to support employee wellbeing, including trauma‑aware training and an internal staff well‑being committee.
On measuring results, staff said they will continue surveying patrons annually and will add staff surveys to measure role clarity, safety perceptions and training effectiveness. The library maintains an incident tracker in SharePoint and told council members it can provide more detailed incident breakdowns on request; staff reported that incidents and bannings have fallen at some locations since launch of the safety specialist model.
Council members pressed staff on staffing and data. Library staff said a high 2024 vacancy rate has eased with recent hires; closures so far this year have been rare and mostly weather-related, and the library closed once earlier this year for staffing reasons attributed to seasonal illness. Staff said incident counts are the primary metric used today to identify branches for added specialist coverage but that they will explore other community and partner data to refine deployment criteria.
Staff outlined next steps for 2025: complete and distribute site playbooks across all branches, add the remaining safety specialist to reach a full complement, expand restorative-practice work, finalize operational guidance for vapor-monitor rollout and develop a sustainable funding plan for the model. Staff also said an architectural partner has been identified for a Rondo welcome-and-safety project that could include relocating restrooms and applying Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles.
No formal action or vote on policy changes occurred at the meeting; the update was delivered as a staff report and council members asked for follow-up data and one-on-one briefings on incident categories and staffing metrics.
