The story of Winchester Public Library seems to have fallen below the radar of many news service. Mainly because of the shooting in a Florida high School has taken over the news cycle. It seems that every news outlet is focused on Gun Control, shootings in high schools and keeping children safe. Which are all good discussions to have but something just doesn't add up quire right. Why has Deane's senseless murder not been spread widely? Could it be that this wasn't a crime involving a gun? Or that this wasn't a story about police brutality or innocent high school children traumatized by a tragedy? In other words, not flashy enough for the 11 o'clock news hour. Nothing to see here folks. Move along to something more interesting. We as a society are missing the big picture.
To put it bluntly the big picture is that these crimes will continue to happen over and over if we don't see the root cause of these violent outburst. This incident should be of interest to everyone because of the fact that this was a crime points out that anything, gun, knife, rock, and even bare hands can be used as weapons of destruction. This senseless murder is a glaring reminder that all public places are vulnerable to fatal incidents. For the sake of Deane and her family, this story should be shared. Why? Deana is just like any other patron who walks into a library on a Saturday. It was a place where she felt safe. Quite frankly, if you ask any patrons who walk into their public library "do you feel safe here?", an educated guess would be that almost 100% would say that they do. A library is not the typical place where one would expect a crime to be committed. Having said that, Library director's in every part of the country should be more concerned now with "safety" than ever.
What to do in the wake of this horrible crime? After the high school shootings everyone has talked about arming teachers. Some have suggested banning guns all together. In libraries who would we turn to keep the patrons safe? Should library staff be armed? Should library staff be trained in how to disarm a suspect? Paid security officers? It wouldn't be a surprise to hear most librarians say they didn't sign up for "law enforcement" when they studied library science. While that is true, we have to be honest with ourselves. The reality is that we are living in times that are quite different from a generation ago. The solutions are not easy but each library director, Board of Trustees and their community should investigate and candidly discuss what would work for them.
One tactic the has failed miserably is to claim a public place a Gun-Free zone. It's a passive way to enforce safety that rarely stops a gunman from hurting others. As we have seen in Stryker's case, the gun-free zone would have made no difference. The weapon of choice was a knife. The common connection in Parkland Florida and Winchester Public Library is the both suspects were mentally ill. Both had had series of documented "episodes" which called into question whether they were prone to violent behavior. Perhaps the conversation on safety should begin with including Mental Illness as a topic of discussion.
Public Safety in the library is too complex to solve in just one blog post. Having said that, it is way past time to have the honest and open discussion of safety in the public library. Leaders in every area of the community should be coming together to discuss how to keep the public safe in all public areas. The library community in particular, owes this much to the patrons like Deanne who come to study, to find quiet place and to feel safe among our book shelves.
Rest In peace Deane.
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