Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - It was in March of this year that officials at the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library in Downtown Buffalo started cutting back on hours due to an increase in fights and violence involving teens after school.
Since then, library hours have returned to normal and officials want to keep
it that way.
With school starting up again, Library Director John Spears says they are taking steps to avoid a repeat of chaos from the spring.
"A lot of what we're doing is just a continuation of what we put in place at the end of the last school year," said Spears on WBEN on Tuesday.
"We've added weapons detections systems, that will hopefully give people an added element of feeling safe when they come to the central library. We are also going to be increasing the number of Peacemakers that are here. They were incredibly helpful last year in working with the kids and quieting a lot of the problems that we were having."
The plan is for the library, located at 1 Lafayette Square, to stay with regular hours:
- Monday thru Thursday: 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. ET
- Friday and Saturday: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. ET
- Starting Sept. 10, Sunday: 12 p.m. - 5 p.m. ET
Spears said having Peacemakers on site has had a positive effect. The library is expanding the role of Peacemakers, both inside and outside of the library.
Officials are also working toward creating a space for teens inside the library.
"We started moving some of our collections around the central library. We are getting financial assistance from Erie County and we're hoping to have a dedicated space for teens by Jan. 1," Spears said.
The downtown library had a quiet summer, when it comes to incidents with teens.
"We didn't see nearly as many problems as we did during the school year," noted Spears.
In fact, he said there has been an increase in people visiting, an increase in circulation and program attendance.
"People are re-discovering the central library," Spears said.
With the school year returning, Spears says this is a good time to check out the library.
"We offer a lot more than what people traditionally think," he said. "From homework help, to makerspaces, you can even check out wifi hot spots, CPR kits and sporting equipment."