(Hey! I am quite pro-library. I spend a decade as a volunteer on
a library board of directors. But these public employee liberal
looney librarians are totally wrong in this regard and should be
corrected or sacked. They refuse to have police ban dangerous
and destructive people from damaging, soiling, and destroying
library public property. They will not have police ban some
very disgusting individuals from scaring off good citizens that
just want to use the libraries they are paying for.)

from
https://mynorthwest.com/3956834/rantz-homeless-addicts-reason-seattle-public-library-closures/

Rantz: Homeless addicts the real reason for Seattle Public Library closures
Apr 14, 2024, 5:45 PM | Updated: Apr 15, 2024, 12:09 pm

Photo: The recent announcement of the Seattle Public Library closures
mean branches will be dark on...
The recent announcement of the Seattle Public Library closures mean
branches will be dark one day a week into June. (Photo: Jason Rantz, AM
770 KTTH)

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BY JASON RANTZ
AM 770 KTTH host
The Seattle Public Library (SPL) closures announcement means branches
are dark one day a week. But the decision has been shrouded in
misinformation and a lack of transparency. While local media and
politicians cite a staffing crisis that ostensibly began in 2008, the
truth tells a different story. This decision comes from homeless addicts
burdening the system.

SPL’s intermittent closures, set to continue through at least June, are
not due to a genuine staffing shortfall. In fact, Seattle library staff
numbers have grown since 2019, before the pandemic. The real issue? The
libraries have become battlegrounds for the city’s housing and drug
crises, necessitating increased staff for safety, not service.

Seattle’s libraries have shifted from being just about books to dealing
with the fallout of these crises. Drug-addicted and mentally ill
homeless individuals have escalated emergencies across library branches,
creating an environment where safety concerns are dictating too many
operational decisions.

More from Jason Rantz: Seattle Lululemon latest closure as downtown
struggles to recover from Democrat policies

What’s really behind Seattle Public Library closures?
If the city of Seattle didn’t embrace permissive policies around the
homeless, the libraries would be open as normal. But Seattle libraries
have become so dangerous that they need more staff for safety.

“When something disruptive occurs, such as a police incident nearby or a
drug-smoking attempt in a restroom, those kinds of activities require
additional staff on-site to coordinate the appropriate response,”
explained a Seattle Library spokesperson to The Jason Rantz Show on KTTH.

The library saw close to 400 such incidents in 2023, affecting both
staff and patrons.

Because of Seattle Democrats’ failures, drug-addicted, mentally ill
homeless have created an emergency at various Seattle library branches.
And the threats they pose are trending upward. As of this year, SPL has
already encountered over 100 incidents.

“Having more staff on site helps make those interactions a bit easier as
we also work to provide a full suite of Library services,” the
spokesperson explained to The Jason Rantz Show on KTTH, highlighting how
essential services are being overshadowed by the need to manage
disruptive behaviors.

Homeless impacting libraries is a widespread issue
This is not an isolated issue. Across the Pacific Northwest, libraries
are grappling with similar challenges.

Homeless addicts took over Everett public library bathrooms to smoke
fentanyl. It was causing problems for staff and patrons alike. It
prompted the libraries to install drug sensors in bathrooms. When it
detects smoke, it triggers an alarm for security to intervene. Drug
users may be barred from the libraries for 60 days.

An attack at a Portland, Oregon library branch several weeks ago sparked
demands from librarians that the county step in to help. A homeless man
in an apparent mental health crisis “bum-rushed and head-butted” a
library staffer, according to an incident report.

The Willamette Weekly reported in February that this was “just one
incident in a series of violent confrontations in recent months at the
county’s public libraries, which often serve as a refuge for people
living on Portland’s streets who are struggling with mental illness,
substance abuse, and the trauma of living outside.”

The union representing staff is demanding better security.

More from Jason Rantz: Seattle Times can’t figure out why fentanyl
floods the city

Seattle Public Library brought this problem on itself
Seattle Public Library has inadvertently exacerbated these challenges by
maintaining an open-door policy for the homeless, who use the facilities
to sleep, use restrooms or escape adverse weather. While staff are
clearly well-intentioned, they brought the problem on themselves.

Last year, SPL introduced the option for staff to carry Naloxone, an
opioid overdose reversal drug, reflecting the severe drug use issues at
its central downtown location. SPL even hired “social services
librarians” to help homeless people navigate city and county resources.

SPL, through a spokesperson, makes it clear that the branches “welcome
everyone, and that includes people from many different backgrounds and
life situations, including people who are in need or are in crisis and
need additional support.”

While this isn’t necessarily new, as homeless obviously frequented
Seattle library branches in the past, the crisis has grown out of
control, further straining library resources.

DEI is playing a role, too, in Seattle Public Library closures
Though it wasn’t labeled as a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)
cause at the time, Seattle library leaders and both the council and
mayor helped forward a plan to end late fees.

Then-mayor Jenny Durkan, with the approval of the council, put a $219
million property levy for a vote. About $8 million of the levy was
supposed to provide financial cover so that SPL could eliminate late
fees. Advocates argued late fees disproportionately impact “communities
of color,” which is a progressive codeword for calling something “racist.”

SPL downplayed the impact ending fines would have on its budget.
However, it clearly impacted the SPL budget which could have helped to
fund additional staff to deal with the homelessness crisis.

More from Jason Rantz: You’re being lied to about permanent supportive
housing in Redmond

Problem politicians and activists to the rescue
The very politicians and activists who either implemented or advocated
for policies that worsened homelessness now say that we should adopt
their plan to address Seattle Public Library closures.

The City of Seattle has a projected budget deficit of $230 million in
2025. The previous far-left council consistently spent money it didn’t
have, wasted it on feel-good programs that got no results and then
poorly managed the COVID-19 pandemic. A new council, which consistently
sounds more moderate, is looking to make cuts to nonessential services.

Socialist councilmember Morales is using this as an opportunity to
demand even higher taxes on “corporations.”

As the lone remaining socialist on the council, this talking point is
all she has. But the previous council’s decision to overtax business
pushed Amazon out of Seattle and into nearby Bellevue, where they just
restarted construction on a high-rise building that will bring thousands
of additional employees to the Greater East Side.

Seattle media mostly silent again
The ongoing silence of some in Seattle media on these underlying issues
is notable and expected. Their coverage often avoids confronting the
real reasons behind the library closures, instead perpetuating
narratives that focus on surface-level staffing issues rather than
addressing the root causes of homelessness, addiction and mental health
crises that are overwhelming the city’s public institutions. Maybe if
they didn’t champion it in previous coverage, tipping their hats to
their biases, they’d be more honest about the current problem.

These reporters might skirt around it, but here’s the truth: our
libraries are under siege by a wave of problems stemming from policy
failures. Homeless encampments spill into children’s reading corners and
librarians are doubling as security guards and social workers — this is
the new normal, sanctioned by a mayor’s office still mired in
progressive paralysis because he surrounds himself with ideologues, not
pragmatic problem solvers.

Seattle’s approach to hire more staff will only create a more
significant problem down the line. More staff, as if a thicker line of
human shields could stem the tide of systemic failure, means larger
budgets you’ll have to pay for in the next budgets while the
homelessness situation continues to worsen.

We could have a strong media point all this out. But the narrative
pushed by some in the media rarely strays from the progressive line —
more about managing symptoms, less about curing the disease. Until we
address the root causes — homelessness, addiction, mental health —
expect more closures, more excuses and sadly, more silence.