A Lengthening Shadow

I came across a story the other day that talked about greater police authority for security guards in L.A. public libraries, and a chill went through me.

I’ve always thought of libraries as sanctuaries from all the troubles of the world, a place where you could sit and read and research without having to duck 9-millimeter slugs.

They’re still safe havens compared with, say, schools or post offices, but the story brought to my attention how many perils there are in a free society. Crime is casting an ever-lengthening shadow over us.

The report said that the state Assembly had passed a bill presented by Sylmar’s Sen. Richard Alarcon that would grant limited police authority to library security guards.

They aren’t going to be carrying guns, thank God, so there are not likely to be shootouts between them and some ‘banger ducking behind the fantasy section. But they will have the power to arrest and execute search warrants.

All kinds of organizations are backing the measure, which, Alarcon says, is necessary because the crime rate is increasing in L.A.’s libraries.

That doesn’t surprise me. Why shouldn’t our public institutions reflect the travail of the real world? It’s the world we’ve created and, like it or not, its shadows are creeping over society’s quiet zones.

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There are 67 branch libraries in L.A., which get 12 million visits a year. Old people go there. Scholars go there. Children go there. And so do homeless people with nothing to do, deranged people and those with less than savory intentions.

“The need for security is a reality,” City Councilman Mike Hernandez said the other day. “We’re a city of 3.5 million people. Anything can happen.”

Hernandez was among those on the council who three years ago came out in support of a similar proposal. His decision was rooted in an attack on a librarian in his district by a mentally ill man. “I realized then,” he said to me, “that librarians had no security measures. We’ve got to create a safe environment for them as well as for the kids.”

The earlier bill, also introduced by Alarcon, failed. This is a second effort. It still needs final approval by the Senate, and is expected to get it.

Both Hernandez and Alarcon stress that the new power granted to guards would serve as a deterrent to “disturbances” in libraries. Both believe that the ability of the officers to arrest and “transport” would prevent crimes.

The transport part is especially important, says Tania Rosario, political director of L.A.’s Service Employees International Union, which represents the officers. “The idea is to get the troublemakers out of the library quickly and return the room to a calm environment.” She adds: “A lot of people the guards have to deal with are those who prey on children, and we need to make it clear that libraries will never be magnets for pedophiles.”

City Librarian Susan Kent tries to put a happy face on the whole thing by saying that libraries are still a place to learn, to relax and to meet friends. That’s probably true.

But still . . .

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Those who propose greater security measures point to a series of incidents over the years that have included murder, serious injury, sexual abuse, robbery, burglary, drug use, arson and general vandalism.

George Needham, a former executive director of the American Library Assn., once said, “A library reflects the society in which it’s located. As violence has grown in the cities and suburbs, it has also grown in the libraries.”

Implicit in his observation and in the whole proliferation of security guards exists a kind of sadness. Once we were a society that managed to get by without an overabundance of guards, security gates, bomb detectors, drug-sniffing dogs, closed-circuit TV and metal detectors.

Once schools, parks and workplaces were safe beyond question, and crimes committed in those arenas were rare disruptions in the tranquillity of a more serene society.

It’s different now, and nothing symbolizes the difference for me more than the necessity to place guards at public libraries and to increase their police powers.

A library was my haven as a kid, providing opportunities to escape into worlds contained between bound covers, places far more elevating and enriching than anything I had at home.

That refuge, already imperiled, may one day cease to exist if the shadow of crime continues to lengthen. One more bright zone of immense importance will be gone, and we’ll all be poorer when it goes.

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Al Martinez’s column appears Sundays and Wednesdays. He can be reached online at al.martinez@latimes.com.