Are armed security guards needed in Richmond’s public libraries?

Two recent unsettling incidents at the North Avenue Branch have convinced Richmond City Councilman Chris A. Hilbert that having an unarmed security guard is not enough at that branch to ensure that people “have a sense of safety and are safe.”

On Oct. 28, a man with a rifle slung over his shoulder and a long knife strapped to his leg walked into the library as little children were engaged in a storytelling program, setting off alarms among the staff.

Then on Nov. 19, a man who started singing loudly refused to leave the library and then threatened to kill everyone inside, creating a standoff with staff for about 10 minutes until police arrived.

“There is a definite lack of security,” said Dianne Wilmore, the branch manager. “I don’t want to get shot and killed doing my job.”

While there is an unarmed security guard on the premises, the guard’s role is to call police if something serious happens. The guard is not authorized to physically engage an out-of-control patron, said Clay Dishon, Richmond Public Library interim director.

Mr. Hilbert said he understands the concern and is now pressing the board of the Richmond Public Library and the city administration to allow an armed security guard at the North Side branch.

The library board could take up the question when it meets Wednesday, Dec. 2.

Mr. Dishon recognizes both incidents have been upsetting, particularly someone openly carrying a gun. “It is rather concerning that someone would feel the need to bring a hunting rifle into the library,” he said, even if it is legal to do so.

Still he’s conflicted about whether an armed guard would be the right solution.

Incidents at the library branch are relatively rare. In the past 11 years, police records indicate only 16 people have been arrested on the grounds of the branch at 2901 North Ave., and most were arrested for drinking or trespassing in the parking lot, according to Richmond Police Capt. James O’Kleasky, commander of the Fourth Precinct that includes the library.

He said steps have been taken to try to enhance security for the library and the adjacent retail district. A marked police car often is parked near or in the library’s parking lot, he said, and two officers daily walk a beat in the retail area, he said.

Still, Ms. Wilmore said it was shocking when the man with the rifle and knife arrived to check out books around 11 a.m. — during a storytelling program for preschool children.

The man told the unnerved staff that he was exercising his Second Amendment right to openly carry weapons. With the library’s security guard standing by him, he was hustled through the checkout process and asked to leave, which he did, Ms. Wilmore said.

“But if he had started shooting, there would be nothing we could do. That’s what I was thinking,” she said, and so were worried parents.

Two weeks later at a community meeting, Mr. Hilbert said he received a clear message from participants that they wanted at least one armed guard at the library.

Currently, City Hall policy bans employees, other than law enforcement officers, from bringing guns into or storing a firearm or other weapons in the workplace, in compliance with a federal workforce safety law.

Banning patrons from bringing guns into the library is not an option in an open carry state like Virginia.

Delegate Jennifer McClellan, who represents the North Side area, said she has supported such a ban, but said the Republican-dominated General Assembly has repeatedly rejected efforts to include libraries on the list of public places where the open carrying of guns by most people can be banned. The list includes schools, courthouses, airports, the State Capitol and places of worship during services, though bans are not always absolute.

In the case of the gun-toting man, Capt. John O’Kleasky said police responded to the library branch, but the man was gone by the time officers arrived.

“But even if officers had been there in time,” he said, they would have had no authority to detain him.

Ms. Wilmore said during the second incident, she called police several times. She said the incident escalated when the man became threatening and abusive.

“He threatened to kill everyone in the building,” she said. “I was thinking about evacuating the building. We had 30 to 40 people inside.”

She thought the police took 26 minutes to arrive, but Capt. John O’Kleasky said records show it took the beat officers about 10 minutes to get there.

He said the man head-butted one of the officers and was arrested on a charge of being drunk and disorderly.

If it is necessary for the library to have an armed guard, and the captain is not taking a position, he said that his preference would be for the library to employ an off-duty police officer, rather than a private security officer with less training.

“We’re the gold standard,” Capt. John O’Kleasky said.