THUNDER BAY – The Mary J.L. Black Library is facing a rash of vandalism as well as reported cases of violence.
In the past month, three trees on the property have been severely damaged beyond saving, images have been spray painted in a lot of places, and windows have been smashed, but most concerning of all to library staff are a few fires that have been lit on the property including a mattress that was burned directly next to the building.
“Though video evidence and some observations from staff and police around the area, it is a group of youth that are committing most of these acts,” said director of communities Tina Maronese.
Beyond the vandalism, the library is also facing staff and customers harassed by groups of people in the area banging on the windows, yelling, fighting and cursing.
The library has also received a report of a young man being held down and beaten severely.
“Every time there’s an incident, we call the police, for sure, and do a report, and if there is video evidence of some sort of criminal activity, we will provide that to the police,” Maronese said.
“We’ve stepped up patrols in the area, we have a security guard here full time doing screening for us, so anytime he or she is not busy, they do a patrol around the library, we have extra evening and weekend patrols that we have hired, we’re installing more video cameras.”
In addition to this, the library has also started to turn off the WIFI at night and plans to remove outside furniture to discourage any groups congregating in the area.
The Thunder Bay Public Library is also encouraging anyone who witnesses vandalism or violence at the library to report it to police - 911 or Thunder Bay Crime Stoppers at 1 (807) 623-8477.
