Amped-up security measures at Winnipeg’s Millennium Library have rubbed more than a few readers the wrong way.
Opponents of the enhanced security setup have started a grassroots community group called Millennium for All, and organized a “read-in” protest in the library’s lobby Tuesday afternoon, with the goal of illustrating to library management and the city the way the new measures negatively impact marginalized Winnipeggers.
The security measures were put in place Feb. 25, in an attempt to keep library staff and patrons safer following a spate of crime in the area.
The Millennium Library currently screens users who wish to enter, and those who refuse to undergo a bag search or be waved down with a screening wand are denied entry.
“Anything short of addressing the needs of the people who are supposedly threats to the library is not taking anybody’s safety seriously,” said Millennium for All’s Brownyn Dobchuk-Land, an assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of Winnipeg.
“True safety requires providing support, not exclusionary security screenings. The real threat is a lack of investment in the public services people need to survive, and the public spaces people need to thrive.”
The protest’s organizers called the procedures ‘invasive’ and ‘exclusionary’ on social media.
“We believe that all libraries should be accessible to all people, especially those who need them most for resources and shelter because they can’t go anywhere else,” they said on Facebook.
The grassroots group is calling for the library to stop screening measures, fund and house social services and community supports, and change library services to better meet the needs of marginalized people.
They’re also asking library management to meet with community by June 1 to come up with solutions.
The protest takes place at 4:30 p.m. in the library’s lobby, and protesters are encouraged to bring their favourite book to read.
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