Library changes done with ‘light hand’

For those working at the Columbine public Library on April 20, 1999, life changed swiftly, drastically. They saw the terror on the faces of students and parents who streamed in that day, trying to make sense of a school shooting.

With the exception of a handful of employees, the staff has since dispersed to other branches or other careers.

For the county’s library patrons, life changed slowly, subtly. Levels of security were added in an attempt to prevent the unthinkable of the future.

Bill Knott, Jefferson County librarian since 1971, has overseen the changes in security.

He predicts that some modifications would have taken place regardless of what occurred at Columbine High School, which sits at one end of Clement Park, while the Columbine Library sits at the other end.

“Some, not all, are lessons from Columbine,” he said.

For example, the popularity of the cellular phone has resulted in many people carrying one on their hip.

County officials used Columbine Library as a media center for two weeks after the tragedy. Phone lines were jammed.

Now, all library managers and key building personnel are issued cell phones in order to have person-to-person communication in an emergency.

And although the Colorado General Assembly passed legislation in 1982 assuring the public privacy in perusing library materials, that level of privacy has changed since the shootings at Columbine.

Digital recording equipment has been placed in the libraries. It would be impossible to cover every square inch, but Knott said cameras are strategically placed at locations in every library as a way of tracking troublemakers. Primarily, it provides an extra set of eyes, and employees don’t have to put themselves at risk by personally investigating a problem. If they see a crime or potential problem on camera, help can be summoned.

Although a person may be caught on tape, state privacy laws require that a subpoena be produced before a law enforcement agency can view the tapes.

Staff training also has improved in the last five years in preparation for anything unusual. It ranges from a librarian knowing whether to call the police to knowing whether CNN has a legal right to enter the front door of a library with its cameras rolling, Knott said.

Because the library system covers the entire county, meetings were held with each law enforcement agency to make sure that Arvada, Lakewood, Golden and other police agencies have good communication with librarians countywide. Knott said patrols also were increased around libraries.

“Things are screwed down tighter,” he said. “Although we try to do it with a light hand.”

After finishing an interview at the Lakewood Library, Knott leads a reporter from the library shelves containing more than 7,000 notebook-sized pages of Columbine documents toward his office. First, he must punch in a code on the door leading to the administrative offices. This, he points out, is one of the security new measures, adding that staff would gather behind that door if they had to escape the library’s main room.

What may have sounded like paranoia in suburban Jefferson County five years ago now sounds like solid planning.