How Long Do We Keep Using Security Guards at Our Library?
Is there ever a “safe time” to end the contract?
The two most frequent examples I see of using security guards at a public facility are: after a serious security incident - like a shooting or a stabbing, and in response to an employee’s domestic violence situation, which has crossed over from home to work.
In those instances, the agency or facility leaders will agree that the posting of unarmed security officers (or more rarely, armed officers, either in uniform or in plainclothes) seems prudent. This serves to calm the staff, demonstrate due diligence to all, and in the cases of domestic violence crossover, to support the often-terrified employee.
I’m reminded of how this works in libraries, following the announcement by the Library Director and the City of Chico, CA leaders, that unarmed security officers would now staff the libraries in that town, following the June 22, 2026 shooting at the branch, that killed two, initiated by a clearly troubled 18-year-old male.
Posting security officers is a multi-sided coin, not just a do/do not issue. The fact that they are there at all disturbs some library patrons and some staff, who feel it “sends the wrong message” that the library is no longer a safe, inviting place, or that it turns the library into a “prison camp.” (I’m quoting the words I have read in news articles, that seem to follow these themes.) These often come from patrons or staff, who “miss the old days” and don’t want security officers or police officers in the library, for any reason.
I get why some patrons and staff don’t want cops working in the libraries. I don’t get why those same people don’t want cops responding to security incidents in their libraries. That’s a naive view, suggesting we don’t need ever need the police to do what they do best: preserve the peace, enforce consequences, and keep everyone safe from violent people.
This concern about having security officers in the library at all doubles and triples if they are armed. “No one wants guns in the library!” some patrons and some staff shout. “This shouldn’t be a police state! This isn’t a prison camp!”
Some context can help here. I don’t recommend to my library clients that they put armed security officers in their libraries unless there are two concerns: the need to operate a metal detector safely, or there has been a viable domestic violence threat to one of their employees. If you have one in place (either a walkthrough machine, or more likely, a handheld device), it is simply not safe to run a metal detector using one or two unarmed security officers. I fully realize TSA is unarmed at the airport and they use metal detectors. They are also covered by armed airport police officers, who are either right there or close by.
Using unarmed security officers at a metal detector creates the real possibility of discovering a firearm or a knife on the body or in a backpack of a patron. Now what? This leads to the awkward conversation that goes like this: “Uh, could you please take your loaded gun and full magazines back to your car and secure them there?”
What if the gun/knife owners refuses to comply and tries to force his way inside the library? If you don’t believe that ever happens, simply Google the number of shooting incidents that have happened at county and federal courthouses, which are often staffed with armed security, US Marshals, or sheriff’s deputies.
The second scenario where armed security makes sense is when an employee is threatened in the usual manner that many domestic violence perpetrators like to use: “If I can’t have you, no one else can.” When my clients have asked me if they need armed security for these types of cases, I have agreed.
In my Perfect World (not possible when it comes to predicting future violence), the facility would hire an armed security officer/agent, in plainclothes, not in uniform, to post near the targeted employee. This person’s function is to create force presence and provide immediate life-saving protection, but not draw obvious attention from patrons or other staff while doing so.
The question always, always, always arises, most especially from the person or people who have to pay this bill, as to how long they have to continue to pay for this expensive coverage?
As an example, the rate is usually around $70/per hour - half goes to the armed officer, half to his/her company provider, times 8 hours, times five days a week = $2800 per week.
I get it; this whole situation is intimidating and expensive. Many facility leaders don’t want to seem hard-hearted or insensitive - at least publicly - by saying, “It’s a waste of money, because nothing has happened since the original threat.” I always counter this by asking, “How do we prove a negative? Was the threatener deterred by what he saw, that we had armed security in place, so he decided not to act out? Or did he just never come back?”
In these cases, I always suggest a two-week time period for the armed officer to stay in place. In my long experience - as a workplace violence prevention practitioner since 1992 - this span of time can help to send a deterrence message, calm the targeted employee’s fears - and demonstrate to all - the organization’s due diligence. Plus, if something bad is going to happen, that 14-day window is when it’s most likely.
Let’s change tracks and consider how long to keep unarmed, uniformed security in place at the library, especially following a serious incident. While this role is paid at a much smaller rate than armed agents, it’s still an expensive part of any library’s budget. (Unarmed is usually half the rate for armed.)
I’m not usually a big fan of having unarmed security officers work “only during peak hours” - like after school lets out or on the busiest parts of the day. Bad people do their own surveillance and will simply come in when there is no security on duty. We can’t always guess correctly when we will need them to be on the job.
As such, full staffing makes the best security sense. We can certainly offset the high costs by looking at the number of security incidents (which again, addresses my concerns for always keeping Security Incident Reports for at least one year, for those events that qualify for them). Could you review the number of SIRs at a three-month and then a six-month interval and make a business decision to keep security in place or not? I think so.
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As always, please email for security-related staff training help or information on my employee coaching and site security assessment services.