The board of trustees for Saint John’s public libraries is calling for more security after its branches have seen an increase in safety-related incidents which have, in some cases, left staff afraid to be at work.

“That’s the hard part because we are a community area where people come to either read or take part in some of our programs,” said Johanne McInnis, who chairs of the board.

“We should be a safe environment for our patrons as well as our staff.”

McInnis sent a letter to Saint John council asking for more security funding for the three public library branches — one each on the east and west sides of the city and a central branch uptown in Market Square.

The letter was a part of the city council’s Feb. 9 agenda and is currently being reviewed by city staff. The city said in a statement that staff did not have additional comment to share at this time.

The frequency of incidents, McInnis said, grew in 2025 and has so far continued in the early months of 2026.

“The fact that these are escalating at such a high rate just in the last year is what caused the board of trustees to go back to the City of Saint John and look for a larger budget for security services,” she said.

McInnis said library management has tried different mitigation strategies, including procedures for reporting violent incidents and monthly safety talks.

“But regardless of everything that we’ve tried to put in place, it is a rattling effect when someone comes in and very disruptive and sometimes a little scary,” she said.

“We feel at this point that we don’t want to risk anyone getting harmed, be they patron or otherwise.”

Province says safety incidents increasing in major cities

Saint John police spokesperson Staff Sgt. Shawna Fowler said in a statement that police responded to public safety-related calls a total of 48 times across all three branches in 2025 — the previous two years it was between 37 and 39.

Police responded 39 times to the central branch in 2025. So far in 2026, police responded to the three branches a total of nine times. Those are the calls that needed “outside intervention.”

In total, McInnis said that 179 incidents were documented in the past year. She said she couldn’t give specifics but said 45 incidents in 2025 and 15 this year so far involved “intolerable” or “unacceptable” behaviours.

Those include drug use or paraphernalia in the library, disruptive behaviour, refusing to leave the library when asked, verbal or physical harassment and others, including criminal acts according to the library’s conduct policy.

The central branch does have Commissionaires security. But the guards can only work in an observational capacity and can’t intervene if need arises, McInnis said.

She said the municipal board of trustees will be meeting with city staff in the coming week to discuss the request and next steps.

Libraries in the province fall under a provincial department — the New Brunswick Public Library Service — but, according to the department’s website, “participating municipalities are responsible for providing and maintaining library facilities.”

“[Funding] usually falls to the municipalities because we usually have a memorandum of understanding when a library is set up in a city, village or a town for that matter,” McInnis said.

“And that’s basically who provides the funding for our operational day-to-day budget.”

CBC News contacted the library directors of both Fredericton and Moncton’s libraries, but requests were referred to the Public Library Service.

Communications officer Rebecca Howland said in a statement that libraries have seen an increase in the frequency and severity of incidents in the larger cities.

Howland would not provide an interview but said Moncton’s libraries saw 21 “intolerable” incidents — mostly verbal abuse — since library reporting policies changed in 2025. Fredericton saw 27 and Saint John’s main branch 26.

Roughly a quarter of both Saint John’s main branch and Moncton’s libraries involved “physical violence.” Ninety per cent in Moncton and 42 per cent in Saint John involved verbal abuse.

A nationwide problem

Libraries across the country have been facing similar public safety challenges for years.

Mary Chevreau, executive director of the Canadian Urban Public Libraries Council, said that libraries nationwide have been seeing issues steadily increase since 2017.

Previous reporting showed sharp increases in security incidents in 2022 and 2023 in cities like Toronto and Winnipeg.

Saint John’s uptown-based library is also surrounded by businesses that have in recent years seen increases in criminal behaviour, which have been attributed to the growth in the city’s homeless population.

Chevreau said increased homelessness along with increases in fentanyl use have been factors around the country and that libraries, being open spaces, feel the impacts.

“Libraries play into this because we are still one of the most welcoming, most open spaces available to anyone within our community,” she said.

“We don’t ask questions. They don’t have to spend money — they can come in and get warm.”

McInnis said that for Saint John — specifically the main branch with the highest number of incidents — its centralized uptown location makes it a target.

Both Chevreau and McInnis say this has resulted in library staff having to respond to these issues. Chevreau said in many libraries this has meant library staff having to administer naloxone in overdose situations.

For Saint John, McInnis says, this has meant staff have been trained to de-escalate conflicts that can become violent.

“But there’s only so much staff can do before it could become dangerous,” she said.

Chevreau said that while these incidents are the current reality of libraries, they aren’t the majority of incidents. She doesn’t want people looking at libraries as unsafe spaces and encourages people to visit their libraries.

“You will find a very beautiful space where you can relax, you can read, you can learn, you can develop a community,” she said.

Source: CBC New Brunswick