The Forum which is home to Norwich's Millennium Library .
Drunks, racial abuse and food fights - a year in the life of Norwich’s Millennium Library
Richard Wheeler
Friday, January 6, 2012
8:17 AM
Staff at the city’s Millennium Library have had to deal with a racially-abusive man, teenagers throwing food and a girl punching another girl in the face.
A security assistant also had his shins kicked in an unprovoked attack at closing time, according to the library’s staff logbook.
A customer was banned for a month after he became abusive and threw a pencil when asked to stop drinking water in the heritage section.
And a drunk woman started being “overly familiar” with staff, and another report describes how “unnecessarily loud moaning” could be heard from a man using a computer.
Other incidents included an “ongoing Facebook dispute” which spilled over into real life and a man shouting and ranting because of a lack of table space to read his newspaper.
The Evening News can reveal there were just 32 incidents recorded by staff from March 2010 to July 2011.
Norfolk County Council has welcomed the low figures as the Millennium site is the busiest library in the UK, with almost 1.5m visitors in 2010/11.
James Carswell, pictured, county council cabinet member for cultural services, said: “We want all of our customers to enjoy using the library and employ staff to work with young people to ensure they are able to make the best use of the wide resources the library has to offer. Serious incidents in the library are thankfully very rare but we do have a CCTV system and keep a record of all of the incidents.”
Thousands of books have disappeared from the shelves of smaller community libraries in favour of Norwich’s Millennium Library, council figures reveal. Great Yarmouth and Diss are among the 30 libraries to have seen book stocks decrease between 2000 and 2010. In 10 years the number of books at Norwich’s main library site has risen by 90,084 books, while Great Yarmouth lost 23,526 of its 62,505 books.
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14 comments
No bookworm. But tolerance is a virtue.
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PDH
Saturday, January 7, 2012
dx456, I'm intrigued..whats the difference??
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nrg
Friday, January 6, 2012
PDH - I think robotsthatcare meant to say EMOS, not emus. LOL reading this made my day!
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dx456
Friday, January 6, 2012
Are these emus, Rod Hull fans or some-think ??
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nrg
Friday, January 6, 2012
Anywhere that has a security presence should be avoided...the end of the Library service, before the end of the decade.
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nrg
Friday, January 6, 2012
I didnt know that libraries could be so exciting.
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Abraham
Friday, January 6, 2012
Silence is required
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Albert Cooper
Friday, January 6, 2012
More signage requesting respect for silence,for moblie phones to be switched off,for children to held in check,and security personnel to enforce these things,also to stop people playing cards and youths treating the reading area as a social club
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Albert Cooper
Friday, January 6, 2012
everyone should pay for internet access in the library and thus generate extra income for books. i do not need posters telling me what i am or am not. I do not swear in the library in a constant stream of abuse under my breath.
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bookworm
Friday, January 6, 2012
Believe they are called "Emo's" but get you point they are very annoying. But in their defence, where else can they go? As long as they are not being rudeoffenceproblem to other people, then whats the harm. Blame the council for closing down everything for kids to do to save a few quid
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Mark Thompson
Friday, January 6, 2012
also the staff allow certain people (customers)who mutter rude swear words all the time and scare women and children.
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bookworm
Friday, January 6, 2012
The library should ban all those emus, or whatever they are called, who congregate at the rear of the ground floor.
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robotsthatcare
Friday, January 6, 2012
The Millenium Trust need to get their act together,and impose what tha various signs state in the general area of the Forum. I realise its impossible to have a quiet library,however the noise could be kept down.Loud Converation.Youths Playing Cards in the Reading Area.Moblie Phones being Answered [these should be switched off,and what do those men do who sit being a wicket in the Forum,the one nesr the stairs?
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Albert Cooper
Friday, January 6, 2012
I'm being entirely serious when I ask for more on this story! Its brought such a smile to my face...so many questions, what was the man looking at on the computer that made him moan so loudly....I fear I know, but confirmation would amuse!? And is it just the heritage section of the library that users are not allowed to drink water in? More please, given the grim news elsewhere, a bit of light relief is much appreciated!
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merrydancer
Friday, January 6, 2012