An overview of crime in libraries and information services

Abstract

The public image of libraries does not usually encapsulate the problem of crime - although library staff may know the reality is otherwise. That image is of a quiet respectable place, somewhere in which to read and study - an institution of social control perhaps. Indeed, the library’s very existence presupposes reflection and contemplation far removed from the mainstream of social life in which crime flourishes. Crime, once thought alien to the world of the library, has now become part of it. High crime libraries were invariably in working class districts and low crime libraries were located in middle class areas, or upper middle class. Fear of crime quickly and easily became generalised extending far beyond the boundaries of the library itself. An attack on a staff member in a library seems to lead to fear of attacks outside the library.