Man charged is sentenced to 60 days in jail
OCEAN PARK LIBRARY — The city’s top librarian said Tuesday he has increased security at all branches after the manager here was attacked by a homeless man who had been ordered to leave after vandalizing a men’s restroom.
“In response to this incident, we have assigned our library inspectors to patrol the branches and create a presence there and help support security,” said city librarian Greg Mullen. “Maintaining security is paramount. If we don’t, then our librarians don’t feel safe, and the public doesn’t feel safe. If that happens, then what’s the point?
People are going to stay away.”
Meanwhile, the man charged with the assault, Melvin Winston Hardy, pleaded no contest on Tuesday and was sentenced to 60 days in jail, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Superior Court said.
The attack has raised concern that security at branch libraries is severely lacking, putting both library staff and the public in danger. This is especially of concern at the Ocean Park branch, which is near the beach where many transients congregate, including those who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol or are mentally unstable.
The assault occurred on Thursday, March 16, when head librarian Celia Carroll tried to confront Hardy about complaints from patrons that he had “pulled all the paper” out of the bathroom stalls. Carroll said that while her back was turned, Hardy snuck up behind her and punched her in the back, causing her to fall forward, hitting the sidewalk face first. She sustained a cut to her face, police said.
“I’ve learned a valuable lesson from this: Always have someone watching your back,” said Carroll in an interview Tuesday, her second day back at work after the attack.
Several bystanders who saw the attack, including Carroll’s husband, restrained Hardy until police arrived. He was booked for assault and battery. His bail was set at $20,000, but was later reduced to $5,000, police said.
Carroll, who also was the head librarian at Fairview Library in the Sunset Park neighborhood, said she has seen her fair share of violent patrons over the years, many of them mentally ill. But in the last decade or so, the problem has worsened, she said.
Branch libraries are bearing most of the burden as vagrants have flocked to branches because the Main Library has enhanced security, Carroll said.
“The Main Library has a lot of resources that we lack, and that disparity, I feel … could be alleviated with the harmonizing of security,” Carroll said. “More uniformed security personnel would be best.”
Library inspectors are not sworn officers, but simply library staff with uniforms and walkie-talkies who, among other duties, enforce the library’s rules. Those rules include required shirt and shoes, limitations on bag sizes, not having an odor that distracts other people and a prohibition against panhandling, to name a few.
There are four full-time inspectors at the new Main Library and six part-time inspectors who rotate among branches, making deliveries or assisting librarians with other tasks, Mullen said.
“We are lucky to have these positions,” Mullen said. “Most libraries don’t have security staff.”
The permanent employees are paid anywhere from $3,084 to $3,714 a month, while the part-time employees are paid $17.80 an hour, Mullen said.
Inspectors are only one layer of security.
“We do a variety of different things, from how we arrange our buildings to create a good line of sight, to ensuring proper staffing levels so that buildings aren’t opened when only one person is there,” Mullen said. “For the most part, our libraries are very safe. We don’t have a lot of incidents or any significant security issues.”
Mullen said staff has received training to deal with difficult people and violence in the work place. He said that whenever something does occur, librarians should automatically call the police.
Carroll said she is not afraid to be at work and continues to walk to the library every morning as part of her routine. She said Mullen and his staff quickly responded to her needs, and she said is grateful for all of the support she has received from the community.
Many residents sent Carroll e-mails wishing her well and praised her dedication to community, as she has served on several commissions as well as the PTA at John Adams Middle School and Santa Monica High School.
Carroll is disappointed with the length of the jail sentence for Hardy.
“Sixty days is a travesty,” she said. “I thought it would be at least for a year.”
When police officers or fire fighters are attacked while on the job, the penalty is automatically increased. Librarians are not included, something that Carroll is seeking to change.
“Frankly, that is really important,” she said. “It is important in our society for people to educate themselves, get knowledge, use the Internet to communicate and find pleasure reading in a safe, secure setting. I have asked for security at Ocean Park, and I think it’s obvious we need it now, but also a provision in the legal code protecting librarians.”
Carroll said she will lobby the City Council to include such a measure. She also will ask for more funding for security and request a “stay away” order from the City Attorney’s office that would prohibit Hardy from entering the Ocean Park Library.
“You do the best that you can with what you have,” she said. “But I will not let this keep me from coming to work. I’m happy here.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 29, 2006. Read the original PDF.