Crandall’s chief: Yes, some issues but library is still ‘clean, kind, warm’

The Chronicle received a letter complaining about a “very bad homelessness problem at the library”and stating that a person snuck in and stayed overnight and drug paraphernalia has been left in the building.

We asked Crandall Library Director Kathy Naftaly about it.

“I agree that some individuals have overstayed their welcome at the library,” Ms. Naftaly said.

She confirmed that “someone managed to lock themselves in a bathroom” overnight “although the staff checked it.”

“He was able to stay in the building and was found early the next morning. He never left the bathroom; our alarm system would have gone off if he had done that.”

“He is no longer welcome here.”

As for the cited drug paraphernalia, Ms. Naftaly said, “Occasionally there might be a small glycerin bag that was dropped that’s usually empty” and “occasionally there’s a syringe in the garbage,” but it’s “equally likely that’s from diabetics.” She said staff sometimes finds alcohol containers in the garbage.

But “I wouldn’t say drug paraphernalia,” she said.

Ms. Naftaly also took exception to the letter writer’s characterization of “a very bad homelessness problem.”

“A bad homelessness problem is what they have in some of the large urban cities where there are multiple daily overdoses,” she said.

“We don’t have multiple physical fights. We have people that want to come in from the cold. They bring their life situations with them, but if they’re not doing anything disruptive to other patrons, they are welcome to stay.”

She said, “It’s essentially City Park people coming here in the winter.”

“As soon as we are made aware of issues we give people consequences,” such as suspensions, “for bad behaviors.”

“If someone doesn’t want to leave, we are more than happy to get the Glens Falls Police Department involved,” Ms. Naftaly said.

She said the library board gets a full report of incidents at every meeting “and every month we talk about if there’s a need for more mitigation or security.”

Noting the ongoing efforts to address homelessness in the community, Ms. Naftaly said. “We’re not going to solve this problem alone.”

She concluded, “In spite of some people’s perception, we are still a clean, welcoming, kind, warm place, and we still want everyone to enjoy our services.”

— Ben Westcott

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