Staff at the Portland Public Library’s downtown branch called police for assistance 501 times last year, more than double the number in 2024.

The stark increase has city and library officials looking for answers.

While serving vulnerable populations is nothing new for public libraries, the extent to which the library is relied upon by homeless people and those with substance use or mental health challenges has put immense pressure on staff. And although they are trained in de-escalation techniques, they are sometimes unable to quell disturbances without calling police.

“The rise in calls is concerning, and it’s not where we want it to be,” said Sarah Moore, the library’s executive director. “But it also highlights the library’s role as a space where anyone can be, especially when they have few other options.”

City officials said this week that the numbers are more evidence that additional resources are needed, both at the library and in a downtown area that has limited options for homeless individuals during the day. The library also provides one of the only publicly accessible restrooms in the area.

‘DE FACTO DAY SPACE’

Moore said library staff has been working to respond to “evolving safety needs” at the library while discussing options for partnering with the city to address the issue.

For the library, those options include adding more safety team and community resource staff, bringing in more partners to connect patrons with resources, establishing a more regular police presence and hosting additional training.

For the city, it’s continuing to look at options for a day space on the peninsula.

In 2024, the city allocated some of its opioid settlement funds for a day space but never found a partner to provide the service. Last year, funds were again allocated, this time toward a half-day space that operated out of the St. Vincent de Paul soup kitchen on Congress Street between December and the end of March.

Councilor Anna Bullett, who chairs the council’s Health and Human Services & Public Safety Committee, said she plans to get feedback on the soup kitchen’s experience this past winter to “inform city and community partner plans for potential future on-peninsula day services, which most agree are needed.”

Councilor Kate Sykes, who also serves on the library board of trustees, said the library is functioning as “a de facto day space” for many residents who have nowhere else to go.

“In many ways, (the library) is quietly absorbing a set of social service needs that the city has not fully sited elsewhere,” she said in an email to city staff.

Sykes said she hopes opioid settlement funds could help the library hire more social workers or provide other needed services, but it’s unclear whether those funds could be used for the library, which is not a city department.

The Lewiston Public Library has faced many of the same issues for years, although library director Joseph Houston said the facility has experienced “a sharp downturn” in police calls since a nearby 24-hour emergency shelter opened last year.

Bullett said that while day space availability in Portland and library calls to the police “are likely correlated,” she cautions against “jumping to causation.”

“The library has experienced significant staff turnover in recent years, and I know in my line of work staffing changes often result in operational inconsistencies,” she said.

Moore said the library has lost three staff members over the past six months: the finance director, a maintenance technician and a library safety specialist. The library is currently in negotiations with its union, which represents 61 of its 74 employees. The library also employs 25 substitutes who work per diem.

SAFETY TEAM

A lot of the work done by the library’s four-member safety team is routine — greeting and helping patrons, answering questions — but they’ve also seen an increased need to respond to health and wellness concerns.

According to Moore, the team is trained in de-escalation and basic first aid, and most situations are handled directly by the safety staff or with support from the library’s community resource coordinator, who connects people to local services.

Police are only called during a situation staff can’t manage, Moore said, “like an escalated safety risk or a medical emergency.”

With the library open about 300 days a year, police were called roughly 1.67 times per day in 2025.

Police department spokesperson Brad Nadeau said the most common calls for service to the library are “persons bothering, refusing to leave, criminal trespass, pedestrian check, and behavioral health.”

Moore said all team members carry Narcan, the nasal spray that reverses opioid overdoses, and are trained to use it. They also regularly monitor the bathrooms.

Brooks Ross, a safety team member for the past month and a half, said the atmosphere was “chaotic” when he arrived, with frequent drug use in the bathrooms. But, he said, as he and other team members have formed more relationships with patrons, things have improved.

Ross previously worked for Spurwink as a peer specialist, based out of Portland’s Homeless Services Center, and before that worked for Milestone recovery. He said he got the impression that some former safety team members at the library didn’t have the same experience dealing with struggling individuals.

“Things seem to be getting better, I just wish there was more we could do for the people who come to us,” he said.

Moore said the library dedicated a “community resource room” this year for bringing in service providers like Spurwink and Portland Public Health so people can access them in a place they already trust.

She’s hoping the library can bring on additional safety team members and community resource staff, but said like many public and nonprofit organizations, “our capacity ultimately comes down to funding.”

Roughly 80% of the library’s budget comes from city, county and state funding, with the remaining funds coming from donations and the library’s endowment.

The list of library rules of conduct is extensive, and the library warns patrons that engaging in prohibited behavior will result in being asked to leave, or that the police may be called.

Moore said she’s also been in ongoing conversation with the police about other options, including having officers do regular walk-throughs. However, some library staff and patrons have expressed unease with increasing police presence.

Nadeau said discussions between police and city and library staff are focused on “identifying the most effective ways to address these concerns.”

Last year, the department opened a community policing station at 443 Congress St. near the library following continued concerns from businesses about drug use, disturbances and littering.

This year police also rolled out an “urban rangers” program, where individuals serve as a “uniformed, non-law-enforcement presence” working with police, local businesses and Portland Parks & Recreation “to ensure that public areas remain accessible, welcoming, and well-maintained for all residents and visitors.”