PORTLAND, Ore. — A new audit shows many Multnomah County library workers don’t feel safe or supported at work.
County auditors found people dealing with housing and mental health crises across Multnomah County are turning to libraries, which aren’t equipped to meet their needs.
That’s led to increased stress among library staff. Some believe the local government should provide more resources for Portland’s homeless population.
“I feel stressed because I have to see people who are living on the edge, and we don’t have enough services to refer people to,” said library assistant Martha Jones.
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For 15 years, Jones has predominantly worked at Central Library and the northwest Multnomah County Library. The two branches had the highest number of security incidents last year, according to the county audit. Combined, there were 79 incidents at the two branches.
"There's some pretty serious security incidents that have happened at the library," said Caroline Zavitkovski, the Multnomah County Audit Director.
The audit found library staff were threatened with knives and forced to respond to drug overdoses, Zavitkovski said.
The audit also shows in 2022, there were more than 2,000 incident reports submitted at county libraries.
"Morale is pretty low at the library," Zavitkovski said.
The audit highlighted some areas where libraries could improve. Those include looking at trends of what time incidents occur and strengthening the security-response protocol. Increasing staff is also a priority, Zavitkovski said.
Library officials said they plan to follow recommendations from the audit, though library employees said more resources for Portland’s homeless population are needed from the city and county government.
"There's no reason there can't be a lot more day shelters,” Jones said. “A lot more places for people to use bathrooms."