By Marlon Villa
The Billie Jean King Library reopened on Thursday after security concerns caused a four-week closure.
The library has only offered “to–go” services since they closed on Sept. 23.
Cath De Leon, the library director, said they were able to work with the Long Beach city manager’s office and the Long Beach Police Department to determine the right time to reopen.
Officers patrolled the area the day when the library reopened.
The library staff was also provided additional safety training in the event of another emergency.
Most of the training was a refresher course as the library staff engage in training on how to handle difficult interactions, engage with people experiencing mental health crisis and first aid.
“We were able to get some additional training with the MET team,” De Leon said. “They’re the police officers that are paired with the mental health clinicians.”
The MET team gave the staff tips on how to stay safe and how to recognize different signs about what to what to look out for.
Communication will play a big role in how the staff deals with another emergency, they added radios and walkie-talkies between the staff to decide on the steps they would take.
De Leon considers the reopening to be flowing smoothly.
“It’s been great actually, and I think everyone feels a lot better about being in the library now that we have sort of a security presence present,” De Leon said.
While officers are patrolling the library, special services officers are the only ones armed.
“We’ve gotten some positive feedback from residents that have come back to the building and thanked us for taking the time to make sure that we added measures, to ensure that everybody was safe,” De Leon said.
The Billie Jean King Main Library has modified hours as they have to be aligned with the available security, but they are expected to go back to their regular hours on Nov. 1.
The temporary hours for the library include being closed Sunday and Monday, and open Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Wednesdays from 12 to 6 p.m., Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
