Cork councillors give green light for new rules to tighten security at libraries

Cork City Councillors voted this week in favour of new rules for libraries which will tighten security and ban the use of cameras or recording devies without prior permission.

The bylaws are intended to control, regulate, protect, and manage the public use of Cork City Council libraries and “to ensure that Cork City Council libraries can be used by the public in an appropriate and safe manner”, said a council spokesperson.

It comes as the library was forced to close twice in 2023 after staff were subjected to harassment by agitators over the presence of LGBTQ+ books. 

Speaking to The Echo at a rally in support of library staff held at the time, Cork city librarian David O’Brien said the closure was for the safety of the public and staff.

“We couldn’t in conscience have people walking through that mob,” he said, saying members of the public and library staff could potentially be “assaulted or verbally abused”.

The bylaws, approved at Monday night’s council meeting, include stipulations that people cannot cause injury to any other person on any library premises, use language that is “threatening or abusive and which may incite hatred towards other people due to their ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity” and destroy or damage library property. 

The bylaws also ban the use of cameras or recording devices, without prior written authorisation to do so, taking photos of children in the library and making information about library staff available to others.