Millennium Library safety incidents spike in first quarter of 2025

Cameron MacLean · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 09, 2025 10:04 PM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

The fig of concerning incidents astatine Winnipeg's downtown Millennium Library accrued sharply successful the archetypal fewer months of this year. 

From January to March, determination were 309 incidents, compared with 183 during the aforesaid play the twelvemonth before, a 68.9 per cent increase, according to a study to beryllium discussed astatine the assemblage services committee gathering connected June 13. 

That summation occurred contempt a 7.5 per cent driblet successful attendance, which the study attributes to City of Winnipeg's determination to chopped opening times connected Sundays and Monday evenings and to adjacent Community Connections, the work hub which had operated successful the room since 2022.

Across the full room system, determination were 498 information issues, compared with 361 past year, an summation of 38 per cent, portion attendance roseate marginally by 0.9 per cent. 

Funding for the Community Connections space, which provided low-barrier accusation services and situation involution wrong the lobby of the Millennium Library, ended aft Dec. 31, 2024. 

The abstraction had room staff, assemblage information hosts and situation workers who could assistance de-escalate radical and notation them to extracurricular agencies and resources.

Kirsten Wurmann, a librarian and programme co-ordinator with the Manitoba Library Association, isn't amazed to spot the accrued fig of information incidents.

"This coincides precisely with the closure of Community Connections," she said.

"I said this successful my past delegation to members of assembly backmost successful January, and not conscionable me, but many, galore different radical said that staffing is truly important to marque a safer abstraction successful which to enactment and to visit."

About fractional of the incidents astatine Millennium Library from January to March this twelvemonth related to inappropriate behaviour, with 156 incidents, a 110 per cent summation from the twelvemonth before.

There were 32 incidents involving intoxication, 433 per cent higher than past year.

Since the closure of Community Connnections, the fig of referrals to extracurricular agencies has plummeted. Workers successful the abstraction made 5,886 referrals from January to March past year. 

Since the closure, room unit astatine each different work desks successful the room began tracking the aforesaid referral data, signaling a full of 812 this year. 

"This alteration … implies that, since the closure of Community Connections, radical whitethorn not beryllium entering the library, past the metallic detector gates, for their accusation requests," the study states.

Despite that decrease, the workload of room unit astatine the work desks has accrued substantially. 

"When Community Connections closed, we knew that incidents were going to increase, due to the fact that present there's cipher serving the community," said Mary Burton, enforcement manager of Zoongizi Ode Inc., a non-profit which trains assemblage information hosts to enactment wrong the library.

After closing Community Connections, the Downtown Community Safety Partnership announced plans to acceptable up an bureau successful the space. But Burton said that bureau is not unfastened arsenic overmuch arsenic Community Connections was, and doesn't connection the aforesaid services.

Referrals made by assemblage situation workers successful Millennium Library roseate 245 per cent successful the three-month period, according to the report. 

"That is due to the fact that determination is cipher astatine the beforehand enactment being the go-between betwixt the assemblage and the situation workers," Burton said.

Mayor Scott Gillingham and different assembly members person said the beforehand lobby of the room was not the due abstraction for the Community Connections hub, and argued the provincial authorities should assistance money it, since it mostly referred radical to provincial services.