Citrus Heights library raises steel gates to curb vandalism
CITRUS HEIGHTS — A Sacramento Public Library branch in Citrus Heights has had to raise steel gates to curb vandalism and potential safety concerns in the area.
It's not something Jarrid Keller wanted, but it was something the library system's deputy director could not ignore at the Sylvan Oaks Library on Auburn Boulevard.
"This is something we've been working on for the last two years," he said.
Karen Leland is the library's safety and security manager.
"We've implemented tactics to dissuade people from climbing on our roof or being on our property after hours," she said.
Leland said the concerns also were for the safety of the homeless people around Crosswoods Community Park, which sits directly next to the library.
"Those have reduced some of the after-hours activity for us, so it has improved," she said.
Keller hopes it will curb potential after-hours problems to make sure the library is safe and accessible for everyone.
"At the end of the day, we have to figure out how to make this asset available to anybody and everybody," he said. "We're all about access and we want to provide safe, secure access to anybody and everybody who walks through our doors."
Between the years 2021 and 2022, there were 122 incidents of violence or vandalism at the library.