Starting Tuesday, the library said that the main branch at 215 E. Third St. will no longer limit the number of people in the building during the “quiet space” hours of 2-6 p.m. during the week.
Instead, during the school year, children ages 17 or younger will be required to be accompanied by a chaperone who will be responsible for their behavior to enter the library during “quiet space” hours. Chaperones must be 25 or older, and must remain on the premises at all times that the child or teen is there, the library said.
Children who are pre-registered for a library program or tutoring, or who are expressly authorized by a library official to be in the building are exempt from this addition to the library’s policies.
In situations other than those, both the child and chaperone are required to provide proof of their ages, the library said, which can include a student ID, a valid driver’s license, etc. as long as it has a photo and the date of birth is tamper-proof. Anyone who doesn’t have sufficient identification will be offered service alternatives, the library said.
Children who violate the library’s Code of Conduct may be asked to stay with their chaperone during their visit.
Otherwise, the library said that it will continue to consider the downtown library as a quiet space during the limited hours, which includes policies such as groups of two or more not being allowed to congregate in the library without using a study room, and that video games or group activities are no longer allowed in the Teen Edge area.
The more restrictive policies were put in place after the library’s main branch saw a rash of violent and disruptive incidents.
In particular, the building saw violent brawls in mid-December, some of which were serious.
For example, on Dec. 18, multiple young people got into fights around 2:42 p.m. immediately outside the building’s main entrance, with security video showing people screaming while shoving, grabbing and hitting each other as library staff and security tried to break it up.
At about 4:05 p.m. the same day, another fight started on the library’s second floor, with video showing young males throwing punches and wrestling on the ground. After more people became involved and the fight moved into a hallway, police cleared the area and arrested two 18-year-old boys, who were also involved in a disturbance on an RTA bus before going to the library, according to a Dayton police report.
Dayton police said they made twice as many arrests and responded more than twice as many calls for service at the downtown library in 2024 as in 2023. But officials said one of the main reasons for the large increase in calls were proactive patrols, where officers were stationed nearby.
In 2024, the most common reasons for police to be called to the library included 45 calls for trespassing, 41 calls for theft, 39 calls for disorderly subjects, 36 wellness checks and 16 calls for assault.
Library officials said that there has been a decrease in disruptions since the quiet space hours policy was put in place last month.
The new policies led to mixed reactions, particularly the rule that limited the number of patrons allowed to enter the library every half hour, stopping people at the door until they were allowed in.
Staff writers Sydney Dawes and Cornelius Frolik contributed to this report.
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