excitement at the library!

A young woman ran into the library today asking me to call 9-1-1. She’d run behind the desk I work behind and my initial reaction was to ask her to get out from our workspace until it registered what she was saying. I was about to ask why when another young(er) woman ran into the library shouting something about “beatin’ yo ass…”

what Circulation normally look like

Sheesh! A little decorum here! You’re in a library for god’s sake. I told her to leave and then picked up the phone and quickly dialed (what was that number again???). She said something about not giving a damn then went on to threaten the woman behind me. Meanwhile her friends had run in and were trying to get her to leave. After a few moments of cajoling they finally pulled her out of the library. I assumed they didn’t want to deal with the police and were leaving for good but continued talking to the operator.

The woman who’d asked for our help went to the door to see what was going on outside, suddenly ran back to the desk as the door burst open again and the petite persecutor ran back in determined to get at her prey. I told her she needed to leave but she would have none of it and told me to “shut up, bitch… “ and more, then went on dramatically with well her name & age but I was talking to the operator at this point and trying to multi-task with both conversations was getting a bit difficult. Then she started toward the desk. Cara (the circulation clerk who was working alongside me) and I moved over in front of the woman she was threatening in a semi-circle. I was determined she was not going to hurt anyone but I have a hurt shoulder and I am not quite sure exactly what I could have done in the event she really came at us- but it was instinctive I guess. Fortunately, her friends moved in again and pulled her back just as things got fairly tense.

At this point it’s pretty- well, strained would be an understatement. One silly lady started complaining that there were people yelling in the library and said we should tell them not to yell (she complained to Cara). You have to wonder what she was thinking? I’m not sure we’re really worried about the yelling ma’am… So we’re gathering more information about what the girl is wearing for the Emergency Operator when the, what I have determined to be, sixteenish looking girl really comes bursting back in. I tell her to leave- again. Her friends grab her again and pull her out one last time. I don’t know what has convinced them this time, but they do leave at last, getting into a SUV and drive with two adults off of library property. The young (but quite a bit older than the one who’s been causing the trouble which is why she said she didn’t want to fight- dind’t want to get charged with beating up a minor) woman we’ve been helping says the women in the vehicle and the friends who were pulling her out were all going to jump her but it seems they were waiting outside until the time was right but the one hotheaded girl couldn’t wait, she kept coming in to intimidate and harass.

And they all lived happily ever after.

Or not.