ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — For the second time in a month, a Colorado library closed its doors to clean up methamphetamine contamination.
Officials in the Denver suburb of Englewood closed the city library last week a couple of hours after receiving test results Wednesday that showed contamination in the facility’s restrooms exceeded state thresholds, the spokesman said. of the city, Chris Harguth.
Other spaces, such as countertops, have also tested positive for lower levels of the drug and will require specialized cleaning, he said. Larger scale remediation work will include removal of contaminated surfaces, walls, ductwork, and exhaust ventilation equipment.
The city of about 33,000, south of Denver, decided to try the drug after officials at the nearby college town of Boulder closed its main library after finding methamphetamine contamination, Harguth said.
It’s the latest example of the balancing act that urban libraries have to navigate between making their facilities welcoming to all and keeping them clean and safe. When a spate of library overdoses were reported in the mid-2010s as the opioid crisis grew in the United States, some libraries were stocked with the antidote Naloxone, known by the brand name Narcan.
So far, it appears that library closings caused by methamphetamine contamination are limited to Colorado, according to American Library Association spokesman Raymond Garcia, who is not aware of any elsewhere in the country in recent years. The group declined to comment on whether drug use has increased in libraries, citing a lack of up-to-date data.
Health officials say methamphetamine residues can be irritating and cause symptoms such as an itchy throat, runny nose and bloodshot eyes. But secondary exposure is not thought to cause long-term chronic health problems, Harguth said.
Drug use is not common at the Englewood library, but reports have increased in recent months as colder weather prompted more people to seek refuge there, with only a small number using them, the agency said. Library Director Christina Underhill. More generally, the library has attracted more homeless people since it fully reopened after closing at the start of the pandemic.
“We are very accommodating,” Underhill said. But «there are some people who abuse this space and unfortunately put us in this position.»
Brenda Folsom, who was picking up her grandchildren from school near the Englewood library on Thursday, said she has seen an increase in drug use in the area over the past two years, particularly at her local park. She worries that her 3-year-old and 8-year-old grandchildren, who go to the library with her father, and other curious children might pick up needles and other drug paraphernalia in the bathrooms.
“I think if they would clean their bathrooms a little bit more or pay attention to the bathrooms and stuff or people going in there, they wouldn’t have this problem,” Folsom said. In his opinion, the library should have better security and more frequent checks on the facilities.
Boulder officials suggested that their city’s library closure last month was the result of strict state rules to clean up methamphetamine once tests reveal it. They also noted that the standards for the acceptable amount of methamphetamine contamination were developed with homes in mind, where frequent exposure is more likely than in public buildings.
Colorado’s rules are «some of the most conservative in the nation, using an abundance of caution to protect infants and children from exposure,» the city said in a Dec. 28 statement.
The Boulder Library has since reopened, but its restrooms remain closed while crews carry out decontamination work, including replacing fans and vents, spokeswoman Annie Elliott said. Once this is done, the restrooms will remain locked and anyone needing to use them will need to request access from a staff member or security guard.
The Englewood Library has made some changes to help the homeless who go there. An outreach group comes every Monday to offer services like help getting identification, food stamps and housing, according to Underhill.
However, after some library users said they did not feel safe, the city hired security guards last year, he said. He also established a code of conduct with the goal of helping librarians to be able to enforce the rules.
Englewood also recently increased funding to add more staff in hopes of deterring drug use, according to the library’s website.
“The use of the library has changed,” Underhill said. “More people are coming to use it as a refuge area.”