Paul Bass Photo
An adolescent boy punched a librarian, then fled, after his card was confiscated.
The incident occurred four minutes before the 8 p.m. closing time Wednesday at the main downtown branch.
A boy who looked between 11 and 14 tried to check out an item with a card that belonged to a 19-year-old, according to city officials. The librarian said she wanted to hold the card to determine to whom it belonged, “which enraged the young man,” top downtown Sgt. Tammi Means said. “He jumped over the counter, He punched one of the librarians in the head and pulled some of the cards out of the card catalog.”
A security guard was nearby and assisted. The boy, who is believed to live in West Haven, fled.
“The librarian was OK and was checked at the Yale occupational clinic,” said mayoral spokesman Laurence Grotheer.
The incident remains under investigation.
“The young man came behind the desk and threw boxes of library cards and forms all over the floor before he fled on foot,” reported one employee who witnessed the event and said the assaulted librarian “suffered some swelling” and remains “shaken” by the incident. The boy had tried to use two different cards, one from New Haven, one from West Haven, the employee told the Independent. “The administration has been unresponsive and unsympathetic to the growing number of crimes taking place here at the library.”
Library security staff Thursday was reviewing video footage of the incident, said Brad Bullis, the library’s head of adult services. Once more information is gathered, he said, the staff will examine whether changes in security procedures are warranted.
On one hand the violence appalls me. On the other hand, the kid came out swinging because of a book? Violence to possess literature? I'll be damned; New Haven continues to be nothing if not interesting.