Southeast Regional Library — Attraction in Garner

This location needs to reevaluate its conflict resolution practices to ensure the safety of ALL people using the facilities.

During a visit on 9/11/2025, I witnessed a young Black man return inside the library after being threatened outside by another man who reportedly had a knife and used racial slurs. The young man, clearly shaken, was understandably upset and vocal about the fact that the security officer didn’t seem to intervene or confront the man who had threatened him.

What made this worse was that the man accused of making the threats was then allowed to walk freely within feet of the person he had allegedly just threatened — while I and others sat nearby, feeling completely unprotected. The two men argued openly within close range of each other and other patrons. Neither the security officer nor the two staff members working just yards away (a man and a woman) made any visible effort to intervene. The security officer only reappeared in an authoritative role after the man who made the threats had left — when the young man, still processing the encounter, continued speaking out loud about the officer’s lack of response, and I must agree with him from what I sat and witnessed.

To sit in that environment — with two visibly upset individuals, one possibly armed — and see no meaningful attempt at de-escalation from staff felt incredibly uncomfortable and unsafe. The woman at the help desk, CiCi (spelling uncertain), only engaged when the young man repeated the racial slurs allegedly used against him, and seemed more concerned with quieting him down than checking on his well-being or offering him another space to process what had just happened, possibly outside as well as inside in front of everyone.

Eventually, the officer called the police — and shockingly, the man who had been threatened was the one removed, for trespassing.

This was a serious failure of safety protocol and judgment. Public libraries should be safe for everyone, especially those facing harm. I sincerely hope this branch reconsiders how it trains and empowers all staff to handle these situations. Parents, be mindful of the safety protocol when considering bringing your children to this location. De-escalation should be a core competency, not just pacifying people to...

We come here often. Mostly for the kids. Decent amount of books, usually quiet. Great activities for the kids during the day. Most of the staff is cool but there are a couple snooty individuals who could very much use an attitude adjustment; working with the kids. Their projected bias towards certain ethnicities is quite obvious and disgusting. Also the level of patience with some of the younger children is limited. However, there are some who are wonderful and experienced. My kids love going and overall it’s...

Really disappointed kiddo today after we drove into the library, returned books then spent an hour selecting books only to be told we weren’t allowed to check anything out due to overdue items. I can understand, however the items were overdue at our last visit and we weren’t sent away, in fact I was told we could still check out items, and elected to pay for items that I believe have been lost. I have to say that in the 16 years I’ve been coming here, I’ve never met such a rude librarian , at the children’s...