Jackson County Library District officials say an air of civility is returning to the Medford library.

Daytime security, updated rules of conduct and relocation of homeless outreach services have yielded fewer calls for police service.

Earlier this year, library officials were put on notice by Medford city officials and neighboring downtown businesses that the library was considered a nuisance property. The downtown library branch was a site of constant mayhem, with a small number of homeless patrons publicly using drugs, fighting, having sex and even starting fires in library restrooms.

This week, Medford police officials reported that service calls during September were just half the number recorded last year, with 21 calls for service last month compared to 43 calls during September 2022.

Calls for police response at the library spiked at 60 per month during March and April this year, the period when city officials announced the library met criteria to be deemed a “chronic nuisance property.”

Under the city of Medford municipal code, a property is deemed a nuisance property when it generates 12 calls for service during a 12-month period. The Medford library generated 400 calls for service during 2022.

After library officials voted to reinstate daytime security in May, the library experienced a noticeable decrease in calls for service, dropping to 47 in May, 33 in June, 25 in July and 34 in August.

Despite September being the least tumultuous month of 2023, a burst of chaos occurred Sept. 12 when homeless man was stabbed in an unprovoked attack near Genessee and East Main streets and was then chased several blocks to the Medford library. Assistant library director Joan Vigil said the victim sought safety at the downtown library, where he was provided aid by security officers before medical personnel arrived.

May said the library has been calmer overall in recent months, and patron feedback has been positive about recent changes, especially daytime security.

“A woman thanked me for adding security to the library and said that she appreciated that the library is finding ways to make the library more welcoming for families,” May said.

“Our branch manager in Medford has heard from several patrons, and we’ve noticed more families coming back into the library.”

May said services for homeless patrons, billed as a “Morning Hours” program provided by nursing students from OHSU, had been moved off-site and slightly modified.

“We’re still able to serve the unhoused community, as long as they’re following our rules of conduct,” May said.

“We did update them to make it more clear what those expectations are when you’re at the library. The new rules are on our website, and staff has been trained, so they’re equally enforcing.”

May said rules of conduct for the library were updated this summer, including a new rule that prohibits sleeping.

“Probably the most significant change is that sleeping is no longer allowed in the library. It’s a health risk, because we’re not sure if you’re sleeping or you’ve passed out,” she said. “We want to make sure everyone is OK while they’re at the library.”

Northwest Defense Contracting owner Todd Kirkendol declined to comment about recent improvements to library security. May said she had heard reports of patrons finding entryways quieter and cleaner due to a security presence.

Library District board member Kevin Keating, elected May 16, said he was hopeful officials would continue to see improvements to security and would find ways to “bring more of our families back to the library.”

Keating applauded the move to discontinue homeless outreach services, noting, “It was not part of our core mission and only seemed to create problems of more people gathering around the property.”

Overall, Keating said, the library was “business as usual” with a visible security presence. Keating said employees previously billed as social workers are now identified as resource specialists.

“Really, from what I can see, the homeless situation is pretty much done, just in terms of being such a big problem and a big focus. They’ve doubled security, and security is doing a great job. They’ve started enforcing the policies they really should have been enforcing all along,” Keating said.

“You can’t sleep and you can’t eat inside the building. The library is no longer being used as a location for foot washing, or whatever that was. They’ve kind of just gone back to good practices and functioning as a library.”

Keating said the library board is focused on a five-year master plan, which includes outreach services for home-school families, members of the Latino community and homeless patrons. Keating said he hoped to see continued effort to prevent serious problems from creeping back up.

“We can’t go back to how it was. Honestly, it was like a full-blown (homeless) camp. I think we’ve taken care of that, and we’ve got to keep vigilant,” Keating said.

“Everybody would love the homeless situation to get solved, but I’m not sure there’s much we as a library can do for them. We’re not a social service organization. … The number one thing, personally, I think we’ve got to continue is to advertise and tell people to come back in and give us a shot.”