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Any hesitance Salt Lake County Council members had about the library system's request for four more employees evaporated Tuesday after hearing the justification from the library's Director Jim Cooper.
Two of the four positions are at the county's West Valley City branch, 2880 W. 3650 South, right next to a Utah Transit Authority intermodal hub with TRAX and bus service — but no restrooms.
Some homeless people who ride those transit lines often get off there and need to use the facilities, Cooper said, so they turn to the library to meet their needs.
Once there, some use the restrooms; some don't. And just as Salt Lake City officials are vexed by an increasing incidence of people defecating in public places, so is the Salt Lake County Library System.
"This is public service in its rawest form," Cooper said, defending the proposed addition of a custodian and an assistant manager at the West Valley City library.
"With the diverse population frequenting that stop, we're encountering many more homelessness issues, seeing a greater need for custodial services" with blood, fecal matter, needles and used condoms being found around the site, he said. "Many times the homeless are using the restrooms for bathing."
The library is not inclined to turn away people, Cooper said. "Our facilities are open to all comers. If an individual needs to use the restroom, we won't accompany them."
Besides its increasing custodial needs, the library's relatively small dimensions leave it prone to overcrowding. When that happens, Cooper said, fights can break out.
"We call 911 and the police a lot," he said. "That's not in the job description of a librarian. There should be a manager" trained to deal with confrontational situations.
The library's other two requests were for the Kearns and Viridian branches.
Kearns needs an assistant manager because the manager there often is away from the building, attending meetings of groups frequently organized by the county to improve the west-side community, Cooper said.
And the Viridian library in West Jordan has been such an overwhelming success, projected to hold 400 functions this year, that its events center needs another custodian to "have it cleaned, set up and broken down, sometimes two to three times a day," he added.
Cooper's remarks swayed the council, which endorsed the extra employees among a couple of dozen midyear budget amendments proposed by Mayor Ben McAdams.
None of the mayor's revisions was rejected by the County Council, which will hold a public hearing on the proposed changes at 6 p.m. Thursday in the north building of the County Government Center, 2001 S. State.
The biggest items on McAdams' list involved:
• Building up the case management system and victim-advocates team in the district attorney's office
• Providing $500,000 to Visit Salt Lake so it can make a great impression on the 6,500 delegates attending the Center for Association Leadership convention Aug. 9-17. Visit Salt Lake CEO Scott Beck knows that if he can impress these delegates, scores of them could bring their individual associations back to Salt Lake City for their own conventions
• Investing about $200,000 into Clark Planetarium to help make it more attractive at a time when diminishing foot traffic in the Gateway shopping development is hurting its visitation
Public hearing
P The Salt Lake County Council will hold a public hearing on its proposed midyear budget adjustments at 6 p.m. Thursday in the north building of the County Government Center, 2001 S. State.