Library tales could have come from a crime novel

LIBRARIES are meant to provide an oasis of peaceful tranquillity where silence is golden as literature lovers peruse the shelves and relax as they read the daily papers.

But not, it appears, in the main library operated by Moray Council in the county town of Elgin.

The normally peaceful library emerged yesterday as Scotland's rowdiest - and possibly its most dangerous - after the local authority revealed plans to crack down on anti-social behaviour following a series of incidents which have shattered the serenity of the customers who regularly visit the central library, situated in the heart of picturesque Cooper Park.

In the past few weeks an elderly pensioner has been struck on the head with a plastic pellet fired from a BB gun which was discharged within the building, staff have found hypodermic needles and other drug paraphernalia in the ladies' toilets, and two youths had to be barred from the premises after fighting on the library's stairs following a theft.

A council source said yesterday: "Cooper Park is a popular meeting place for teenagers in the town and they tend to congregate outside the library. It's a great hang-out place for the youngsters. And the problem is down to a small minority who seem hell-bent on causing trouble inside the library."

A spokesman for Moray Council said it has "pledged to clamp down on anti-social behaviour by a minority of youths at Elgin library following a series of recent incidents."

He added: "One individual has already been excluded and warning letters have been sent to a number of others."

"Last weekend drugs paraphernalia was found in the ladies' toilets at the library and the portico was damaged by vandals.

"The incidents have been reported to the police and it is intended to arrange an inter-agency meeting in a bid to tackle the problem."