Brookfield library to screen for criminal records
This is a good idea, however, what is the library going to do if the volunteer and/or applicant has recently come from out of state? The Illinois State Police check will not cover any crimes outside of the state of Illinois. The library might want to add the use of an outside private company to conduct these checks when they arise.
The Brookfield Public Library will soon start running criminal background checks on all its employees. The library has decided to implement this new policy after receiving a memo from its attorney outlining the advantages of doing so.
“We’re not reacting to any problem,” said Kimberly Litland, director of the Brookfield Public Library. “This is just a proactive program to protect the library. We’re just being cautious.”
The Illinois State Police will provide the service which will check to see if there are any criminal convictions in an employee’s past. The cost of the check is $10 per person.
The library has 25 full- and part-time employees. Library volunteers will also undergo background checks on a random basis of about one or two a month.
Approximately 30 to 40 people volunteer at the library. Every month all the volunteers’ names will be put in a hat or a box and one or two names will be pulled and those names will be forwarded on the Illinois State Police for a background check.
Two other local libraries have no current plans to do background checks on their employees.
“We have talked about it,” said Robert Lifka, director of the North Riverside Public Library. “We have considered it, but have not gone forward.”
The North Riverside Public Library has 26 employees, but only three are full time Lifka said.
Riverside Public Library Director Janice Fisher said her library has not seriously considered doing criminal background checks on its employees or volunteers.
“We don’t have any plans (to do criminal background checks) right now,” said Fisher. “We don’t have a lot of turnover.”
Fisher said that there are 28 employees, 11 full-time, at the Riverside Public Library. Fisher said that most of the volunteers at the Riverside Public Library are teenagers.
