SAN ANTONIO – The stories held inside the Central Library don’t always have happy endings, but JD Elizondo hopes sharing his story can cause change.
“I actually saw, like, a punch coming towards me,” Elizondo said.
For the first time, Elizondo spoke with KSAT about a violent incident at an open mic event at the library last year. He said a patron attacked him.
“I got, like, kicked in the jaw really hard and, well, I went flying with a guitar and onto the hard floor,” Elizondo said. “it was just the craziest thing. I got, you know, assaulted while I was doing my job.”
During the 2023 fiscal year, the library said 18 assaults were reported at its downtown campus.
In response, Central Library’s board of trustees approved a six-month pilot program to have San Antonio police officers on site part-time in addition to its security staff.
“While the library is a welcoming and safe place, some things had happened that we needed to address,” Central Library interim assistant to the director Haley Holmes said.
“Has this program been effective?” KSAT asked.
“Anecdotally, there have been fewer assaults within six months,” Holmes said. “There have been two that we’ve recorded, and the police aren’t here very often.”
Holmes said after the program’s six-month mark in mid-May, the library will evaluate the program with help from the University of Texas at San Antonio. She said the program would include feedback from library staff, patrons and community members.
During the nearly six months of part-time police presence, a group of activists has pushed back against the program.
More than a dozen protested with a “read-in” at the library’s entrance on Saturday.
“The library is one of the last free spaces that we have,” ACT 4 SA executive director Ananda Tomas said. “We cannot add police presence and take that away from the folks who need it the most.”
“What do you think is the solution to reduce the number of assaults at the Central Library?” KSAT asked.
“I think we need to look into de-escalation training for everybody at the library,” Tomas said. “I think we need to open up more community spaces and programs to the folks that need it most.”
While Elizondo respects the discussion and debate, he said his story could have ended much differently and dangerously.
“What if that guy had a gun or a knife? Or what if he just kept punching people?” said Elizondo. “You know, it’s, it’s good to have counseling. That should be part of the equation. But things like that, there was no escalation with like that, and it happened. So what’s going to deter that?”
Elizondo hopes the next chapter of the library’s safety plan includes police.
“Something needs to deter it,” Elizondo said.