Librarians, Library Staff Safe After Shooting Spree in Colorado High School

Staff -- School Library Journal, 5/1/1999

Two librarians and an unidentified number of library support staff were unharmed in the shooting spree at Columbine High School that left 15 dead and 23 wounded in Littleton, CO, on April 20.

Liz Keating, head of the library, and Mary Swanson, another librarian, managed to survive what the New York Times called "the deadliest school massacre in the nation's history." Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, the two Columbine High School students allegedly responsible for the shooting and bombing, ended the mayhem by apparently committing suicide.

"The entire [library] staff is fine," said Roberta Ponis, coordinator of library services for the Jefferson County Public Schools, the suburban Denver district that includes Columbine High School.

The school's library media center appeared to be a magnet for the gunmen. "Most of the bodies are in the library," Ponis told SLJ, just as emergency workers were first allowed to enter the building after the building had been declared safe from bombs. Since the shootings happened during lunch hour, the library was crowded with students, she explained.

"It's so tragic," said Ponis. "We like to think of libraries as a haven, a sanctuary."

In nearby Englewood, CO, librarians were saddened as well. "It's been upsetting," said Betty Bankhead, library media coordinator at Cherry Creek High School. "It's a real wake-up call. It can happen anywhere, but still...," she said, her voice trailing off.

The library suffered a great deal of damage, said Ponis. But "right now our concerns are for the people. The assessment of the damage to the place and the collection will come later. We're reeling." -- Renee Olson, Editor-in-Chief