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I am always happy to find a new reason why libraries improve Eveyding, and today I am pleased to report that some very serious academics have come to the conclusion that public libraries are Batman's urban planning equivalent: great in combating crimes.

I came across this information about a contribution from Greg Pak on Bluesky via a 2023 study in 2023 Journal of Cultural Economics Called “help public libraries to mitigate crime? Evidence from Kansas City, Mo.” The study was written and researched by Amir B. Ferreira Neto, Jennifer Noficki and Shishir Shakya and after the opening of a new library, which happened with crime statistics. Some of the academic sections of Nitty-Gritty were over my skills, but the general thrust is clear for the layperson and good news for library fans and bad news for crime fans:

Our results show that public libraries can reduce crime in its nearby proximity. In particular, we find in the nearby proximity of the library; There is a significant reduction in the frequency of burglaries, vandalism, robberies, fraud and attacks.

The study focuses on a library in Kansas City, Mo: The Woodneath Public Library Branch. The public library system in Kansas City had 12 branches for two decades, but added a 13th in 2013.

The new Woodneath branch was “a unique quasi-naturally experiment” for the researchers. With an open database with crime, the scholars pursued crimes to the place and time and wanted to see what happened when Woodneath Public Library opened. It is the blue circle in the figure below – the red are the existing libraries. A crime occurred in black dots on which records occurred.

These circles are 2.96 miles, which they deliver as the sphere of influence of each library. The study dealt with the area of ​​the city in the blue circle and compared it with everything outside the red or blue circles: How has the prevalence of crimes in these areas changed as a result of the WoodNeath opening?

The results are sorted out according to the type of “opportunities -based crimes”, “motor crimes” “fraud” etc. The studies found that not all crime seemed to be affected, but that crimes of opportunities, basically everything that would not be planned in advance, reduced the closer to the library. They conclude from the fact that this “suggests[s] That public libraries can help reduce opportunities and the concentration of social crimes and thus to act as a deterrent of the crime. “

Why? Some reasons: Libraries change a criminal risk assessment because they increase “pedestrians, surveillance cameras, lighting bodies and new routes for the law enforcement authorities”. Libraries are also a safe place for people: there is less use in street crime.

The results are also supported by other academic literature that you quote in a parade of other studies on libraries and their advantages. For example, other studies have found that they are all the more likely that children are submitted more, better labor market results and more patents. More patents! Is there anything that libraries cannot do?

The researchers add a few restrictions, but the conclusion is quite clear: libraries are bubbles of security and crime prevention and especially in connection with other interventions.

The answer is clear whether you are a local civil servant: Maybe next time you try to invest more libraries in more police officers in more police officers.