Hillsboro: Library Staff Report Counts 50 Incidents July–September, 38 at Shute Park

Hillsboro Public Library recorded 50 incidents at its two branches from July through September, 12 at Brookwood and 38 at Shute Park, according to a staff newsletter report included in the Library Board’s Oct. 15 meeting packet. Each branch had two more incidents than in the same quarter of 2025, and the report says that so far this year the library has “tended to see more incidents but less severe ones.”

The report, on pages 44 and 45 of the packet, also measures incidents against visits. Shute Park logged one incident for every 1,381 visits, compared with one for every 10,059 at Brookwood. Dividing one ratio by the other, our calculation puts Shute Park’s per-visit incident rate at about 7.3 times Brookwood’s.

Two branches, two years

The report sorts each branch’s incidents into three tiers plus an “Other” group, then compares them with the third quarter of 2025. The table puts both branches and both years side by side.

Source: “Library Incidents Quarterly Report 2026 Q3,” in the library’s October employee newsletter, Library Board packet for Oct. 15, 2026, pages 44–45. The 2025 figures are the report’s own comparison numbers.

At Shute Park, Tier 1 incidents rose from 10 to 16 while Tier 2 incidents fell from 10 to 6. By our calculation, Tier 1 and Other made up 66% of the branch’s incidents this quarter (25 of 38), up from 53% (19 of 36) a year earlier. The newsletter says the balance “continues to shift towards lower-level offenses,” with Tier 2 the category that dropped.

The per-visit ratios moved as well. Brookwood went from one incident per 12,205 visits to one per 10,059, which the report lists as a 21.3% change, and Shute Park went from 1:1,451 to 1:1,381, a 5.0% change.

What the tiers cover

The packet does not define the tiers, but the city’s Patron Progressive Discipline Rubric does. Its Tier 1 examples include refusing reasonable staff directions, blocking walkways, leaving belongings unattended and riding skateboards or scooters indoors. Tier 2 covers smoking or vaping, harassing staff or patrons, visible intoxication and bringing a weapon into the building.

Tier 3, the most serious level, includes physical assault, violent or threatening statements, drug or alcohol use, illegal activity and intentional property damage. The rubric does not list an “Other” category, and the newsletter does not explain what that group includes.

Consequences rise with the tier. A first Tier 1 incident brings a verbal warning, while each Tier 3 incident leads staff to request an exclusion of up to 180 days from both branches. The Hillsboro Police Department makes the final decision on exclusions under city code, the rubric says.

Exclusions held steady

The report tracks exclusions separately from incidents. Shute Park had nine exclusions in the quarter, the same as a year earlier, and Brookwood had none in either year. The report does not say whether those counts are exclusions staff requested or orders police issued.

The rules also changed partway through the quarter. The City Council adopted the current rubric, along with aligned library and parks Rules for Use policies, on July 21 by a 3-2 vote, with Mayor Beach Pace breaking a tie, according to minutes in the Sept. 1 council packet. The newsletter does not say whether that change affected how third-quarter incidents were classified.

The library’s third-quarter strategic plan update, in the same board packet, lists one related step. Regular staff de-escalation training, with practice for “tough interactions and behavior management,” carries the status “Planning underway.”

A manager’s departure

The packet also records a leadership change at Shute Park. Draft minutes of the board’s Sept. 17 meeting say Shute Park Manager Magdy Carillo Sotomayor accepted the director’s job at Tualatin Public Library and would leave Hillsboro in October, with existing managers sharing leadership of the branch in the interim.

Library Director Tammy Wallin told the board a new organizational structure was “anticipated by the end of October,” according to the minutes, and recruitment for the manager’s job is deferred until then. Our Oct. 25 story on library circulation covers those minutes in more detail.

How to weigh in

The incident report was not a discussion item at the Oct. 15 meeting; it appears among the agenda’s information items, inside the employee newsletter. The board’s planning schedule in the packet lists a November meeting, with a donations form up for policy review, and no meeting in December. As of Oct. 27, the city’s online meeting calendar did not yet show a November date.

Under the Oct. 15 agenda’s rules, written comments go to [email protected] before 8 a.m. on the meeting day, and anyone who wants to speak by Zoom must register by 3 p.m. that day. In-person speakers fill out a yellow card at the meeting. The newsletter tells staff to check back in January for the next quarter’s numbers and a look back at the full year.

Top image: Illustrative image, 2013: the second floor of the Beaverton City Library. Photo: Steve Morgan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped).