THEY are supposed to be places of peace, quiet and contemplation.

But staff and volunteers in the county’s libraries in 2014 had to deal with the highest level of abuse for the past three years.

Librarians have had to deal with physical assaults, abusive drunks and members of the public becoming violent over computer use.

Abuse across the county has forced staff to call police, escort rowdy library users off site and permanently ban aggressive visitors.

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Incidents logged by county library staff over the past five years reveal they dealt with physical or verbal abuse 33 times between January and November 2014, the highest level since 2011.

Nicholas Newman, who uses Oxford Central Library and Headington Library, said: “I have seen incidents in the libraries and I admire the way staff have been trained to handle incidents.

“They should not have to deal with such stupidity from the public at all.”

In January 2013 an employee at Oxford Central Library, at the Westgate Centre, was left with a deep cut after being assaulted by a visitor.

In November 2010 another visitor suffered a head injury and emergency services were called after an argument between two people using computers.

Last November Botley Library staff called police after being verbally abused by a drunk and were advised to dial 999 if they tried to re-enter the building.

Last May Wallingford Library staff and users were faced with aggressive behaviour and verbal abuse from the public after visitors became annoyed by slow computers, visitors using equipment for long periods and increased use by people claiming benefits.

A volunteer at Middleton Cheney’s library, Chris Craggs, said: “In a service setting like a library you can’t imagine what would inspire people to do things like that.”

Teams at 21 of the county’s 43 libraries have had to deal with 179 abusive visitors in the past five years.

The catalogue of problems, revealed after a Freedom of Information request, showed library staff recorded 419 incidents, including accidents and dangerous episodes, between January 2010 and November last year.

Oxford Central Library topped the poll, with 143 incidents in the five years.

Oxfordshire County Council spokesman Marcus Mabberley said: “Tens of thousands of people use our 43 libraries every year and incidents of this nature seldom happen.

“However, sometimes they do and it is the council’s duty to safeguard its library staff by ensuring any abuse they may receive from members of the public is recorded should information be required by the police.”