Security by the Book

For the past 25 years, senior investigator Elmirel Cephas has been checking out everything that concerns the NYPL.

Cephas joined the second-largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress), with a background in security. He sees the profession as more of a vocation.

“I naturally have a protective instinct. I like helping people. It’s just my nature to protect people around me,” said Cephas.

During the course of the day, the high-ranking security officer supervises approximately 33 library guards and oversees, via the library’s monitoring system, all 92 branches “morning, noon, and night, 24/7.”

He also has a ‘round-the-clock love of the job. “The staff here, I enjoy them. I enjoy my staff in the security department. We’re a very close-knit department,” he said. “And again, I have a passion for security. I enjoy coming here every day, making sure that everyone who comes in the building, patrons and staff alike, is safe and able to leave the way they came.”

Cephas cites two days as the best on the job: the first is when he became a senior investigator, “That was a milestone for me, because from the day I got hired, that was what I was targeting.”

The second is when he made a major arrest. “It was the guy who was running around and hitting Asian women. It was about two years ago, when another guard and I were working across the street at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library. I’d seen the guy on the news, and my guard confirmed that [the assailant] came to the library every day. She and I waited for him to show up and go through his usual routine of heading to the restroom. When he showed up, I called 911. When he came out, he was surprised to see the police and me.”

When asked about the best part of the job, he reiterated that it was the wonderful staff, but also pointed out that because so many visitors—native New Yorkers and tourists alike—come to the main branch of the NYPL, he gets to meet a lot of diverse people. “Sometimes they’re good people, sometimes they’re bad people. But either way, I meet them. If my guards have a situation, I get called up. But good people, I deal with them as well. They need assistance, from information to losing their way, or looking for a lost item. We try to do our best to help them out.”

It’s no surprise that the family man points to those at home as his motivation and inspiration. “They push me. They encourage me to always do better, to strive for what I want. I have a very supportive team behind me.”