Since it opened in 2003, the main branch of the Salt Lake City Public Library has been an iconic gathering place.

But police became concerned about one group there this spring as citizens called tip lines and the Mayor's Office to report drug dealing and disruptive people. Library patrons "didn't feel always safe when walking in," said Salt Lake City police Lt. Mike Ross.

Even before the complaints, offenses at Library Square and the surrounding streets had more than doubled between 2005 and 2008. Most of those crimes have been for some kind of theft, alcohol or drug offense.

Police and library staff say a series of arrests and a crackdown on nuisances has alleviated many of the problems and emphasize the

library is a safe place. Crimes on Library Square this year are on pace to be slightly fewer than in 2008. But the problems at the library also demonstrate the difficulties police face as they try to reduce drug offenses and other crimes in specific neighborhoods.

Marijuana dealers moved to the library because the construction downtown on Main Street eliminated the dealers' traditional home, Ross said. Those dealers are not the same found in Pioneer Park and the surrounding neighborhood, who specialize in crack cocaine and heroin.

By early this year, Library Square had gained a reputation for drug dealing. During a preliminary hearing for the murder of 18-year-old JoJo Lee Brandstatt on a West Valley City golf course, a

witness testified he was given a choice to save his own life by robbing convenience stores and drug dealers. One of the places the witness told the accused killers to take him after Brandstatt's murder: the Salt Lake City library, where he expected to find drug dealers to rob.

The citizen complaints began appearing in March. Some reported being approached by people making covert or explicit drug offers. In one six-week stretch of May and June, the Mayor's Office received 26 complaints about the library, compared to the usual three or four a month, said Lisa Harrison-Smith, deputy communications director for the Mayor's Office.

The library's director, Beth Elder, said police informed her agreements for drugs would be made outside then the dealer and buyer would enter a basement restroom near the children's reading room and exchange the money and marijuana.

Illicit drugs weren't the only trouble. Some patrons reported trouble getting into the building, Elder said.

Smokers were congregating outside the entrance at 200 East and 400 South. People would play hacky sack at the entrance, Elder said, and some patrons reported having to wait for the sack to hit the ground before they could pass.

To counter the drug sales, undercover narcotics officers began posing as buyers. From March through July, police arrested about 20 people selling marijuana. Meanwhile, narcotics officers taught the library's private security contractors what signs might indicate drug dealing or use. Ross said his officers also encouraged staff to crack down on smaller offenses.

For example, smoking is illegal on Library Square and city parks, and Ross said he encouraged the library to stamp it out. Elder said the library staff politely began asking the hacky sack players and other groups to not block the doors.

"We want activity," Elder said. "We want people to feel welcome, but we want to reduce irritants."

Some at Library Square have felt guilty by association. Holland Redd, 17, said he was skateboarding with friends outside the library's south entrance last week when a security guard came outside and told him his skateboard wheels could not leave the ground.

"We all just stuck around for a minute," Redd said. "Then he said he would call the cops and we left."

As a skateboarder, Redd is used to being chased away from concrete venues, but he felt lumped in with the drug dealers on the square, alhough no one accused him of being one.

There's no ordinance against skateboarding on Library Square and Elder on Thursday said she was unaware of the episode described by Redd and would inquire about it. The library security staff only polices against skateboarding in the library or its parking garage, Elder said.

Elder said the library's own statistics show problems inside the building declined overall this summer compared to the previous year. The library statistics document incidents as minor as inappropriate computer use and abusive language and are different than crimes recorded by the police.

Meanwhile, since the library crackdowns earlier this year, Ross said the dealers have returned to Main Street. One afternoon last month, an undercover officer couldn't buy marijuana outside the downtown library; police moved the operation to Main Street and made a buy 15 minutes later near 300 South.

It isn't the first time police have seen drug dealing relocate in the city. For much of 2009, dealers have left Pioneer Park and moved to nearby locations only to spur a police sweep in that location.

Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank said he has some increased concern when dealers and pushed to a public gathering place like the library, but a quick response can mitigate those problems.

"All we have to do is stay on top of it," Burbank said.

The library increased its budget for private security this year to $150,000 from $120,000 last year. Elder said the change was to have an extra security officer on duty during its busy days, but the library has yet to use the extra officer this fiscal year.

The drug dealing and entrance problems came as the library experienced an increase in the number of people checking out books and using other library resources. Seven of the last 12 months have set records for usage, Elder said.

"We pride ourselves in accepting everybody," Elder said.

-- Melinda Rogers contributed to this report.

ncarlisle@sltrib.com