An anonymous Instagram account that appeared to mimic the New Orleans Public Library’s branding was removed Tuesday evening, according to library officials, after it started posting graphic videos captured near the Main Branch downtown. The feed showed fights, people sleeping and assorted disturbances outside the building and around nearby bus stops, quickly amassing thousands of followers. Staff and patrons say the posts painted a distorted and unsettling picture of daily life just outside the library’s doors.
What Was Posted And The Account's Reach
The anonymous account launched on Sunday and began uploading a stream of graphic clips that showed fights, people sleeping and other incidents outside the Main Library and at nearby bus stops. Public records reviewed by the local station showed that over the weekend, police responded to calls in the area for extortion and suspected drug violations, and that on Monday officers answered two additional calls nearby, including one for an aggravated rape. By Tuesday evening, before the account came down, it had drawn more than 5,000 followers, as reported by WDSU.
Library Response And Next Steps
Emily Painton, the library’s executive director and city librarian, told the station she was “disappointed that someone would create an account that looks like the library and publicize negative things in the CBD.” She explained that library security had stepped in during one recorded fight and moved the altercation out onto the porch in order to keep staff and patrons away from it. Painton said staff are working with the city’s communications office to have the impersonator account taken down and added that the library board is weighing whether to trademark the New Orleans Public Library name to head off future copycat accounts, according to her interview with WDSU.
Why This Matters For Downtown Patrons
Main Library sits at 219 Loyola Ave. in the Central Business District, and the New Orleans Public Library system runs branches and programs across the city that pull in consistent daytime traffic. That visibility, trustees and staff warned, means an account pretending to be the library can easily shape public perception about safety and potentially scare people away from free services and programs. According to New Orleans Public Library, the Main Library hosts regular weekday programming and services that bring visitors into the building.
