The number of calls from Denver’s Central Library for police or medical assistance soared last year, and while not all are drug related, staff members are now being trained to spot and treat drug overdoses.

The library last month began stocking kits containing Narcan nasal spray to treat overdose.

“We got our first shipment of Narcan on Feb. 28,” library spokesman Chris Henning said. “The first day we got it in we had to use one of the kits.”

A national opioid overdose epidemic isn’t as bad in Colorado as it is in other parts of the country, but in 2015 there were 472 deaths related to prescription opioids and heroin in the state, according to the state Department of Public Health and Environment.

Library officials keep an eye on national and local trends, because they realize that libraries are used by a wide cross-section of society and staffers may eventually confront one of the trends, Henning said.

“We started seeing nationally and in Denver that overdoses were becoming more common, as were deaths.”

Six visitors to the Central Library at Broadway and West 14th Avenue Parkway have overdosed since Jan. 1.

This is the first year that the library has specifically tracked overdoses.

In 2015, there were 119 calls for medical assistance at the central library. In 2016, that number grew to 167. Police calls also grew, from 43 in 2015, to 83 last year.

Medical calls are often made when someone walks in off the street and asks for help, because they are sick or want to go to detox.

Police calls can be triggered by anything from a customer who has been banned trying to enter, to a physical altercation, Henning said.

Police are also called to disperse crowds congregating outside the library, which is located across from Civic Center park.

Thirteen staff members — security guards, two social workers and one peer navigator hired to help homeless and others access social services — now are trained to spot overdose and use Narcan, Henning said.

More security officers are being trained, and staff at the city’s other 25 branches will also be trained.

Henning said the library receives a government rate for the Narcan kits: $75 each, $50 less than the regular $125 charge.