She's spent an hour in Hastings Library every Wednesday since June, but Senior Constable Deb Potter hasn't touched a book.
![](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/RLSP56JZC5F3VU2DL4BCN3NUNA.jpg?auth=2b3dc52ff9cf5e38feaecfedc6c5a65a16f0842cda6d7bffebe3686439e06b43&width=16&height=3&quality=70&smart=true)
Instead she's been breaking the age-old rule for libraries - she's been talking.
It's a community policing idea from the United States, called "Coffee with a Cop".
Potter said it enabled people to talk informally with police for advice, to find out information or "just to know we are a normal person under this blue uniform".