According to Aaron Tay’s 2009 blog post, “As seen by the listing of libraries wikis, the vast majority of wikis are edited only by librarians in the same institution . . . None allow users to edit."
A contributing factor may be related to the amount of time and effort involved in maintaining and updating a wiki. When outside participation is allowed, content must be regularly monitored, particularly for spam, vandalism, or profane language. Or patrons may end up not contributing content at all or on a regular basis, in which case library staff may need to solicit input to keep the wiki updated. Therefore at least one library staff member is needed to facilitate patron participation in a wiki. Many libraries are already short on staff so there may not be anyone who can afford to give time to this endeavor.
Setting up a participatory wiki also requires a kind of trust that its members will contribute quality content. Therefore it may be difficult for library staff to fully accept the process of allowing patrons to contribute, thereby handing over “ownership” of the wiki. Meredith Farkas’s 2007 blog post discusses some of these concerns in more detail as well as ideas on how to encourage wiki participation if libraries would like to establish this kind of collaborative space with their patrons.
I would think the main concern would be how to get patrons involved and participating in the wiki, rather than whether or not they used the space appropriately. If I recall correctly, there's a way to have wiki updates reviewed before they're finalized - perhaps library staff could oversee this process.
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