Yesterday in one of my classes we broke into small groups and talked about different groups of patrons at the library. This made me think about the homeless population and their rights at the library. This group is usually viewed as undesirable and the few librarians I know usually talk about them as a problem in their library.
For a person who is homeless the library may in fact be one of their most valuable resources. Many jobs applications are only online and information is available about current issues and problems. Also most of the shelters available have time limits such as only being open during certain hours. The library provides a safe environment to go during in between times.
When I lived in Chicago and worked as a nanny , I would often go to story time during the day. The library housed two groups during this time normally. Kids and their caretakers and the homeless. The services provided and treatment of the two groups were as different as night and day. The librarians created programs and were always available to answer questions that the kids and their caretakers had. The homeless seemed to be merely tolerated and services / programs were not provided.
How can this problem be addressed? The homeless tend to make other groups at the library uncomfortable. Mental illness is an issue that tends to affect the homeless, this can result in usual behavior that would make others in the library uncomfortable. But they also have the same rights as other patrons and may need the support from the library more than others.
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You know Megan, I truly understand how you feel about yet another venue's homeless population problems. Again, I've worked primarily in public libraries, and although i've never seen anyone be outright cruel to the homeless, there is a very low tolerance for them. On the humanitarian side, it would be great if we could (meaning public libraries)find a way to incorporate these people into, say maybe projects around the libraries. On the everyday side there is little librarians can do when patrons come up and tell them that there is someone snoring in the magazine area. Or that they are concerned about a questionable character hanging around small children. It's good to hear that people still care about others. It takes people like you who ponder over these problems to come up with acceptable solutions.
ReplyDeleteHomeless individuals do tend to be heavy users of libraries and it is interesting to see how some institutions have risen to the challenge of working with them. I have heard of libraries partnering with social service agencies to try and provide outreach support but I think that is the exception to the rule. As with most issues policies need to be put in place to make sure that the rights of all patrons are protected and that everyone is treated with respect.
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