Libraries and the Homeless

Libraries and the Homeless
By Jennifer Miranda

This marginalized population has no place to reside, and safety can be an issue for many homeless people on San Diego streets.  There is not just one specific reason a person is homeless it could be from suffering from severe mental illness, drug addiction, legal issues, loss of employment or a combination of the problems noted.  Another obstacle in San Diego is the high cost of living that causes it to be extremely difficult to find affordable housing.  On a daily basis this underserved population uses the library to charge their phone, use the bathrooms and utilize the facility as a safe haven from residing on the streets.  According to the library staff at San Diego Central Library an extremely high usage of the facility is that of the homeless.  An exception to this would be when a library event is occurring.  In addition, many patrons are now using the eLibrary (digital resources) instead of visiting the brick-and-mortar library location in person (Warth).

The library recognizes that many of this underserved community are daily patrons at the library.  They have no other alternative location to go that is free.  The Central Library has had to increase their budget for security enforcement to maintain the safety of all patrons.  The library has had suicide attempts, drug overdoses and mental health crisis situations.  Unfortunately, the library has also had an increased incidents where the San Diego Police Department has had to be dispatched.  However, some of the police involvement has been on the exterior of library near homeless encampments that have appeared (Winkley).  To better serve this population the library has emulated the San Francisco Library and acquired a social worker to provide resources (Warth).

The Central Library is able to fund a social worker through a grant obtained from the “United States Department of Health and Human Services.”  A social worker is a positive addition to the library because they could potentially deescalate crisis situations (Warth).  Most social workers have the same ideological beliefs as librarians/library staff.  The goal is to provide all people even the marginalized members of our community accessibility to “information and knowledge.”  Social workers can provide resources and assist a patron in completing forms for services (Johnson 1008).  The social worker and library also are involved in an outreach program letting the community know about the services offered.  In addition, having a social worker on staff can build a rapport with the homeless community to foster trust (Warth).

Libraries are also offering programs for their staff to attend so that they have a better understanding of the needs of the underserved population.  The programs can entail training regarding trauma and mental health disorders.  The libraries provide training so that the staff have a better understanding of the disorders and how to effectively address these issues when they arise (Johnson 1010).  The City of San Diego has their staff members attend an online in-service program to help them deal with their contacts with the homeless population.  The library’s management feels that by training staff members they will be more sympathetic to the psychological issues affecting this misunderstood population (Warth).  The libraries are making a concerted effort both in staff training and in resources to assist this underserved population that continues to grow in San Diego.

Work Cited

Johnson, Sarah C. “Innovative Social Work Field Placements in Public Libraries.” Social Work Education, vol. 41, no. 5, Aug. 2022, pp. 1006–17. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.ezproxy.palomar.edu/10.1080/02615479.2021.1908987.

Warth, Gary. “Should Libraries Be Part of Homeless Solutions? San Diego Thinks So.” San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Sept. 2022, www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/homelessness/story/2022-09-04/should-librarians-be-part-of-homeless-solutions-san-diego-is.

Winkley, Lyndsay. "Drug use, homicide among library's problems; San Diego's Central branch has had more than 1,800 police calls since May 2018." Los Angeles Times, May 29, 2023. ProQuest, https://login.ezproxy.palomar.edu/login?auth=shibboleth&url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/drug-use-homicide-among-librarys-problems-san/docview/2819936184/se-2.