Libraries and the Homeless

 

                                             (Skidmore, 2024)    

    Libraries have always been a safe haven for me. I was raised by a single mother who sometimes had to work late at night. This meant I spent a few days a week walking home from school. The library was on my route home. I remember the day my mom took me in to get my first library card. I started reading a book from the Magic Tree House series and couldn't pull away. My mom had to explain that I could borrow it and take it home just to get my nose out of the pages. I stopped by almost every day after school and spent hours doing homework and reading in the library until it was time to go home. If the library could provide this safe space for me with all the resources I needed to get through the 2nd grade, then you can only imagine the resources they provide for the rest of the population. 

    Libraries have always been known for their endless resources. Many libraries provide help filing tax forms, resume writing workshops, and help with job search. There's also the added benefit that libraries are one of very few places you can reside in during operating hours without having to make a purchase of any kind. This provides a safe space for any unhoused person to stay warm, use the restroom, and avoid harassment (Ryan, 2023).

    The San Diego Central Library has always provided extra resources for their unhoused community. In 2013 when the old central library was emptied and the new library opened, they provided beds for anyone who did not have a place to sleep. The library reinstated this initiative recently bringing 34 new spots in for unhoused people to stay overnight for 180 days over the course of 12 months (Nelson, 2024). 

    Other libraries have similar initiatives. In Las Vegas, there are around 30 branches that are designated Safe Place sites for homeless youth and they provide hygiene kits. In Chicago, the libraries work to connect case managers with the unhoused so they can receive health benefits and apply for housing. In Salt Lake City, there is a library that offers free clothing for those who are living in encampments. There are even libraries who have made an effort to hire social workers as part of their staff (Ryan, 2023). 

    Because the library is a safe space for all the people in its community, there is an extreme importance to train library staff on de-escalation tactics. In the article, "Why US Libraries are on the frontlines of the homelessness crisis", Mackenzie Ryan writes about an incident in Anaheim, California where an unhoused man punched one of the library staff and knocked them unconscious. Ryan spoked to Ryan Dowd who works for Homeless Training about the importance of de-escalation. Ryan writes, "He (Dowd) says that he teaches library staff to focus on the behavior they're seeing. If someone is unhoused and caused a problem, then they have to deal with it. If a multimillionaire is in the library causing a problem, they also have to deal with it." 

    Creating safe spaces in libraries takes a lot of training and patience. It is important that people of all walks of life feel like their library is a place they can go for whatever they need. Libraries are meant to build community and providing services for people who have nowhere else to go is a major part of that mission. 

Sources:

Nelson, B. (2024, January 25). San Diego’s Old Central Library reopens as a homeless shelter for the next

        several months. Tribune. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/homelessness/story/2024-01-

        24/san-diegos-old-central-library-reopens-as-a-homeless-shelter-for-the-next-several-months 

Ryan, M. (2023). Why US Libraries are on the frontlines of the homelessness crisis; Homeless people are 

        relying on public libraries as a safe haven to stay warm and avoid harassment from law enforcement, 

        advocates say. The Guardian. 

Skidmore, S. (2024). [Photograph].