Public libraries have a changing image from a cold, quiet, unyielding place to one that is welcoming and aimed at the “intellectual and creative heart of the communities they serve” (Goulding, p. 12). Within every community, however, is another population that many would like to forget, the homeless. Many regular visitors to libraries are homeless and are seen with pity, annoyance, or overlooked. With today’s economic issues, there is a real demand to consider how the needs of the homeless can or cannot be met through library services.
As an example, the downtown library in Phoenix is a beautiful building that reflects the majesty of the Sonoran Desert. Library visitors have two entrances to choose from and both entrances have a number of homeless sitting outside that visitors must walk past in order to get into the building. Once inside, visitors wanting to use the public computers, both adults and youth, may find themselves sitting next to someone who has not showered regularly during a hot Arizona summer. Many adults using the computers are trying to fill out unemployment forms online with little or no computer experience while the children and teens are hoping to find some social connection or escape from their daily lives. Some visitors pretend the homeless are not there while others complain loudly to staff saying they will never come to the library again because of the odor. This is not unusual for many urban libraries and creates a struggle of how to serve everyone in the community no matter their economic status.
The American Library Association has adopted a policy on poverty and library service. It is a comprehensive statement and many libraries may not be meeting the standards or with budget cuts are unable to provide all the necessary training to library staff:
The American Library Association promotes equal access to information for all persons, and recognizes the urgent need to respond to the increasing number of poor children, adults, and families in America. These people are affected by a combination of limitations, including illiteracy, illness, social isolation, homelessness, hunger, and discrimination, which hamper the effectiveness of traditional library services. Therefore it is crucial that libraries recognize their role in enabling poor people to participate fully in a democratic society, by utilizing a wide variety of available resources and strategies. Concrete programs of training and development are needed to sensitize and prepare library staff to identify poor people’s needs and deliver relevant services. And within the American Library Association the coordinating mechanisms of programs and activities dealing with poor people in various divisions, offices, and units should be strengthened, and support for low-income liaison activities should be enhanced.
An article titled “When Service Matters” that appeared in Library Journal in 2010 created a lot of discussion about how far libraries should go in aiding their homeless population by revealing that the San Francisco Public Library hired a social worker who “handles referrals to social services for the chronically homeless, mentally ill, and those struggling with substance abuse who find their way to the library.” The social worker “sees herself as a resource for librarians to consult when library users are in need.” Not all libraries can afford to hire a social worker and must rely on their own expertise in accessing information and creating connections with other social agencies that can provide basic needs for the homeless in the community.
In conflict with the desire to provide service is, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless, a current trend to criminalize homelessness in the United States. These criminalization “efforts tear the focus of both homeless people and their advocates away from long term, permanent solutions in order to fight for the right of people who are homeless to simply exist” (as quoted in Amster, p. 171). Moreover, according to Sandy Berman, who has been involved in creating library services for the poor and homeless, the issue is that “libraries should try to shake their condescending attitudes that service to the poor and homeless is to be delivered as a gift from above” (Berry, 2011). Considering both of these statements, it interesting to think how library staff feels about the homeless population in their libraries and spending their time addressing the issues of the homeless community.
Libraries cannot ignore the increase of homeless in their communities. More and more homeless are coming to the library because they can and sometimes they have nowhere else to go. “Begging, sleeping out of doors, taking up space in libraries – these are the few freedoms that still conceivably can be sought once the larger question of entitlements to housing and wealth are foreclosed.” (Amster, p. 171). Sometimes, though, reality gets in the way of providing service. Most library staff that I’ve encountered have been sympathetic to the needs of the homeless community and want to provide help. But, librarians are not social workers and some homeless library visitors do not want to be approached or, to put it mildly, can be combative during reference interactions and library staff must consider their personal safety.
This entry merely touches on some of the issues related to homelessness and libraries. The issues involved are truly complex and cannot be covered in a short amount of space. There are no easy answers to addressing this issue, but libraries are intimately involved with struggle against homelessness because they are welcoming, public places and hopefully, that will not change. Libraries must continue to try to do more and to be proactive in addressing the needs of a community that lacks their own voice and power.
References
American Library Association. 61 Library Services to the Poor. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/governance/policymanual/updatedpolicymanual/section2/61svctopoor.cfm.
Amster, Randall. (2008). Lost in Space : The Criminalization, Globalization, and Urban Ecology of Homelessness. El Paso, TX, USA: LFB Scholarly Publishing LLC, 2008. p 171.
Berry III, John N. (2011, June 15). The problem is poverty: shake the view that service to the poor is a gift from above. Library Journal, 136.11, 10. Retrieved from http://rpwayne.lib.wayne.edu/gale-go/ps/i.do?action=interpret&id=GALE%7CA258814969&v=2.1&u=lom_waynesu&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&authCount=1.
London, Charles. (2010, January 10). “The recession has driven new users to libraries. It's taken a toll, and it's inspired new capacity”. Library Journal.Retrieved from http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6713133.html.
Ravenhill, Megan (Author). Culture of Homelessness. Abingdon, Oxon, , GBR: Ashgate Publishing Group, (2008). p 207. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/wayne/Doc?id=10250486&ppg=207
