In her
letter to the editor of Computers in Libraries, in a response to an article identifying homeless patrons as the #1 security risk, Lois Odabas states “I am a public librarian and my number one issue is not unfortunate people in my library, but these kinds of response to them. Homeless people first and foremost are people. Human beings” (Odabas).
And then...I have heard one of my own highly educated and
intelligent, compassionate, loving and kind family members acknowledge that she no longer takes her children to their local library branch because of the number of homeless persons there.
Libraries today are grappling with this issue and how to manage
it for the best of all patrons. This interview from 2007, “Libraries Become
Temporary Refuge for Homeless”, asks the question, “So what do libraries do?
How strange is too strange? How smelly is too smelly?” (“Libraries Become
Temporary Refuge for Homeless”). Mr. Chip Ward, interviewed for
the story, acknowledges that the challenge is managing “odd behaviors”
that accompany “addiction or alcoholism or mental illness” and speaks to how his library has responded. Their solution, to “respond to people's behavior -
not their appearance and not their status but their behavior” sounds very
much like what is presented by Jared Oates of the Niche Academy which, among other
things, offers a webinar and free tutorial on “Effective Responses to
Homeless Issues” in the library. This is a very powerful presentation which will forever change one’s perception of the issue.
As is often true, the more we educate ourselves, the more
comfortable and well equipped we are to manage complex and difficult circumstances. The website http://www.homelesslibrary.com/ is an excellent
resource for libraries offering a newsletter, an online course, webinars, and
training presented by author and homeless shelter Executive Director, Ryan
Dowd.
A solution lies not in ‘what to do about the homeless population
in our libraries’, but in educating ourselves to be more knowledgeably and
confidently addressing the issues presented in creating an inclusive
environment “capable of serving everyone” (“IntroLibrary”).
Carolyn Harvey
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Works Cited:
“IntroLibrary.” Librarian’s
Guide to Homelessness, http://www.homelesslibrary.com/introlibrary.html.
Accessed 19 Mar. 2020.
"Libraries
Become Temporary Refuge for Homeless." Talk of the Nation, 2 Apr.
2007. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,
https://link-gale-com.ezproxy.palomar.edu/apps/doc/A161459041/OVIC?u=cclc_palomar&sid=OVIC&xid=1dfc7daa.
Accessed 19 Mar. 2020.
Odabas, Lois.
“Not All Homeless Are Library Security Risks.” Computers in Libraries,
vol. 38, no. 7, Sept. 2018, p. 3. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=131799515&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
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