when I was homeless in florida, the library was a godsend, straight from heaven. air conditioning, bathrooms, somewhere I could sit, go online, read, just exist.
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I don't think people realise the value of public libraries. Many years ago, when I was still at school, our little house was full of noise and distractions, my father insisting on the television being on the moment he came home. I had to retreat to my library in order to get my homework done.
Our local library would only take late fees in foodstuffs like bottled water that could be handed out. But of course after Hurricane Ian damage it was closed & never repaired by the Republican supermajority under DeathSantis.
Ain't that the truth. Libraries aren't an efficient way to solve homelessness. They're not even an efficient way to educate people. People are fed up with the knee-jerk "libraries good" mantra that just seem to keep librarians in a job. There are better ways to spread knowledge these days.
They are not an efficient solution to homelessness but never purported to be. They are an efficient way for people to self-educate by allowing them free access to books, music, art, entertainment, computers, help from knowledgeable staff, and in some cases, advanced technology. Libraries are great!
No longer. The US has more libraries per head than any country in the world. Look how well that has worked. No-one ever got smarter reading Harry Potter or borrowing a DVD.
My friend is a librarian here in OK. She has a new building with large meeting rooms, even a theater and a small cafe. She has a clothes closet and free hot water station for things like Cup o’Soup. They have an outdoor bathroom w/a shower, too. Free dinners for community. It’s a lifesaver.
I helped her start a Job Shop program where people can buy/donate work clothes for those in need. Like slip proof shoes, hard toed shoes, black pants, etc. stuff that costs a lot to start a job at a fast food joint.
That sounds amazing with all of those really practical and beneficial resources available. I wish downtown Atlanta had more publicly available showers and toilets.
I was saddened to read that you were once homeless. 🫶 I don’t know you, but wanted to say that I hope you are safe and have a wonder-filled New Year that’s overflowing with everything you need, and more. 🌞
A successful country should be measured by how well it looks after society's most vulnerable.
The Mega rich, who profit on the back of the the people and national resources should pay for the privilege.
It's obviously not all bad. But how much better might it be.
I know exactly how you feel. I hadn't thought to sit in a library during my year homeless. We rotated locations. Walmart had wifi. Loves had showers for $18 one time. The gym had showers for $10 a month. A public park had a hot shower, but the drive was far. Having ac and seating is so important 🙌
The justification is often that we need a well-read citizenry, a fertile idea farm, etc. but I still think the prime thing is, as Quasimodo so eloquently put it, SANCTUARY! SANCTUARY!
When I was a teenager, the library was my "church", quiet, no one bothering me and safe. Yes, I do have a library card and proud of our library cuz it does open its doors to homeless people as a safe place.
Just a middle class kid that used the library as a haven from my own social frailties, but I will fight for their independence and ability to provide security in all forms, mental and physical.
Yes the library system was good for me when homeless 17 years ago. Now it is a place where homos whine about lack of a sex life, ppl od in the washroom and library staff talk about their gang affiliations or cry at work.
I'm grateful to hear that, when I lived in FL they kept arresting people for feeding the homeless, and it was illegal to BE homeless. They would arrest any homeless that they saw, so no one else had to be uncomfortable. I wonder what changed?
As a kid the library was where I hung out with my friends and built my best memories and where I experienced creative works that shaped the trajectory of my entire life. They never provided sanctuary, but they provided me with everything else.
The fact that in the USA we don't have:
Universal Healthcare.
Affordable available housing.
Quality Education
SAFE drinkable water EVERWHERE.
& Food security.
It 100% due to the corruption of the 2 party system as we've paid enough taxes to 100% fix/fund/maintain all those things for 100+ years.
My son attended a part time school about 30 miles from our house. I would hang at the library several days a week because it was one of the few places that i wasn’t expected to spend money.
I thought about this before, and I haven't been homeless. You know what else would be good resource? A gym membership, for a small fee you have a place to shower and pee.
I never had any issues w/the homeless or the Mormons. I only asked both, plse don’t fall asleep, & piss the chairs. They do not allot a budget to replace our chairs. I used to buy my own Lysol, to clean the toys, spray down the chairs, & computers. The germs were bad. Got sick about 8 times a yr.
My friend spent time in our local library. It was also helpful when services closed early on Saturday or when he was unable to drop by my place during the winter while he was homeless.
The main library in my town had to hire security to keep the homeless from loitering, there were a string of repeated assaults on library visitors. Daily fights in the library, drug addled screaming, etc. Most of the homeless in my city are drug addicts, librarians shouldn’t have to deal with that.
Drug addiction among homeless people is about the same as it is among the housed. I don't believe there were a string of assaults - source?
I was homeless in 3 cities for 3.5 years. It sounds like you have baseless prejudices. Libraries save lives.
I’m talking about MY little city, here in Canada. The vast majority of people actively living on the street and hanging out at the library are drug addicts. We had almost zero homeless before fentynal hit about 3-4 years ago. I mean that, we had a virtually nonexistent permanent homeless situation.
Do you have an article that describes the assaults and daily fights?
I assure you, the "vast majority" of your homeless population are NOT drug addicts. Talk to them, and you will see.
My friend is a social worker, most people on the street here long term are addicts. There is help and beds for others. The homeless encampments that have popped up have literally gone to war with one another (fire bombs and chemical weapons) but you say we have no violence problem lol.
I said I don't believe there were a string of assaults and daily fights at your library.
Prove me wrong, "lol."
You think most of the unhoused people you see are addicted, and then blame an elephant tranquilizer that, if you were right, would wipe out all the homeless you have ever seen.
Ignorant.
If you say there is a library in Eastern Canada that had daily fights, I guess I have to believe you, though that's not what the article described.
I can only speak about homeless communities in LA, Portland, Atlanta, Houston, New Orleans, San Juan, Birmingham, and Las Vegas. Fentanyl users die.
When I was young and found the library I read books by the shelf. Start at one end, read to the end of the shelf and then move to the next shelf down. Really. I loved the library. Just got another book in the mail today. The trend continues (I'm on the wiser side of 80.)
Locally, the libraries are a haven in both cold and heat for the homeless. As long as they are being productive, they are welcomed by most. (There's always THOSE neighborhoods!)
Libraries are so important to me!! That’s how my family found entertainment AND education when we were on food stamps and welfare 😭 and the little events there like being read to was amazing for socialization
All the kids who don't have access to everything their little hearts desire...have access to a comfortable place, with all the books they want to read.
yeah, rich people hate that. they never use a library but they hate that you are getting something for free from their taxes so they wont be around much longer
Anyone in the US knows about this.. i really like want to know, is it legal if we are homeless and we would like to work in library as a librarian? Even tough they didn't pay for us... just keep the place clean, tidy and neat.. so we can live there too.
If you can, find a local homeless shelter that helps people get re-established w/jobs & a place to live. If possible, find a roommate, you trust, to split the cost of the apartment. I don’t know where you are currently, but you can try calling 2-1-1 & see if your region has access to those services.
No- most jobs in America require you to have a mailing address away from your job. Being homeless can cost you employment here cause the government hates the poor.
Librarians have Master’s Degrees in Library Science or Information Science. You could apply for positions that don’t require that degree (clerks, shelvers, etc.). Ask the staff at your library. Many libraries offer job application assistance and resume assistance.
Our small local public library has an attached cafe operated by a nonprofit that helps train, and employs, disabled people. They raise their own vegetables to use in recipes. The food is great, I hear, although I rarely eat out and haven’t tried them yet. But I will!
Churches operate for profit now. And all the profit flows to the top. Jesus was teaching the prophecy of wealth. God wants these ‘preachers’ to have mansions and jets and obscene mega churches paid for by the ignorant poor. Just ask Olsteen et al.
They follow and preach about the wrong God or rather they don't act like sons and daughters of Christ.
Tithing is supposed to help fund a church so they can keep doing things like setting up field trips, getting food so they can have a potluck open to all etc.
I work with the homeless here in rural Franklin Kentucky. We have a beautiful library, and it IS wonderful; heat, air conditioning, water fountains, bathrooms, computers, copiers, a fax machine. A wonderful thing.
I live in Laguna Beach and I haven’t spent much time in our library but I know that it is a haven for our homeless, though we also have a shelter and clinic and for a small town of 23,000 or so I think we do a good job overall.
You’re pretty lucky. Our population is around 19,000. Sometimes it drops down to the teens, and in that case, it’s miserable to be out on the streets. More than miserable. Dangerous. Luckily, our group of churches work together to open their doors on really cold days so they have a place to stay
God bless Kentuckians. Your politicians are thieving assholes, but for 4 months in 2022, you treated this homeless old tranny like your mother. I'll always smile when I hear the name.
The library where I work is a haven for a handful of people without homes. We welcome them and assist however we can. When they stop appearing, I am hopeful their situations have changed, but I still worry for them.
I can relate to this. One very hot summer I was going through a terrible depression. I found relief from both the heat and the depression in a wonderfully cool and quiet library.
I wasn't homeless, but I was newly divorced, barely making a living on my own and on the struggle bus daily, but the library was my safe haven. Books! Magazines! Newspapers! Movies on DVD! All for loan with my library card! It was pure heaven. A place I felt safe, loved, and comfortable.
Libraries are, indeed, a godsend. You have access to the entire world in a single building. You can experience calmness, serenity, and solitude while still being surrounded by others. Libraries are magical places.
I wasn’t homeless but I may well have been; a gay kid growing up in a rather dangerous military household. The library was my safe place and I was there when it opened, to stay as late as I could.
I grew up in the '70's . We lived in a shack of a home. We froze in winter and boiled in summer. The library was truly where I would go. Getting a book was a welcome break from the reality of being poor.
An eloquent testimonial, if needed (and really, if you *need* to be persuaded that libraries are important, we have a LOT of work to do!), that a library is much more than a building with books in it...
I know I'll sound like a jerk, but when I was young working person in Chicago, Of I had to stay downtown for a class. I didn't have extra money so and couldn't sit in a restaurant. So I went to the Library to read. All seats were taken by homeless people. Then Borders put chairs in their stores.
The rampant privatization of the public realm since the Reagan Era has led to a severe lack of third places where one can simply exist in a public space. Late Capitalism demands that “if it’s not profitable, it should not exist.” #IHateItHere
That's wonderful, and it sounds like you're doing better these days. But, -to the Books Are Bad crowd - the fact that libraries are open to homeless people is one more reason to defund them
We weren’t homeless in Florida, but damn close. Like you, the library was our saving grace. We used their computers, Internet service, and attended classes/talks. My son attended so many fun events. We checked out DVDs, seeds, & museum passes. They made terribly hard few years tolerable.
here in magaland feeling safe is only for the rich , libraries contain knowledge accessible by anyone , thats not maga , here in magaland the people are kept stupid and always in a state of fear, here in magaland only the rich thrive , the rest are slaves,
we voted for this
Public libraries are just about the only place in our society where someone can just be without being expected (or required) to spend money. They are essential to us recommitting the US to being a great nation of equal citizens.
Right there with you, and I was in my car and their Wifi reached it, so I could communicate and continue to look for programs to improve my situation. I think one branch I used for this was built by the Carnegies with their change of heart after being Robber Barons. So that gives me hope as well.
There used to be a large library downtown from at office. I went there a lot just to have a quiet place to work and write. There were always lots of homeless people in there. Many of them used the computers to send FB messages. They didn’t have phones and that’s how they communicated.
And the people that worked at the library were always trying to get us involved in the activities they offered during the day. No cost to us. I felt most sorry for the men that were there to catch a nap sitting up.
Same for me, years ago in Seattle. They are one of the few places left that still stick to a philosophy that isn't centered on removing your money from you, like so many that started as charitable enterprises. i.e. co-ops,hospitals,Blue cross,churches,govt/police. Libraries have a higher calling.
In 1979 I had been homeless for 2 years. While warming myself in the Chicago public library I saw the Army recruiting station across the street. It saved my life.
Love our Libraries! Mine is a haven for so many here - all different ages. After school it's somewhere for kids to go vs. to an empty house. They have snacks set up too. You can rent/free DVD's so people without cable/internet can enjoy also.
Libraries fill a social & educational need in so many places. They helped connect me to a large world through true knowledge – something social media can not do.
I'm sorry the comment on the person I just blocked was so vitriolic. Everyone gets something and I can only imagine how crappy homelessness is. Hope things turn around.
Have you seen rents across the country? Homelessness is up 18% just this year alone. HUD statistics just released. So sad. More people are in motels than ever before because of rents.
Our damn government must stop corporations from. Buying all the homes in this country. It has to stop. And they just rent em back to us at twice the amount. No one is talking about this
I'm so very sorry that we have created a world in which homelessness is a reality for anyone. You deserve far better from the rest of us--we all do. For all those who are filled with hate and ignorance, who blame you for your own suffering, I apologize.
We need more shelters. Unfortunately many prefer the freedoms of being homeless rather than the rules of a shelter. Especially when mental illness and addiction are in play.
Not a fan of shelters. IMHO, we need universal housing and a program of home ownership irrespective of financial ability for those who want that. No housing should be conditioned on being drug free, gainfully employed, etc. These are merely roadblocks that keep people homeless.
We have had universal housing for generations. They are called projects. It doesn’t end well for the residents.
If taxpayers are funding it, I think it’s fair to require people commit to a program. Otherwise they are creating an unsafe environment for other residents and their children.
For people that cannot afford housing, maybe this works. I am glad I prioritized home ownership. I do not trust the government be my landlord, doctor and educator.
My mom was 9 years old when the Depression started and her dad died in a freak accident. My grandma had to find work so she would send mom to the local library for the day (that is, when school was out) so mom wasn't at home alone. Mom learned to *love* reading because of that. Libraries rock!
Pdx. Well first time i was out in the woods by Seaside. Walked with all my crap along the 26 all the way there. Second time in a quiet little spot in north portland. Cause i didnt feel like wlaking so far.
I was homeless in the 90s first time with 2 kids. Second time after losing my college education and my house. 3rd time because I got really sick . So yeah I've been there done that!
I love how our library is an unhoused referral center. They have a food locker and are able to get beds for anyone who asks. They have one dedicated employee who only does assistance aid.
Damn, reading this stings, but it glows, too. Public library in Florence, Kentucky. The librarians treat you like you *should* be there. God bless libraries.
I was homeless in Michigan while I worked on my Masters. In the winter, I'd spend as many hours as I could in the college library. Not just to study, but to stay warm.
I don’t know that I would have the wherewithal to attempt my Masters while homeless. I hope your education that you obviously worked hard for has helped you. You are a testament of determination.
There were other factors at play that influenced my decision to pursue my degree. But I had worked hard to get there, even made the Dean's list, and so I wasn't about to throw all that work away.
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The Mega rich, who profit on the back of the the people and national resources should pay for the privilege.
It's obviously not all bad. But how much better might it be.
Fits my story exactly,
Except it happened in Illinois.
Libraries are sanctuaries. 📚
To share To kill a Mocking Bird is a crime. And it’s equivalent to killing said mocking bird.
Florida. A grand old place.
Vintage library posters designed by Cynthia Amrine from the 1965 book Using your Library: 32 posters for classroom and library.
#savelibraries #sanctuary #getalibrarycard #readingmatters #reading #read
I take her to the library once a week.
Before Christmas the librarian told me she had borrowed 5000 books...
Universal Healthcare.
Affordable available housing.
Quality Education
SAFE drinkable water EVERWHERE.
& Food security.
It 100% due to the corruption of the 2 party system as we've paid enough taxes to 100% fix/fund/maintain all those things for 100+ years.
Especially when there was snow...
Librarians are saints.
I was homeless in 3 cities for 3.5 years. It sounds like you have baseless prejudices. Libraries save lives.
I assure you, the "vast majority" of your homeless population are NOT drug addicts. Talk to them, and you will see.
My friend is a social worker, most people on the street here long term are addicts. There is help and beds for others. The homeless encampments that have popped up have literally gone to war with one another (fire bombs and chemical weapons) but you say we have no violence problem lol.
Prove me wrong, "lol."
You think most of the unhoused people you see are addicted, and then blame an elephant tranquilizer that, if you were right, would wipe out all the homeless you have ever seen.
Ignorant.
I can only speak about homeless communities in LA, Portland, Atlanta, Houston, New Orleans, San Juan, Birmingham, and Las Vegas. Fentanyl users die.
Your post reminds us that no one should be homeless in a country with immense wealth.
Hoped this helped!
Many years ago churches helped
Now they are almost extinct
Tithing is supposed to help fund a church so they can keep doing things like setting up field trips, getting food so they can have a potluck open to all etc.
We just hope and or pray things get better around us. Some may call it wishful thinking but it's better than being sad or depressed all the time
It is along with a crime story, an excellent history of the LA Public Library
It would be great for those without running water, or the unhoused.
Thank all the gods for libraries and the angels who run them.
Public libraries provide important resources.
we voted for this
Also, everyone deserves to feel safe.
I truly believe it saved my life.
Face book Banned books
If taxpayers are funding it, I think it’s fair to require people commit to a program. Otherwise they are creating an unsafe environment for other residents and their children.
We have never had universal housing.
We've had a means-tested poverty trap, which was intended to fail.
Other developed countries have universal housing, ie, Vienna.
We can too; we only need the political will.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/jan/10/the-social-housing-secret-how-vienna-became-the-worlds-most-livable-city
Other students would complain about the homeless people who came in and occupied PC's / seats. I ignored them. "Have a heart", I thought
And nobody bothers you for it. It's like you're a human being.