Homeless patrons … or problem?

1
Homeless patrons or problem?
Michael Macor/San Francisco Chronicle Michael
Morgan brings his shopping cart of books to
Tenderloin residents of San Francisco twice a
week. (A Novel Idea Small Tenderloin brings its
books to the streets after-school Library on
Wheels Brings Books to Homeless People, San
Francisco Chronicle, Aug. 30, 2000)

• By Christine Edison
• LIS 770 Spring 2009

2
Whos homeless?

• Approximately 248,000 homeless families in U.S.
  on any given night
• 600,000 homeless families and 1.35 million
  children homeless each year
• In 2005, 13.3 of the U.S. population, or
  38,231,521 million people, lived in poverty

Facts from Why Are People Homeless? NCH Fact
Sheet 1, National Coalition for the Homeless
Web site
Map from the National Alliance to End
Homelessness, www.endhomelessness.org.
3
Whos homeless?

• Approximately 10 percent of homeless population
  (124,000) is chronically homeless
• Study of homeless people with mental illness
  showed they used 40,000 in public services each
  year
• Cost of providing housing to these people 15,000
  cheaper per year than having them live on the
  street

Photo from End Homelessness, a web site section
on www.change.org.
Facts from the National Alliance to End
Homelessness
4
Why do they visit the library?

• Public space
• Welcomes everyone
• Free
• Entertainment
• Comfortable place to sit
• Internet/e-mail

Michael Macor/San Francisco Chronicle Karen
Taylor and Monty Flippen searched through books
from the Roving Library, a mobile library for
homeless people in San Franciscos Tenderloin.
(A Novel Idea Small Tenderloin brings its books
to the streets after-school Library on Wheels
Brings Books to Homeless People, Aug. 30, 2000)
5
Whats the problem?

• Not everyone who is homeless is a problem patron.
• Studies suggest about 10 percent of people with
  serious psychiatric disorders, almost all of whom
  are untreated, are the ones who become homeless,
  violent, incarcerated, and cause most of the
  disturbances in our communities.
• The majority of individuals with serious
  psychiatric disorders use public libraries
  appropriately without causing problems.

From Problems Associated with Mentally Ill
Individuals In Public Libraries. by E. Fuller
Torrey, M.D., Rosanna Esposito and Jeffrey
Geller, M.D., in Public Libraries (March/April
2009)
6
How would you respond?

• On January 16, 2007, in Roseburg, Oregon, an
  area transient diagnosed with schizophrenia
  severely beat a sixty-two-year-old public library
  employee when she told him the library was
  closing early due to hazardous weather.
• On January 30, 2007, in Hillsboro, Oregon, a man
  diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia stabbed
  another man in the back as he worked at a
  computer in a public library because he thought
  the man was staring at him.
• Two homeless men got into a fight outside the
  Schaumburg, Illinois Public Library recently one
  man was stabbed six times and left beside the
  book drop.
• A mother complains that she wont bring her
  daughter into the library because some
  rough-looking men are smoking outside the front
  door.

From Problems Associated with Mentally Ill
Individuals In Public Libraries. by E. Fuller
Torrey, M.D., Rosanna Esposito and Jeffrey
Geller, M.D., in Public Libraries (March/April
2009). From Downturn Puts New Stresses on
Libraries, New York Times, April 1, 2009.
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How would you respond?

• Whose needs are most important?
• How can you avoid future problems?
• Can you avoid lawsuits?
• Should you try to get the homeless people to
  leave?
• Is there another way to handle these situations?
  (Could systems thinking help?)
• How could the library address this community
  need?
• How much would addressing this issue cost?

8
Four steps

• Create a safe environment
• Get to know homeless patrons
• Treat homeless patrons as patron group
• Advocate for homeless in community

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First step Safe environment

• Policy based not on looks but behavior
• Behavior policy
• Body odor
• Noise level
• Large parcels
• Sleeping
• Washing in bathrooms
• Other behaviors
• Securing the building
• Theft issues
• Security walk-throughs
• Assuring other patrons

Peter Wynn Thompson/The New York Times Rosalie
Bork, a librarian at Arlington Heights Public
Library in Arlington Heights, Illinois, is seeing
more stress on the job as a result of the
recession. (April 1, 2009, Downturn Puts New
Stresses on Libraries)
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First step Safe environment

• Pluses
• Makes staff and other patrons feel safe
• Homeless people become someone elses problem
• Minuses
• Possible lawsuits
• Cost of security measures
• Needs of homeless patrons not met

Andy Rogers/Seattle Post-Intelligencer Tiberious
Shapiro takes a look at Readers Digest in the
Living Room area of the Seattle Central
Library. Shapiro says the downtown library is his
favorite place to pass the time before homeless
shelters open. (from New Library A Haven for
Homeless, Nov. 29, 2006)
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Second step Get to know them

• Securing the building
• Security knows names of regular patrons
• Staff understands range of behaviors
• Can call for support if problems arise
• Procedures in place to deal with issues

Andy Rogers/Seattle Post-Intelligencer Security
officer Christopher Hogan chats with Kevin
Vanderhoef, who had nodded off at the Seattle
Public Library after spending a night on the
street. Vanderhoef was reminded that there is no
sleeping allowed at the library. Security
personnel know the names of the homeless
regulars. (from New Library A Haven for
Homeless, Nov. 29, 2006)
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Second step Get to know them

• Meet with service agencies
• Learn how to handle possible issues better
• Understand patrons better
• Find out more about homeless patrons

Brian Feulner/Lodi News-Sentinel Tim Neil, once
homeless, talks to homeless outreach worker
Dennis Buettner at the Lodi, Indiana, Library.
13
Second step Get to know them

• Plus
• Makes homeless patrons less intimidating
• Staff recognize them as human beings with
  individual needs
• Minus
• Can take more time to implement than a policy

Joseph Garnett, Jr./St. Petersburg Times, June
15, 2007 Jacqueline Ramseur reads outside the
main branch of the Clearwater, Florida, Library.
Ramseur is homeless but checks out books to read
on her favorite bench.
14
Third step Treat them as patron group

• ALA Policy 61 Service to Poor and Homeless
  People

15
Third step Treat them as patron group

• New York Public Librarys Mission (from
  nypl.org)The New York Public Library is one
  of the cornerstones of the American tradition of
  equal opportunity. It provides free and open
  access to the accumulated wisdom of the world,
  without distinction as to income, religion,
  nationality, or other human condition. It is
  everyones university the scholars and authors
  haven the statesmans, scientist's, and
  businessmans essential resource the nations
  memory. It guarantees freedom of information and
  independence of thought. It enables each
  individual to pursue learning at his/her own
  personal level of interest, preparation, ability,
  and desire.

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Third step Treat them as patron group

• Have materials on hand
• Magazines
• Social services materials
• Employment materials

Homeless children take part in a Los Angeles
Public Library summer camp program on dinosaurs.
(Library holds camp for homeless children, L.
A. Times, July 18, 2008)

• Outreach
• Bring materials to them

Children at a homeless shelter look over
materials donated by University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill students. (photo from a press
release from University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill)
17
Third step Treat them as patron group

• Provide library cards
• Prove address (at shelter or elsewhere)
• E-mail, Internet use high for this group at
  library no place else to go for Internet use
• Can check out materials

Michael Macor/San Francisco Chronicle Eddie
Sanchez clutches books from Michael Morgans
shopping cart library in San Franciscos
Tenderloin District. (A Novel Idea Small
Tenderloin brings its books to the streets
after-school Library on Wheels Brings Books to
Homeless People, Aug. 30, 2000)
18
Third step Treat them as patron group

• Pluses
• Homeless patrons appreciate library services
• Can assist those looking to change their lives
• Minuses
• Group not paying taxes to support libraries
• Can mean increase in lost and damaged materials
• Costs for materials, programs

Wiqan Ang/The Boston Globe The Worcester Public
Library in Worcester, Mass., limited the number
of books homeless people could borrow in 2006.
Three patrons filed a class action lawsuit, and
the library eventually changed its policy. (In
Worcester, suit filed over library's homeless
policy, Boston Globe, July 9, 2006)
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Fourth step Advocate for them

• Speak with government officials about issue
• Discuss needs of homeless patrons at library and
  beyond
• Seattle Public Library put forth idea of hygiene
  center after meetings with advocates, patrons
• Join Hunger, Homelessness Poverty Task Force
  of the Social Responsibilities Round Table at
  ALA

Harvard Student Liz Murray shared her story From
Homeless to Harvard at the Orlando, Florida,
Public Library. (Orlando Public Library photo)
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Fourth step Advocate for them

• Work with community groups
• Have information sessions at library
• Work together on fund-raising efforts
• Gather ideas on how to help
• Write and speak about the issue with media

A display about poverty at University of
Lethbridge Library in Canada. (University of
Lethbridge Library photo)
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Fourth step Advocate for them
Michael Bryant/Philadelphia Inquirer The Free
Library of Philadelphia cafe employs a handful of
formerly homeless workers, supervised on site by
Project H.O.M.E.
AP photo An attendant and client of Project
H.O.M.E cleans a restroom in the Free Library of
Philadelphia. Once-homeless individuals work in
the library bathrooms and in the café.
(Ex-Homeless Attend to Library Bathrooms, The
Washington Post, Dec. 15, 2006)
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Fourth step Advocate for them

• Pluses
• Helps address community need
• Raises awareness of homeless community and
  librarys humanitarian role
• Question
• Will this translate into greater support of
  library?

John A. Bowersmith/Lubbock Avalanche-Journal Adam
Hernandez listens to a prayer outside the Mahon
Library in Lubbock, Texas, during the Vigil for
the Homeless. Hernandez said he sleeps outside at
the library almost every night. (Vigil puts
focus on Lubbock's homeless problem, Oct. 19,
2008)
23
Real-life scenario

• Homeless patrons congregating on certain nights,
  causing security issues
• No place else to go, especially on wintry Sundays
• Board updated behavior policy, security
• A trustee joined forces with community leaders to
  form Coalition for Warmth
• Warming site created to fill need for community
  space for homeless people
• Fewer problems at library as a result