Chicago Library Welcoming to Homeless

Here's a great article about access to a library in Chicago.
Chanel Polk's feature about it ishere.

One of the things she mentions is how the Harold Washington Library Center is especially welcoming. The Library's PR person is quoted as saying the guidelines which include not loitering and coming in with improper hygiene apply to everyone and that the library staff is trained to treat everyone with courtesy and respect.

Social Exclusion--Framework for Change

Social exclusion framework provides a way for looking at social justice in libraries.
The author, John Gehner, a member of the Social Responsibilities Round Table
of the American Library Association on this site Hunger, Homelessness & Poverty Task Force lists a lot of resources for libraries and librarians to help effect change in how they respond to poverty in the community.

I read about this on Kathleen de la Peña McCook's excellent blog. She writes about libraries and community issues and never fails to get it right. IMHO.

Sometimes, however, it's easier said than done.

Homeless in Seattle (cliche already?)

Check out this latest about the new Seattle public library.

Even though it's a glistening new building, the staff--librarians and security personnel seem to be friendlier.

I still don't get this no-sleeping thing. What if you've not homeless, but you've pulled an all-nighter and your reading material is just boring?

Library builds storage for homeless patrons

This item the State Journal-Register of Springfield shows how a library became proactive in treating homeless patrons as patrons.

It also indicates that there may be additional worries.
One patron points this out:

Norman Adkins, 57, who was homeless until five days ago, said the people who live outside the library look out for one another and watch over each other's possessions.

"We're going to worry every day that people are going through our personal belongings," Adkins said of the new shed. "Here, we always have somebody walking in and out. There, we're not going to be able to watch our stuff."

So it's not a perfect solution. Evidently the city council doesn't mind the number of homeless people who stay on the plaza near the library. When you link to the article and scroll down, you'll see lots of responses that indicate everything from moral outrage at providing things for the homeless to moral outrage that more isn't done!

Moondog

Moondog was the first "street person" I ever met and talked to in New York.
Actually, it was my mother who introduced me to him. She'd been listening to him recite poetry for years! There he was, standing on a street corner looking like a druid and my mom went up to him and just began chatting. He was blind and looked so faraway and my mom listened to him (hmph! better than she listened to me--or so it seemed to my teenage self)

More information on Moondog is
here.

Article Annotations: What Works

Abramson, H. (2003). A Haven For Homeless Kids. School Library Journal vol 49, no.1, p. 41. Retrieved October 11th, 2006 from Library Literature Fulltext. http://www.emporia.edu/libsv/databases/
Discusses a 5-day program, Camp LAPL at the Central Los Angeles Library. The library partnered with a service agency and provided library card applications for the children who were living in shelters with their families. Resulted in children eager to use the library again and again.

Geloff, K. & Nordyke, D. (2002). Library Services To Homeless Youth.ALKI. vol. 18, no.2. Retrieved October 11th, 2006 from Library Literature Fulltext. http://www.emporia.edu/libsv/databases/
The Seattle library’s University District branch partnered with the University District Youth Center to provide programs for homeless teens: book discussion groups, activities, and even a job internship. The teens regard the library as a safe and quiet place.

Lawry, B. (2002).The Value of a Library Card to a Homeless Person. Public Libraries, vol. 41, no.4., pp. 200-201. Retrieved October 11th, 2006 from Library Literature Fulltext http://www.emporia.edu/libsv/databases/.
Lawry writes about an encounter with one homeless woman being treated by a doctor who is part of a hospital outreach program. The woman is much more worried about losing her books and library card than about her medicine when her backpack is stolen. The woman feels sure she can work something out with the library to replace her card and pay for the books.

Peterson, L. (2003). Using a Homeless Shelter as a Library Education Learning Laboratory: Incorporating Service-Learning in a Graduate Level Information Sources and Services in the Social Sciences Course. RUSA, vol. 42, no.4. pp. 307-310. Retrieved October 15th, 2006 from Library Literature Fulltext http://www.emporia.edu/libsv/databases/
LIS students had the opportunity to build a library at a homeless shelter in the Buffalo, NY region. The article briefly describes the instructor’s hopes and fears for her students. They partnered with a local social service organization and had some good success. The article is a little sketchy. I’d ultimately like more details.

Article Annotations: Background & Rants

Ayers, S. (2006). The Poor and Homeless: An Opportunity for Libraries to Serve. The Southeastern Librarian. vol. 54, no.1, pp.66-74.Retrieved October 11th, from Library Literature Fulltext http://www.emporia.edu/libsv/databases/
Ayers cites a couple of authoritative sources, such as the National Coalition for the Homeless and the Urban Institute, for statistics. One percent of the population of the United States experiences homelessness each year. That makes it what, 3 million? That’s horrible! She suggests a list of inexpensive things libraries can do to assist the poor and homeless, including job search & career guidance, providing regional guides, newspapers, community information and referral services.
Berman, S. (2005). Classism in the stacks: libraries and poverty. Jean E. Coleman Library Outreach Lecture. Retrieved October 29th, 2006 from http://www.ala.org/ala/olos/outreachresource/servicespoor.htm

A visit to the ALA’s Outreach page yields a lot of material. This is Sanford Berman’s impassioned plea to treat the homeless and impoverished as real patrons, and not to keep instituting policies which are designed to keep them out (e.g. patron-codes-of- behavior which say body odor may be considered disruptive; or others that say that bathing is not allowed in the bathrooms). Berman uses Kansas City, Missouri’s new Central Library as an example, citing Lewis Diuguid’s column back in 2004.

Hersberger, J. (1999). The Homeless, Public Libraries and Outreach Services. North Carolina Libraries, vol. 57, no.1, pp 8-12. Retrieved October 14th, 2006 from Library Literature Fulltext. http://www.emporia.edu/libsv/databases/ Pages cited will be from electronic copy.
Gives a brief history of homelessness and notes homeless people also use academic libraries. Hersberger suggests that outreach services be employed to provide service, but not to exclude the homeless from actually coming in to the library. The author encourages her readers: librarians and LIS students to use the word “challenge” instead of “problem” when referring to helping the homeless.

Shen, L. (2002). The Dilemma of Urban Library Service for the Homeless.Current Studies in Librarianship, v. 26, no 1/2 Retrieved October 14, 2006 from Library Literature Fulltext. http://www.emporia.edu/libsv/databases/
Shen discusses the types of service to the homeless: outreach, partnership with community organizations and in-house. Although many libraries enact policies can be barriers for the homeless, it is possible to provide services to them.

Morgan Brown and his blogs

Morgan Brown has experienced homelessness. He writes at least 2 other blogs: Affordable Housing in Vermont and Norsehorse's Home Turf in addition to his self-titled one.

He's passionate about the need to end homelessness. In his post entitled "the Homeless Challenge,' he writes

That is what guides who gets what funding, where that funding goes and how it is used. It certainly is not, and never has been, about having enough money available; those are just excuses. It is about having the will and using it meaningfully and powerfully in determining how priorities are set and who sets those priorities of course.

What I will be looking at is how libraries meet that challenge. Where are our priorities? Of course we can't, as the institutions we are, provide housing, per se. Nevertheless, the information and the tools to use it we provide are as necessary as shelter from the elements.