It really shouldn't be. We should have dedicated shelters for that.
Relying on libraries to be de facto homeless shelters is bad for everyone compared to the alternative of dedicated facilities. It's worse for homeless people, worse for the library and staff, and worse for patrons.
The problem is that we’ve wound up in an unhappy place due to the weird perverse incentives of ideology. Taking homeless people off the street, whether to a hospital or jail, costs a lot of money; so we lack something to do in a climate where a good chunk of the populace is rabidly against paying more money for anything.
Then don't call it a library, call it a homeless support center with books. i see the same thing here in austin, the central library is full of homeless people, shouting in silent room, shooting guns in restrooms. I love books and libraries more than anything but it saddens when place for knowledge are converted into daytime homeless shelters.
You can always spot the Americans because any talk about libraries will turn into whining about homeless people existing. You should fix your social system.
I don't mean it's a shelter for them in the literal sense. As in a place to sleep. It IS however meant to be a safe harbor - a place they are welcome to simply EXIST.
Ask google "is the ethos of libraries to help the homeless"
Here's what it says: The core ethos of libraries is to provide universal, equitable access to information, resources, and safe spaces for all members of a community, including people experiencing homelessness. While public libraries are not specifically designed to be homeless shelters or social service agencies, their foundational commitment to inclusivity means they naturally serve as a vital lifeline for marginalized populations.
I'm not sure what you mean by "ethos of libraries", but this was not the original intent of libraries, or the "ethos" that most voters would use when deciding whether to fund a library or not.
The problem with reimagining the role of publicly funded institutions and ascribing a new "ethos" to them that is not supported by the public is that funding gets cut and libraries get shut down.
If you want to know the original ethos of libraries, it was to disseminate knowledge at low cost to members of the community. Not to be socially inclusive. Not to make people feel welcome. Not to provide "safe spaces". But to provide access to knowledge. By subverting this ethos, we have also subverted a lot of the funding model and political support, which is why libraries are having a difficult time right now.
There's definitely some of it happening in Australia. I wouldn't regard libraries as the safest of places. I had a period where I tried working from there on my laptop, before realizing I was incredibly naive and there were a lot of homeless and mentally ill people there. Took me a while to realize why people would tell me to avoid the men's toilets in the library as well.
Right, libraries should be safe spaces for children to go by themselves and read books, like I did was 8 and 9. I rode my bike and looked for computer books, and found a book that was a compilation of Dr. Dobb’s Journal.
It is unreasonable to allow library patrons to make it unsafe for anyone, particularly children, but that has become the de facto standard in many areas. There are a lot of libraries I would not allow my kids to be in by themselves.
People sleeping in every car park at parks and beaches etc
I'm a night person with bad insomnia so I often go for drives or walks at night and a lot of my favourite places to go are now heavily populated by people sleeping in their cars
There's often smelly people napping in Sweden. I presume their housing situation isn't the best. Or they are not mentally capable of cleaning themselves.
It really shouldn't be. We should have dedicated shelters for that.
Relying on libraries to be de facto homeless shelters is bad for everyone compared to the alternative of dedicated facilities. It's worse for homeless people, worse for the library and staff, and worse for patrons.
Unfortunately, the US is filled with people who are happy to make their own lives worse if it hurts people they don't like even more.
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The problem is that we’ve wound up in an unhappy place due to the weird perverse incentives of ideology. Taking homeless people off the street, whether to a hospital or jail, costs a lot of money; so we lack something to do in a climate where a good chunk of the populace is rabidly against paying more money for anything.
LA collectively spends about $3 billion on various things for homeless people, who number around 70-80,000. That’s $40,000 per person per year.
What level of spending would you like to see?
I think you're right that people are against these things, but wrong about the reasons.
Taking homeless people to jail because they're homeless just seems stupid and pointless, not to mention harmful to the person going to jail.
Shelters have the issue where people don't want them near where they live (for often justifiable reasons) but obviously they have to go somewhere.
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Then don't call it a library, call it a homeless support center with books. i see the same thing here in austin, the central library is full of homeless people, shouting in silent room, shooting guns in restrooms. I love books and libraries more than anything but it saddens when place for knowledge are converted into daytime homeless shelters.
You can always spot the Americans because any talk about libraries will turn into whining about homeless people existing. You should fix your social system.
It should be possible to have public libraries without fixing all other social ills first.
Depends on the library.
If you appear to be sleeping, staff will check on your welfare, and wake you up.
https://www.spl.org/about-us/policies/community-use-agreemen...
I don't mean it's a shelter for them in the literal sense. As in a place to sleep. It IS however meant to be a safe harbor - a place they are welcome to simply EXIST.
Ask google "is the ethos of libraries to help the homeless"
Here's what it says: The core ethos of libraries is to provide universal, equitable access to information, resources, and safe spaces for all members of a community, including people experiencing homelessness. While public libraries are not specifically designed to be homeless shelters or social service agencies, their foundational commitment to inclusivity means they naturally serve as a vital lifeline for marginalized populations.
This has always been the case.
I'm not sure what you mean by "ethos of libraries", but this was not the original intent of libraries, or the "ethos" that most voters would use when deciding whether to fund a library or not.
The problem with reimagining the role of publicly funded institutions and ascribing a new "ethos" to them that is not supported by the public is that funding gets cut and libraries get shut down.
If you want to know the original ethos of libraries, it was to disseminate knowledge at low cost to members of the community. Not to be socially inclusive. Not to make people feel welcome. Not to provide "safe spaces". But to provide access to knowledge. By subverting this ethos, we have also subverted a lot of the funding model and political support, which is why libraries are having a difficult time right now.
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De facto it is in the US, but it is the only country in the world where that is the case.
There's definitely some of it happening in Australia. I wouldn't regard libraries as the safest of places. I had a period where I tried working from there on my laptop, before realizing I was incredibly naive and there were a lot of homeless and mentally ill people there. Took me a while to realize why people would tell me to avoid the men's toilets in the library as well.
Right, libraries should be safe spaces for children to go by themselves and read books, like I did was 8 and 9. I rode my bike and looked for computer books, and found a book that was a compilation of Dr. Dobb’s Journal.
It is unreasonable to allow library patrons to make it unsafe for anyone, particularly children, but that has become the de facto standard in many areas. There are a lot of libraries I would not allow my kids to be in by themselves.
Homeless problem in Australia right now is insane
People sleeping in every car park at parks and beaches etc
I'm a night person with bad insomnia so I often go for drives or walks at night and a lot of my favourite places to go are now heavily populated by people sleeping in their cars
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It's a trend in Canada also. Libraries are being seen as a social safety net.
https://www.policyalternatives.ca/news-research/public-libra...
There's often smelly people napping in Sweden. I presume their housing situation isn't the best. Or they are not mentally capable of cleaning themselves.