“This is the first step.… We want the library to be a place where they know they can come in and feel welcome,” she said during “Creating Welcoming and Supportive Libraries for Asylum Seekers and People Experiencing Homelessness and Poverty,” a January 20 session at the American Library Association’s 2024 LibLearnX Conference in Baltimore. Bentt-Peters … Continue reading Opening Doors
Libraries and Homelessness: An Action Guide By Julie Ann Winkelstein As many communities face increasing houseless populations, public library workers are often on the front lines, offering services that may not exist elsewhere. From strategies to implementation, the chapters in this enlightening guide offer hands-on tools and real-world examples of successful programming, as well … Continue reading Supporting Marginalized Patrons
Spartanburg County is the fifth most populated county in South Carolina—and it’s growing. In 2022, it had close to 346,000 residents, but nearly 14% of them were living at or below the federal poverty line, with an estimated 11% of children experiencing food insecurity. To help address these issues of affordability and access, Spartanburg County … Continue reading It’s in the Bag
When Las Vegas–Clark County (Nev.) Library District (LVCCLD) closed its doors at the start of the pandemic, the technological barriers that existed within the community were laid bare, particularly those affecting people facing homelessness. Last April, LVCCLD launched its Cellphone Lending Program, an innovative approach to providing hundreds of unhoused individuals with access to needed … Continue reading Libraries on Call
There is a long history of denying reading skills or access to particular groups, including incarcerated people, unpaid and low-wage workers, enslaved and colonized communities, and women. Ken Bigger, a new senior fellow in ALA’s Center for the Future of Libraries, connects literacy to civic fluency in his research. Bigger raises this point: The prison … Continue reading Fugitive Literacies
“The pandemic has highlighted the barriers to access that many people have regarding technology and reliable internet,” says Kathleen Montgomery, outreach manager at Charleston County (S.C.) Public Library (CCPL). “It’s our mission to address these inequities.” To do so, libraries across the US have implemented creative concepts and partnerships that embrace analog technologies and platforms. … Continue reading Old-School Outreach
Of course, being asked to take on tasks that fall outside their traditional job description is nothing new for librarians. But the unprecedented, widespread closure of libraries has made conditions especially ripe for staff redeployment—particularly since many localities consider librarians “city workers.” “All city and county employees, per our contract, work as disaster service workers … Continue reading Other (Pandemic) Duties as Assigned
Originally published at Programming Librarian, March 17, 2020. It may not be possible to offer in-person services for patrons experiencing homelessness during a shutdown, but libraries can help by making information more accessible. Stevie Pinkerton, a homeless man living in Denver, said he relies on bathrooms at Denver Public Library’s Central branch and the local rec … Continue reading Serving Homeless Patrons in the COVID-19 Shutdown
The panel comprised Jean Badalamenti, health and human services coordinator for D.C. Public Library Programs and Partnerships; Nick Higgins, Brooklyn Public Library chief librarian; Kevin King, Kalamazoo (Mich.) Public Library head of branch and circulation services; Leah Esguerra, San Francisco Public Library and San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing social worker and social service … Continue reading Reaching Out to the Unsheltered
Ultimately, earlier this year the library instituted a camping ban, wherein anyone found between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. on the grounds of one of PPLD’s four branches could be ticketed for trespassing if they didn’t leave. “It was one of the hardest things we’ve ever done,” says Spears. Some libraries across the country—particularly on the … Continue reading Give Them Shelter?
“[It’s remembering that] the people most affected by the problem have the best ideas on how to solve the problem,” said Sarah Studer, assistant director of the Arthur W. Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business. Studer shared with library professionals her philosophy on collective action and using business … Continue reading Innovating with Creativity and Empathy
As told to Anne Ford American Libraries asked seven librarians—public, academic, and school; urban and rural—their thoughts about the many directions in which their profession finds itself pulled. “At the end of the day, somebody is dying.” Chera Kowalski Assistant to the Chief of Staff Free Library of Philadelphia Chera Kowalski has received national media … Continue reading Other Duties as Assigned
