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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I don't really get it... it seems like very different needs than libraries were designed for or librarians have the skill set for (though I know they try their best). My husband had to work with the librarian to call the police in a homeless creeper in the kids section the other day (not saying they all are, but it's two very different populations in a small space). The only solution I can think of is to offer a homeless service station next door. Warming station, social worker,coffee donuts, paper, computer bank, and bathroom to groom in. Thoughts?[/quote]

Even if you offered those things, which you would never get funding for, there will still be people who prefer to go to the library, the same way that there are shelters and there are still people who prefer the street. I think it's fairly irrelevant whether you think it's two different populations in the same space. It is a public space, and while perhaps the "creeper" in question was actually doing something inappropriate, [b]simply being in the children's section[/b], or the rest of the library, is not inappropriate. Homeless people go to the library because it is quiet and calm and there is stuff to do. When I  (a social worker) worked with homeless outreach, what I saw over and over was that there is only so much that you can really do to end homelessness. Many of the people on the streets actively refuse services, often because those "services" come with rules that they are not willing to comply with or safety issues that they are not willing to experience. I knew a lot of people who refused to go to shelters, for example, because others would steal their stuff, or because there were strict no-intoxication rules that didn't exist on the street. I'm not saying that there shouldn't be rules or that stealing is okay, but both of those issues were real enough for the people I worked with that they would not go to the shelter except as a last resort.[/quote]

I disagree.  Adults who are not accompanying children (or checking out children's books) should not be in the children's section.  Period.  The only way to make sure public space is kept orderly for everyone is to have objective rules like this, and enforce them. [/quote]

The Tenley library definitely enforces no adults at the computers or tables of the children's section so the homeless people stay upstairs at the adult computers. [/quote]

What’s with the very noticeable recent spike in street people in Tenleytown, esp. within a block of the Metro![/quote]

Yes, there are so many. The bathrooms in Starbucks, whole foods, libraries are so splashed up and gross.  The people lying in the streets and bus stops and doorways give it a medieval feel. Kudos to our Mayor and Council for their good work helping these souls -- but at least they are working hard on making Go-Go DC's official music and legalizing prostitution. Way more important than mental health.[/quote]

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