Library Stuff

Chicago Tribune – “Fall asleep in the Chicago Public Library, someone will nudge you awake. Do it again, they’ll show you the door. But drift off in Lombard’s cozy library and you can slumber in peace. “The library is a good place to at least catch up on the sleep you missed out on the night before,” said Tammy Selio as she sat in the west suburban library on a recent Tuesday, a black suitcase filled with her belongings at her side. Selio, 40, and other homeless patrons often gather there in the hours before a nearby shelter opens at 7 p.m. Sometimes their eyes grow heavy — especially as the days turn gloomy and colder and a comfortable library chair beckons.”

Ottowa Open File – “Mike Henderson wakes up every morning at the Ottawa Mission. It’s “rough and tough”, he says. But Henderson needed a shelter that allowed him to stay inside during the day.

Most days, though, he does venture out. Stuffing a battered math textbook in his backpack, he’ll head west past Parliament Hill, in the direction of another, less glamorous local landmark—the Ottawa Public Library’s downtown branch.

A concrete monolith on Metcalfe street, the aging library has fluorescent lighting, rows of books and computers, and a cramped café. It’s one of the few spots in the downtown core where passersby can spend a few hours, free of charge, and so the couches are often lined with the homeless. Some nap, others read magazines—still others wait for a computer.”

USATODAY – “Public libraries are becoming more hospitable to the homeless by hosting social-service agencies, organizing events such as book clubs and movie matinees and redesigning their facilities. Instead of trying to deter the homeless from congregating, libraries welcome them and rely on codes of conduct that address issues such as hygiene and behavior to prevent their presence from intimidating other patrons, says Audra Caplan, president of the Public Library Association. The homeless "go to libraries because they don’t have anywhere else to go, and that’s a shame," she says.”

Asbury Park Press – “Charles A. Jones Jr., 26, was discovered by the custodian, who subsequently called police, around 9:10 p.m. Friday, according to Detective Lt. Steven R. Peters. After a search of the building by officers Mark Del Tin, Alon Bercovicz and Matthew Guido, Sgt. Gregory Schenck and detectives Matthew Jackiewicz and Michael Legg, discovered Jones hiding in the basement. Jones told police he was living in the basement of the library for almost two weeks unnoticed, Peters said.”

AP – “Every day, when the main library opens, John Banks is waiting to get inside. He finds a spot and stays until closing time. Then his wheelchair takes him back to the bus terminal where he spends his nights. Like many homeless public library patrons, all Banks wants is a clean, safe place to sit in peace. He doesn’t want to talk to anyone. He doesn’t want anyone to talk to him. But the day he decides he wants help, he knows what to do: ask for the social worker.

Fosters – “Police have arrested a homeless man who allegedly threatened to blow up the public library earlier this month after he was thrown out for “surfing porn” there. Shaun Cadorette, 23, with no fixed address, is facing disorderly conduct and criminal threatening charges as a result of a local police investigation of an incident at the library on April 7.”

Rockford Register Star – “Rockford Public Library officials are making some changes at the main branch on North Wyman Street to discourage transients from using their facility as a haven during harsh weather.”

Impagination – “Are Public Libraries Criminalizing Poor People?”

Arthur Gregg Sulzberger – “With this procession, another day starts at the city’s biggest daytime shelter for homeless people, drug addicts and the mentally ill: the Multnomah County Central Library.”