Downtown Library "Visitors" (Houston, Dallas: 2014, movies, university)

[snackdog]

The downtown library has been sort of taken over by people seeking air conditioning and toilet facilities. They camp outside on the sidewalk outside operating hours, then rush inside when the library opens. There seem to be more every time I pass by. I'm all for libraries being a refuge, but there is a limit to what most patrons will tolerate when it comes to filth and odor.

Is there a solution?

[War Beagle]

Libraries have become this way in every city. They are basically a place for the homeless to hang out, watch movies and use the computers to masturbate.

[texas7]

The downtown library has been that way for years. It’s not a new development. They hang out on a shady area directly across from the library.

[Denver303TJC]

Originally Posted by War Beagle

They are basically a place to use the computers to masturbate.

"Oh boy! Debbie Does Dallas 2018 is now online, guys!" - Homeless Library Patron

[gwarnecke]

Originally Posted by War Beagle

Libraries have become this way in every city. They are basically a place for the homeless to hang out, watch movies and use the computers to masturbate.

Yep, this is a pretty good summary of the state of most downtown or centrally-located libraries.

I much prefer small, quiet suburban ones. The small branch in Hedwig Village is excellent. I'm eagerly awaiting the Kendall Library's reopening, once Harvey repairs are complete.

[daniepwils]

That is nothing new. I lived in downtown from 2004 to 2014 and since about 2008 and onward the downtown library has always had large groups of homeless sitting between the two buildings. I would run by there almost daily on my way to the park. For the most part they are harmless.

[txdemo]

Originally Posted by snackdog

The downtown library has been sort of taken over by people seeking air conditioning and toilet facilities. They camp outside on the sidewalk outside operating hours, then rush inside when the library opens. There seem to be more every time I pass by. I'm all for libraries being a refuge, but there is a limit to what most patrons will tolerate when it comes to filth and odor.

Is there a solution?

Yes, don’t go there if you don’t like it

[jerbear30]

This happens at libraries everywhere. My mom is a librarian for a tiny town of less than 5000 people in the rural midwest and she has a homeless Iraq war vet come in every day. She holds his stuff for him overnight sometimes, when he asks her to, and she lets him stay during the open library hours. What else is she going to do? What else would librarians here in Houston do, especially in the heat. I agree that it makes libraries less desirable to have the homeless milling about, but then again, what other public institutions do we have these days? Where else would these folks go? Build a better society, starting with greater emphasis on public health and safety. Until we do that, we're going to have this problem.

As to the dilemma of the op, I would suggest going to the Fondren library at Rice University or the M.D. Anderson library at the U of H. These libraries both have great collections. Rice won't let you check out books unless you are a student, but you can get one book at a time out from the U of H if you get a TexShare card from your local public library.

[Houston parent]

Maybe they could require a library card to enter (as opposed to just checking out books). Couple that with requiring a valid photo ID to get a library card for all non-minors and that would probably cut down on the numbers.


When I started working downtown in the early 90's, I made the mistake of trying to eat my lunch outside on the plaza in front of the library one day when the weather was nice. Immediately, some homeless guys sits down next to me and starts trying to have a conversation. He made remarks like "I bet that briefcase is just FULL of money". When I got up to get away from him, he yelled some obscenities at me. Never made that mistake again. Its pretty sad that many of our nice public spaces are not useable by the taxpayers who fund them because of large numbers of aggressive vagrants.

[SugLandDAd]

My children have enjoyed riding the light rail downtown, this was generally done on weekends, and off times weekdays during the summer..... we used to ride it more frequently, but the prevalence of homeless, ticket-less passengers has increased to the point where we don't feel comfortable, after a scary incident last year when a man who was clearly under the influence of something started yelling at my 5 year old, we haven't been back.