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At my local library a homeless man is always sitting in the area next to the magazines and newspapers. If he is not there this seating area is the most popular place in the library but once he sits down, nearly everyone leaves and are forced to sit far from the magazines and walk far to get their next magazine.
Why do they leave? HE SMELLS, just terrible. He does not take a bath and has incredible body odor. You can smell him from 20 feet away.
Other than his terrible smell he does not make any waves or say a thing, he just sits there.
Should the library be able to ban him from coming in until he takes a bath and stops smelling so bad?
Yes.
He makes visiting the library no fun.
He lowers my property values.
Yes he is creating a disturbance.
Yes he is offending people.
I don't care about right or wrong or his rights or what the right thing to do is or whether it isn't his fault he is mentally ill or if society screwed him over or whatever. I would be happier of the library banned him until he cleans up his act.
I stopped working as a public librarian because of this and related reasons.
I became a librarian to help make information freely available to all members of our great Democracy. Public libraries are really our great free public universities.
Public libraries are publicly funded and are founded on the premis that in a Democratic society information should be always available to everyone. That means that all citizens are welcome in public libraries. Libraries can only remove people based on local laws and ordinances. Some library boards have set policies that state that extreme body odor = causing a disturbance, which is usually a misdemeanor and thus a reason for removing someone from the library. But most libraries can't afford guards. How would you like to be a (usually) older or young woman asking a person who is usually male and drunk or mentally ill to leave the building? And body odor is the least of it. What about the people who talk (or yell) to the voices in their heads?
In the real world, even in small towns libraries have become places where all of the social ills that exist in that community are concentrated.
In the real world, most people come to public libraries now because they can't go home for one reason or another. Homeless adults AND children come to bathe in the bathrooms and to sleep safely. Libraries are full of latchkey kids between 3 and 6 pm - librarians are forced to be babysitters. Most of those kids who are well behaved are spending their time watching YouTube or playing games on the internet. The kids who aren't on computers are trying to sleep, or fighting, or other things. I once caught a pre-teen girl giving a BJ to a boy under a library carrel. The child internet protection acts have mostly eliminated the watching of porn on library computers, but librarians are still required to unfilter the internet for adults who ask. Try working in a place where you can't avoid seeing porn - and observing people who are watching porn.
The only people who are actually checking out books are parents with small children who read picture books and people over 50. The exceptions - people of other ages who read for pleasure - make up about 2- 10% of library users depending on the demographics of the community in which the library is located.
I am not by nature a social worker. I admit it. Those who can successfully stay in our profession do so because they are saints.
what about some of you who are complaining about him offer him some clean clothes so maybe if he has a chance to shower he would do so and put on some clean fresh clothes . I used to work with some ladies who would hand out clothes to the homeless on weekends .
I stopped working as a public librarian because of this and related reasons.
I became a librarian to help make information freely available to all members of our great Democracy. Public libraries are really our great free public universities.
Public libraries are publicly funded and are founded on the premis that in a Democratic society information should be always available to everyone. That means that all citizens are welcome in public libraries. Libraries can only remove people based on local laws and ordinances. Some library boards have set policies that state that extreme body odor = causing a disturbance, which is usually a misdemeanor and thus a reason for removing someone from the library. But most libraries can't afford guards. How would you like to be a (usually) older or young woman asking a person who is usually male and drunk or mentally ill to leave the building? And body odor is the least of it. What about the people who talk (or yell) to the voices in their heads?
In the real world, even in small towns libraries have become places where all of the social ills that exist in that community are concentrated.
The public libraries where I live remain an important and enduring part of our municipalities. I frequently go to the library to check out both ordinary books and books on CDs to listen to before bed or while I drive. I can go to two or three libraries and virtually never encounter a single person who appears to be homeless. I know this is a problem in places. I don't deny the homeless are present in many public libraries. You can read my story below:
Many years ago (too many) I used to work as a librarian in college. My work was in a specialty library that was for the local law school. I worked at the circulation desk for a couple of years and even though I was only about 20 years old, I was a highly regarded and sought after employee. I was the one who the women employees called on to deal with difficult patrons. I had to deal with people who wanted to bring dogs into the library, people attempting to steal books, people who didn't want to pay overdue fines, people who wanted to eat in the reading rooms, and yes, homeless people. I would confront people not following rules or causing trouble and ask them to leave. If I encountered resistance, I called the campus police and they came down and dealt with the situation.
I'm saying the homeless or those who disobey rules can be dealt with effectively through the system.
If some people are afraid to come to the library because of the homeless population than I'd recommend they stop going to parks, stop walking in downtown areas, stop going to shopping centers and malls, and stop going out anywhere in public. I guess the only safe place is locked inside your own home or maybe in some rich person's private country club.
The homeless are a fact of life in this country and what is interesting to me about this thread is that not one person has talked about dealing with the issues that lead to homelessness. The only concern that is being expressed (or at least that I'm hearing) is how to get rid of homeless people.
If we have no policy to deal with homelessness, than homeless people will be at the library--just like they are anywhere else--and we have to deal with them. Rules that focus on their behavior are the only solution if we refuse to tackle the bigger issue.
The homeless are a fact of life in this country and what is interesting to me about this thread is that not one person has talked about dealing with the issues that lead to homelessness. The only concern that is being expressed (or at least that I'm hearing) is how to get rid of homeless people.
Considering the topic of the thread is should they be banned why would people bring up other homeless issues? Unless you mean other places they should be banned from.
I think they should be banned. A library is not a homeless shelter.
what about some of you who are complaining about him offer him some clean clothes so maybe if he has a chance to shower he would do so and put on some clean fresh clothes . I used to work with some ladies who would hand out clothes to the homeless on weekends .
Yes, that's a great idea. We need more ideas like that. Walk around with spare clothes.
I'm saying the homeless or those who disobey rules can be dealt with effectively through the system.
Wow!!! Where can the rest of us find the Nirvana in which you reside?
I would like to send this message to everyone out there reading this: NEVER send your children to the public library alone. Even small libraries are no longer safe places.
I'm saying the homeless or those who disobey rules can be dealt with effectively through the system.
What system?
I switched careers to become a librarian and I'm shocked how much of my time I spend dealing with the homeless and their problems. There are too many social rights groups out there just itching to pick a fight with libraries for the smallest perceived slight, and what most people don't understand is most libraries are run on a shoestring budget. My library's annual budget is less that the weekly budget of the department of the last company I worked for. They don't have the means to survive a lawsuit.
So you don't let that smelly homeless guy in...lawsuit. You do let him in, you drive away your patrons and alienate your tax base. Damned if you, damned if you don't.
what about some of you who are complaining about him offer him some clean clothes so maybe if he has a chance to shower he would do so and put on some clean fresh clothes . I used to work with some ladies who would hand out clothes to the homeless on weekends .
That's what I was thinking. Everybody likes to think they are so nice, but really, most of us are not.
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