News From Texas Houston City Council passed the regulations Wednesday, which some consider a veiled attempt at prohibiting homeless people from using the libraries.
The new rules grant librarians the authority to remove offending patrons.
City councilwoman Addie Wiseman voted against the new rules.
“When we have heat waves, they encourage people, including the homeless, to go into public buildings, including our libraries. What is the plan now?” Wiseman said.
Sad … only to a “desirable” segment of the public. If there is a problem with homeless folks shaving in the bathrooms and offending sensitive noses, those problems are not going to be solved by expulsion from the library. “Problems” stemming from homelessness need to be treated at the cause, not at the symptoms.
I think it is very sad when a public service is no longer open to the public
It is a shame that a potentially powerful force for public information will be cut off from those who may benefit from it the most. If libraries were bothered by homelessness, you would think that they would arrange for easier access to materials such as phone directories, resume and job hunting manuals, and public agency materials, rather than making access more difficult, dependent upon smelling correct and other arbitrary factors.
sad, but are they really there to find information
Granted, libraries should be there to serve everyone. But, what about when other library users are frightened off by the homeless? Or, library users (homeless or not) are doing things other than using the library?
Librarians are not social workers. We are librarians and are there to provide information–not daily baths, daily porn viewing, or a place to sleep.
I don’t work in Texas, but library in which I am employed had let the homeless run rampant–sleeping, eating, and viewing porn. The library lost of a significant amount of their other clientel–who said in surveys that they really didn’t feel comfortable using this particular library anymore. Older people and folks with small children, in particular, felt threatend.
So, then, they had to crack down, enforce the rules, and have folks kicked out. AND, then, hire an outreach librarian to try to get the former users back in.
So, you really walk a line. How much do you allow to happen? How do you balance the needs of those who wish to use information and those who just wish to hang out?
It sounds to me like some members of their city council don’t want to take responsibility for the homeless and want to foist it on the library instead.
Re:sad, but are they really there to find informat
I agree. We are not social workers, and we do not have the resources to take care of the homeless, and besides — this is about BEHAVIOR — not someone’s social status. It’s not about who you are, it’s how you act, and THAT INCLUDES SMELLING BAD, using loud foul language, leering and staring, starting fights. Sorry, not that tolerant, and neither are our patrons. I also don’t think it’s fair that a handful of creeps get to scare off the rest of our patrons because its their RIGHT to act like this. It isn’t. Sorry.