Posted on 08/16/2007 9:28:44 AM PDT by Lorianne
A homeless man was arrested this week at the downtown Central Library after allegedly masturbating in a back aisle and then pulling a knife on a librarian who was trying to escort him out of the building.
A security guard used a Taser on the man, who was arrested by police and charged with multiple offenses, from lascivious conduct to aggravated battery.
No one, luckily, was injured or killed in the incident.
But it's an ugly reminder of a community problem hidden in plain sight.
On any given day, you'll find a group of homeless regulars at the Central Library, ensconced at tables or slouched in chairs.
Most of the time, they cause no problems. Sometimes, though, they ruffle the serene surface of public life.
By talking loudly. Bothering other patrons.
Smelling bad.
Their presence typically arouses annoyance in Wichitans, or revulsion.
What we should feel is shame.
Recently I read a provocative essay by Chip Ward, former assistant director of the Salt Lake City public library system.
He wrote about this nation's dirty little secret: How our libraries have become de facto daytime shelters for the homeless -- and librarians have become de facto social workers.
All because of our nation's ongoing failure to address the problems facing the homeless.
Ward wrote about the daily challenges librarians face in dealing with "street people," the chronically homeless who, he points out, usually are suffering from a mental illness or drug or alcohol addiction, or both.
Social agencies and shelters are often overwhelmed, underfunded and unavailable during the day.
"So, like it or not, we are ushered into the ranks of auxiliary social workers with no resources whatsoever."
Librarians often do make a difference, though, just by treating the homeless with respect and caring attention.
Library director Cynthia Berner-Harris, when I talked to her a while back on this subject, told me the staff tries hard to treat homeless patrons with sensitivity and dignity, as they would any other customer.
By and large, there are no problems. You might find the homeless playing chess or reading magazines, she said.
Still, some of the homeless have substance abuse problems.
"We're not necessarily trained to deal with that," Berner-Harris told me. "Sometimes it's a struggle for us."
Perhaps the biggest challenge is "keeping these folks awake."
They can't sleep in the library, because staff need to know they aren't suffering a health problem.
In Wichita, librarians have received training in homeless issues. And the library has a "terrific relationship," she said, with several service agencies.
But Ward wrote that no matter how caring and helpful librarians are, sometimes they face no good options -- and "in the end, we just call the cops."
That's what happened the other day at the library. I'm not sure about the specific case of this 58-year-old homeless man -- whether he suffers from a mental illness or other health problem.
But the incident highlights how the homeless problem, left unaddressed, often becomes criminalized.
It's a symptom of neglect and failure on our part.
"When the mentally ill whom we have thrown onto the streets haunt our public places, their presence tells us something important about the state of our union, our national character, our priorities, and our capacity to care for one another," Ward argued in his essay.
"What do you think about a culture that abandons suffering people and expects them to fend for themselves on the street, then criminalizes them for expressing the symptoms of illnesses they cannot control?"
Wichita, which prides itself on its family friendliness, isn't a very friendly place to the homeless and sick living on our streets.
It's a blind spot in our moral vision.
After more than a decade of "temporary" emergency shelters, city leaders have yet to come up with a comprehensive plan for helping these lost souls.
The homeless task force appointed last year is still holding meetings.
Where is the urgency?
Homeless people, Berner-Harris stressed, have a right to use the library, just like other citizens.
Some of them, though, are struggling with serious mental illness and addictions, and the library doesn't have the resources to help them.
When they're sick, they don't belong in the library, or a jail cell. They belong in treatment.
Until we provide better services and real homes for them, they'll continue to haunt our public places.
To our shame.
The public library in downtown Seattle is a homeless shelter. It reeks of urine, vomit, and body odor. They are a waste of taxpayer money in the internet age, and an extremely expensive way to warehouse bums.
This article deserves a barf alert.
His observation is correct, his explanation sucks. Would you rather hang out with a bunch of bums at a homeless shelter or at a library where you get nice comfortable chairs, a clean bathroom, plenty of reading material, maybe cd’s to listen to and even free coffee? Plus, there is the chance they might try to throw you out and you could win big bucks in a civil rights lawsuit!
Every time a mayor or governor attempts to "address the problems" the ACLU and other Leftist crazies swoop in to stop it.
According to them, the homeless have a basic human right to stink and pee and yell vulgarities.
—the ACLU—
Bingo. I quit going to the main public library in my city years and years ago for this very reason. It’s a disgrace.
Exactly. Many state hospitals for mentally ill people were closed, and this was due to pressure from liberal pressure groups about the civil rights of these people.
So there would be civil rights lawsuits if we tried to lock up these people.
Its’ really heartbreaking about these homeless people. Yet are we supposed to just tolerate their uncivilized behavior, no matter what causes it?
Where do their rights end and ours begin?
Is there a civil right to defecate in public? To urinate in public? To masterbate or copulate in public? Where are we as a society going to draw these lines?
Easy answer - the liberal federal judges turned the mentally ill out of the hospitals that used to keep them.
Was this guy plucking belly button lint when his fellow liberals decided to shut down all the insane asylums?
They are solely about generating anarchy and discord. And they seem to have no problem finding idiot judges to aid their agendas.
The actual issue, outcome, or people involved are all irrelevant to them.
Good Lord, save us from single sentence reports!
Didin’t these journalistic midgets learn about PARAGRAPHS in elementary, middle, high school and college? I can’t even read this piece. It reads like MTV “views”.
It’s a well known fact that the indigent are voracious readers.
I certainly wouldn’t have my kids going to the library to study if there were homeless weirdos hanging out there. So, the result would be that the library is no longer used for its established purpose and is turned over to the homeless instead. They might as well remove the book shelves and replace them with cots.
The same lefties who screamed about these people not being institutionalized are the same ones who will have no problem with President HRC or any other Democrat imposing the will of the federal government on every aspect of our lives.
And what is the solution to homelessness? How many more 100s of billions can be spent on social programs? It hasn’t solved the whole problem yet, has it.
Until we provide better services and real homes for them
So... not only am I responsible for my own mortgage, home repairs, property taxes, etc -- I've got to shell out a real home for someone else too? My fridge came in a real nice cardboard box... they can have that.
Wow... and I don't even get cocktails and a nice dinner beforehand... (actually, I'd settle for a lite beer in a paper bag and Red Lobster...)
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