Nick Lane - Libraries And The Homeless: How COVID-19 Has Affected The Connection

   If I  look around my apartment, I'll see a kitchen full of food, a coffee maker, heating and AC, a warm bed, indoor plumbing, a working bathroom, wifi, a computer, several electrical outlets, a closet full of clothing, all housed under a roof. You probably have all of that too. It's no big deal for us, right? Of course I have all all of these things. Well, not everyone does; In fact, we're pretty darned fortunate.

  There are a sizable amount of fellow citizens (and counting) that aren't as privileged. While we have everything we need in a private space to call our own, so many have to get those things elsewhere; be it a coffee shop, a museum, a community center, a church, or, of most interest to us in this space, a public library. To the homeless community, the library is more than just books, though it's of course that as well. It's also a place of community, a place to go to the bathroom, a place to wash their hands (especially important in a pandemic), a place to charge their phone, a place to use the computer to work on resumes, connect with people, look for work, or jusyt stay up with current events. In other words: it's a place that they can go, and feel like they belong, and are a part of society.  But as this article from the Washington Post by Christy Respress explains, because of the pandemic, many of these public places are closed, and some of them may never re-open:

"One man we helped into housing used to spend his days perusing exhibits at the National Gallery of Art. He found the artworks healing and felt safe there. Another frequented the Metro Center Cosi, where he was known for helping the staff straighten the tables and chairs. Going to the restaurant gave him a sense of being part of a community. I can't imagine how this gentleman felt when he discovered the place he saw as his very own "Cheers" — where everyone knows your name — had closed. And now this reality: The Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington recently predicted that a quarter of area restaurants won't survive the pandemic, with many of those closures coming this winter."

  This quote especially got to me:

"I'm recalling a man we got to know at Pathways to Housing DC who couldn't remember his name or where he was from. He went to the library to look through books in hopes it would jog his memory."  

 As you can see, public areas, including libraries, are of great importance to those without housing. I wrote in an earlier post about the importance of the library and other public places in our communities; we may take them for granted, but for some, they're everything. And with many of these places being closed, operating in reduced hours and/or reduced capacity due to COVID-19, people who need these places to connect and belong don't have them anymore. The things we have at home, they have, at best, limited access to, or at worst, none at all. 

Repress, Christy; Washington Post Nov. 25th, 2020; D.C.'s Libraries Remain Safe Spaces For People Experiencing Homelessness