Library yanks homeless man's library card for not having a perm address

[Liberal_in_LA]

'Where's our compassion?' Homeless man gets show of support after city takes away library card
BY LAURA GIRRESCH -

BELLEVILLE -- Almost a dozen people contacted the News-Democrat after it reported the city took away a homeless man's library card, saying they wanted to pay for the man's card.

Judy Mabery, of Swansea, along with her daughter and neighbor, said she would pay the $65 for a card for Steven Johnson, who was featured March 20 in an article about homeless people in Belleville. The next day, the city yanked Johnson's card, saying he needed a permanent address to have one.

"I just thought it was in terrible, terrible taste," Mabery said. "To just take that access away from a homeless man that's trying to find something." Library policy requires people to have a current address to get a card.

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Johnson, who spends his days at the downtown library and sleeps in his car at night, said he hasn't checked out materials since he lost his maintenance job and apartment last summer. He mainly uses the library for the Internet -- to apply for jobs, play games and use Facebook.



Read more: http://www.bnd.com/2011/03/29/1649037/homeless-man-gets-shows-of-support.html#ixzz1I3GQu0g9

[spinbaby]

1. Wait...

$65 for a library card? Since when does it cost money for a library card? What happened to free public libraries?

[lutherj]

2. I expect it only costs $65 if you can't supply a permanent address.

The poor pay more for everything.

[Hannah Bell]

3. If you don't live in the library district (or have an address) you have to pay.

Because you're not paying taxes to fund the library.

$65/year is a bargain for use of internet, books, magazines, newspapers, + interlibrary loans. You could never get access to anywhere near the equivalent information for that.

My library will give you a card in exchange for volunteer hours if you live outside the district.

[snappyturtle]

4. I lived in Belleville,IL for five years '69-'74 and I can hardly believe

this action by the library!

There's a poll on the link asking whether or not the homeless man should be allowed to keep his library card. Thankfully, 80% of the respondents said, "Yes".

[emilyg]

5. Of course he should.

[ThomCat]

6. Libraries are often a very necessary resource if you are homeless.

And driving homeless people out of libraries is a very traditional form of harassment.

You would be surprised how quickly many libraries call the police at the first hint that one of their patrons might be homeless.

At other libraries, they are friendly and look the other way when they know that someone is homeless, and may even do whatever they can to help someone find the help and resources they might be searching for. It all depends on the personalities of the staff and who's working on any given day.

Here in NYC, never, ever go to the main branch of the NYC public library. You'll get hounded out of there within moments. But there are certain branch locations out in the boroughs where you will be welcome or at least left alone if you are homeless. The library here on Staten Island, here near me, is one of the friendly ones, and well known for it.

Project Hospitality, one of the big help organizations out here even has one of their larger shelters for mothers and children close to the library, I've heard, because the knew they would be welcome in this neighborhood and they wanted their clients to be near resources they were going to need, including that library.

I hope Mr Johnson is able to get his card back, and I hope he is able to get back in that library without any problems from the staff or other patrons.

[Liberal_in_LA]

9. I'm sorry the homeless are treated that way at the NYC main branch

They seem to be left alone in LA branches

[Geoff R. Casavant]

7. My wife is a librarian here in Houston.

If I remember correctly what she told me, Houston offers two library cards -- one that allows the patron to check out books, and requires a permanent address, and one that allows the patron to use the computers, and does not require an address.

[Withywindle]

8. That's just shameful.

Internet access isn't a luxury these days. Just try to get a job without it! A lot of places don't even take paper applications anymore.

It's just so fucking petty. The poor have to deal with so many obstacles thrown in their path, every day, stuff that someone with money barely even has to think about.