Archive for the ‘homelessness’ Category

“The Clearwater Public Library saved him.” 5.31.2009. 81.

Sunday, May 31st, 2009


“The Clearwater Public Library saved him.”

Will Van Sant in the St. Petersburg Times writes of the role of the public library in helping the homeless. One man’s story: skilled, blue collar and suddenly destitute.

Clearwater Public Library System..

For more on library services to the homeless see the website of the Hunger, Homelessness & Poverty Task Force, Social Responsibilities Round Table. of the American Library Association

Posted in homelessness, poverty | No Comments »

Community-Led Libraries Toolkit. No. 6.28. 2008. 107.

Saturday, June 28th, 2008

To be socially excluded can mean living in poverty, being unemployed or under-employed. It can mean being mentally or physically ill, being an immigrant or a refugee, being addicted, alienated or alone in the community.
Being socially excluded can also mean being suspicious of government agencies and social institutions because interacting with such agencies in the past may have been embarrassing, degrading or even harmful. Suspicion, resentment, hostility and anger can be hallmarks of social exclusion.
Socially exclusion can be defined in a multitude of ways, but what’s important is recognising that such a condition exists in our communities.

The Working Together website shares information about social exclusion and public libraries and librarianship.
The Community-Led Libraries Toolkit explores the application of community development techniques in developing more inclusive public library services.
Go here for pdf.

–Found at the Hunger, Homelessness & Poverty Task Force.
Social Responsibilities Round Table of the American Library Association

Posted in Canada, Social Responsibilities Round Table, community building, homelessness, human rights, poverty, social exclusion, social justice | No Comments »

Homeless File Lawsuit Against Library Over Book Policy. No. 8.8.2006. No. 161.

Tuesday, August 8th, 2006

Worcester,MA public library policy allows shelter residents to check out no more than two books at a time.

Several complaints have led to a recently filed lawsuit against the library and the city, brought on behalf of three homeless people and two social service agencies by the Legal Assistance Corp. of Central Massachusetts and the American Civil Liberties Union. Advocates for the homeless say the policy is just another example of how the city has resisted improving conditions for the homeless.

Letter to the Worcester Public Library stating, Worcester Public Library Must Rescind Borrowing Policy notes:

The American Library Association provides guidelines for developing library policies, including access privileges. Founded on the Library Bill of Rights, the guidelines state that public libraries “should avoid arbitrary distinctions between individuals or classes of users,” policies “should not target specific users or groups of users,” and policies “must be communicated clearly and made available in an effective manner.”

Go HERE for the entire letter written by John Gehner, Coordinator,Hunger, Homelessness & Poverty Task Force (HHPTF)
Social Responsibilities Round Table (SRRT)
of the American Library Association (ALA)

Posted in Library Services for the Poor, Social Responsibilities Round Table, homelessness, poverty, social justice | Comments Off

“Community Building” column in Reference and User Services Quarterly will be coming to an end. No.6.19.2006-111.

Tuesday, June 20th, 2006

The website of the Hunger, Homelessness & Poverty Task Force of the The Social Responsibilities Round Table notes that:

The “Community Building” column in the journal, Reference and User Services Quarterly will be coming to an end. The column——has routinely featured articles on the needs of low-income people and other socially excluded groups.

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A Place at the Table:Participating in Community Building
The column continued discussions begun in the book, A Place at the Table, and provided ongoing case studies of the precepts of the McCook Model in practice.

Posted in KdlPMcC, McCook Model, Social Responsibilities Round Table, community building, homelessness, poverty, social justice | Comments Off

HOMELESSNESS AND DECONCENTRATION. No. 1.10. 2005-3.

Monday, January 10th, 2005



The latest issue of SHELTERFORCE, the journal of affordable housing and community building, examines deconcentration. It also provides an analysis of the impact of the 2004 elections on housing. The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty serves as the legal arm of the nation wide movement to end homelessness. Support for the Bringing America Home Act now in Congress has been submitted as a resolution to the Social Responsibilities Round Table of the American Library Association at the 2004 Midwinter meeting.

Book:
Edward G. Goetz, Clearing the Way: Deconcentrating the Poor in Urban America (2003, Urban Institute Press).

Librarian
A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE ARCHIVES

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