I've recently started a new job were the closest coffee shop happens to be inside of a public library. As a child I loved the library so it saddened me to see that the only people inside appeared to be hobos and sleazy immigrants. Not all immigrants are sleazy of course but the ones who frequent the library sure are. A few of my female co workers have said that any time they have stepped inside the library one of these men would come on to them quite aggressively. The hobos sometimes attempt to panhandle in the library which is just disgraceful plus they smell.
| by Anonymous | reply 182 | November 28, 2020 11:40 PM |
That is the destruction of society in the last three decades right there.
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | March 14, 2017 3:16 AM |
Ugh. I feel the same way, OP. Thank God for security guards.
| by Anonymous | reply 2 | March 14, 2017 3:17 AM |
Libraries have coffee shops now?
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | March 14, 2017 3:19 AM |
don't worry--won't be a problem for you long time, since the rich need to pay even less taxes, and since books are elitist and way too pc these days, libraries will be drained like the rest of swamp, and we won't be wasting heat to keep the hobos from freezing. of course when the library goes so will your coffee shop, so maybe you will learn to live in a cardboard box. hope your neighbors will share their falafel with you
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | March 14, 2017 3:20 AM |
The internet killed the library.
| by Anonymous | reply 5 | March 14, 2017 3:22 AM |
I hear this all the tine from a friend who is a librarian in NYC.
| by Anonymous | reply 6 | March 14, 2017 3:22 AM |
It reminds me of an episode of the PJ's, when Thurgood finds the crackheads have been camping out in the lobby overnight and he throws them out. The main crackhead Smokey says "We know when we're not wanted. Let's go to the public library."
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | March 14, 2017 3:35 AM |
What are you talking about, OP? All the immigrants are brilliant research scientists and doctors.
| by Anonymous | reply 8 | March 14, 2017 3:36 AM |
OP, I hate to say this, but more than anything this is about your neighborhood. I'm 44, in Chicago, and the city libraries were always kind of like that, I just st found other sources.
There are still some AMAZING libraries all over the place. If you're anywhere near a college or university, pop in and chat with a kind staffer about applying for a card with them. Public universities will sometimes offer this to locals.
Maybe the immigrants are trying to assimilate? Idk without seeing the situation in person.
| by Anonymous | reply 9 | March 14, 2017 3:36 AM |
Yes, this is totally true. The town (part of a big city metroplex) in which I live has a beautiful library. Large, clean, really up-to-date. Granted, I do not go as often as I should - but I needed to print out some documents and my home printer was screwing up. I drove 5 or so minutes and was in awe of what they had done to the building and its interiors. An art exhibition was showing in the atrium and was well curated. There were almost no patrons and surprisingly no kids around anywhere. I made it to the media center and it is was PACKED with what appeared to be homeless patrons (and yes, a lot of middle eastern immigrants) using the computers. There was a lot of booze in bags and strange food being eaten from grocery bags and old filthy backpacks. Everyone was nice enough but the place wreaked of BO and soiled clothing. The library staff basically was avoiding all of the patrons and not doing much of anything - certainly they were not available to help with the computers or printers. When I walked into the bathroom (I had a cold and needed to blow my nose), a guy was giving himself a sponge bath in his old, stained underwear and nothing else. The toilets were filled with shit and had not been flushed. It was an interesting, eye-opening experience. This is an affluent town/suburb so I guess that the library is a stand-in for a homeless shelter these days.
| by Anonymous | reply 10 | March 14, 2017 3:37 AM |
A picture of OP in her salad days.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 11 | March 14, 2017 3:38 AM |
New hangouts? It's been a problem for the 10+ years I've been in the Seattle area. We had big problems with bums watching porn on the library computers.
| by Anonymous | reply 12 | March 14, 2017 3:39 AM |
Not a problem in suburban libraries
| by Anonymous | reply 13 | March 14, 2017 3:41 AM |
R4, you are sort of right. The problem is that many older libraries sit on land that has become quite valuable. From a bean counter perspective, it makes no sense to use such valuable land for a library when it could be sold and developed.
| by Anonymous | reply 14 | March 14, 2017 3:43 AM |
[quote] The library staff basically was avoiding all of the patrons
I am a few librarian friends, and they agree. The modern library has turned into a glorified porn downloading station for bums.
There are been many reports in SF of bums even masturbating while watching porn.
| by Anonymous | reply 15 | March 14, 2017 3:43 AM |
The homeless problem in public libraries has been going on for years. If would be nice if they could just kick them all out but it's against the law. Some public libraries even have police officers there full-time.
| by Anonymous | reply 16 | March 14, 2017 3:45 AM |
"Are there no prisons?" "Plenty of prisons..." "And the Union workhouses." . "Are they still in operation?" "Both very busy, sir..." "Those who are badly off must go there." "Many can't go there; and many would rather die." "If they would rather die," "they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."
| by Anonymous | reply 17 | March 14, 2017 3:47 AM |
OP, the library you work at is it in West Texas?
| by Anonymous | reply 18 | March 14, 2017 3:47 AM |
In my town, the local shelter kicks people out during the day. So a bunch of guys mill about at the gorgeous new library. I have noticed that there are more than double the number of these guys compared to when I was in high school.
| by Anonymous | reply 19 | March 14, 2017 3:54 AM |
They should kick them out. It means they have no respect for the rest of the library patrons, and the library itself.
Why are the sociopaths the ones being catered to all the time at the detriment of society?
| by Anonymous | reply 21 | March 14, 2017 4:05 AM |
I knew someone who worked in a university library that was brand new but had a big bum invasion. She had to take a first aid course and was horrified that she would have to use it.
| by Anonymous | reply 22 | March 14, 2017 4:06 AM |
i had a bum invasion tonight, but no first aid was required as we used lotsa lube
| by Anonymous | reply 23 | March 14, 2017 4:10 AM |
I live in Chicago and every time I go to the library (a couple times a month) without fail there is an aggressive black guy swearing at people, using the n-word, being belligerent. It's all said in mumbles and the librarians don't want to confront them so they never get thrown out. It's always the dudes using the computer and I swear it's a different guy every time. They aren't homeless though.
| by Anonymous | reply 24 | March 14, 2017 4:11 AM |
Library employees have to put up with a lot of BS. Me, I'd have the cops on speed dial and keep a stun gun on me.
Can't libraries prohibit porn from being viewed on their computers?
| by Anonymous | reply 25 | March 14, 2017 4:14 AM |
This is true for our main downtown library, but the ones in the suburbs are pretty much hobo-free. I guess I feel like as long as they are respecting the rules and not bothering other patrons, they have every right to hang out there. How else are they supposed to use the internet and where do you think they can go to use the bathroom without being a paying customer? Just because someone is homeless doesn't necessarily mean they want to be homeless forever. They might want to search for a job, or keep their mind active instead of passing out in the park with a bottle of vodka. And it's climate controlled, which is obviously a plus. Certainly if they are being aggressive, panhandling, or looking at porn then they should be banned from the premises, but I think that libraries are the last places that ought to discriminate against someone based on appearance alone.
| by Anonymous | reply 26 | March 14, 2017 4:17 AM |
You pretty much just described the entire city of Seattle, R12.
| by Anonymous | reply 27 | March 14, 2017 4:18 AM |
There was a library that was bum central before there were computers in them and one of the two dozen or so magazines they had was Playboy.
| by Anonymous | reply 28 | March 14, 2017 4:20 AM |
People disrupting the library and other patrons should be thrown out.
| by Anonymous | reply 29 | March 14, 2017 4:21 AM |
Yeah, r29. I'm tired of belligerent people being catered to because everyone's afraid of them.
| by Anonymous | reply 30 | March 14, 2017 4:23 AM |
Oh please, this has been going on for the last 50 years. Being an employee at a public library is a high stress job, and had been forever. I knew a librarian when I was a youngster and I heard all the same stories from life pre-internet.
| by Anonymous | reply 31 | March 14, 2017 4:25 AM |
My city hired a social worker to do outreach work with the homeless in our downtown library. It has been so successful, they hired a second one to work in suburban libraries.
| by Anonymous | reply 32 | March 14, 2017 4:26 AM |
No it has not gone on forever. They did not have numerous violent mentally ill people, drug addicts, hanging out in large numbers, and bums looking at porn in computers 50 years ago
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 33 | March 14, 2017 4:31 AM |
i'm old enough to remember when we had hospitals for the mentally ill but they were expensive, one of the reagan era tax-reductions -for-the- rich scams (govt is the problem) sold the state legislatures and congress on the idea that we could close the hospitals and people would do fine with all the new meds. like so much of reagan's voodoo economics, it was a colossal failure. meds did enable some to function, but a lot ended up in jail (which perversely is even more expensive to the taxpayers than the hospitals were), and many ended up on the streets. libraries are one of the few remaining "public" spaces actually open to the public, so no surprise that people with no where else to go would gravitate there, especially in cold weather. of course in the republican fantasy world private non-profits and charities were going to step and pick up the slack, and of course that didn't happen. i'm sure that when the draining of the swamp is complete and libraries are privatized, hired goons can throw the undesirables out
| by Anonymous | reply 34 | March 14, 2017 4:35 AM |
OP, what the fuck are you talking about? I grew up in a mid-size Midwestern town in the 90s and the public library was always full of homeless people. Don't pretend this is a new phenomenon.
| by Anonymous | reply 35 | March 14, 2017 4:40 AM |
I volunteered at one of those hospitals and they were terrible places, not safe at all. Fixing mental illness involves treatment, not hiding them so your white glove tea at the Farimont types don't have to encounter them.
| by Anonymous | reply 36 | March 14, 2017 4:41 AM |
R34 - you beat me to the punch. I was going to mention Reagan closing the state hospitals, but you worded it beautifully. This was the beginning of the end for homeless situations country-wide. God forbid you live in a city with warm weather year round (San Diego, Los Angels, Dallas, south Florida). The situation is pretty dire. You have care and concern for these people - but it is an unsavory situation with little chance for a solution.
| by Anonymous | reply 37 | March 14, 2017 4:42 AM |
I don't really believe this chick.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 39 | March 14, 2017 4:45 AM |
of course they were terrible places and should have been eliminated, but we closed them and would not pay for better care in smaller local residential or out-patient facilities. the patients were given a prescription and then had to fend for themselves, many ended up in jail or homeless.
| by Anonymous | reply 40 | March 14, 2017 4:45 AM |
Why do public libraries even need public computers in this day and age of the smartphone anyway? Getting rid of the public computers would solve a lot of the transient/riffraff problems.
| by Anonymous | reply 41 | March 14, 2017 4:46 AM |
Op you must be in downtown Minneapolis at that shit hole public library with the Dunn brothers.
| by Anonymous | reply 42 | March 14, 2017 4:47 AM |
R41 for the people who have to give up their iPhone to buy health insurance!.
| by Anonymous | reply 43 | March 14, 2017 4:51 AM |
You mean gave up their apartments to papy for health insurance.
| by Anonymous | reply 44 | March 14, 2017 4:54 AM |
[quote]Being an employee at a public library is a high stress job
Really? Because whenever I go to the library, the librarians are just surfing online and chatting. It looks like a very EASY job, actually.
What do librarians even do anymore? We don't really need them to navigate the DD system. Everything is online. DD coding is not determined at the individual library level. The few times I actually needed help with advanced research while in grad school, they were useless and couldn't even help me in do an inter-library loan correctly let alone find research material. The library sciences do not seem to attract the best and brightest.
| by Anonymous | reply 45 | March 14, 2017 5:02 AM |
It's a high stress job because they have to deal with the mentally ill and homeless all day, plus the kids who are left there unattended, and the perves who hang around looking for unattended kids. Then they have actual library customers...
| by Anonymous | reply 46 | March 14, 2017 5:09 AM |
I don't remember a time when libraries didn't have homeless people. As a kid in the 1980s, I'd see the homeless there all the time, mainly because our town refused to keep the shelters open and of course the red state churches aren't as "love thy neighbor" as they claim.
If it's gotten worse it's because of what others said: government sanctioned social and cultural breakdown.
| by Anonymous | reply 48 | March 14, 2017 5:13 AM |
in many libraries, kids of working couples get shuttled to the public libraries for afternoon programs for 2 or 3 hours. many librarians do excellent work helping these kids with their homework and projects and directing them to books they might enjoy. They also help kids with computers and the internet as some may not have computers at home. of course these children are likely to be poor and perhaps immigrants so why should our hard earned dollars be wasted on them?
| by Anonymous | reply 49 | March 14, 2017 5:15 AM |
and those sleazy immigrants are also taking all our nobel prizes:
"Moreover, since 2000, immigrants have been awarded 40 percent, or 31 of 78, of the Nobel Prizes won by Americans in Chemistry, Medicine and Physics, according to research from the National Foundation for American Policy."
Why can't they just stay home in their double-wides watching Fox News and cooking up some meth?
| by Anonymous | reply 51 | March 14, 2017 5:25 AM |
[quote]in many libraries, kids of working couples get shuttled to the public libraries for afternoon programs for 2 or 3 hours. many librarians do excellent work helping these kids with their homework and projects and directing them to books they might enjoy. They also help kids with computers and the internet as some may not have computers at home.
Well, that answered my question and is actually pretty cool. I retract my snottiness.
| by Anonymous | reply 52 | March 14, 2017 5:33 AM |
r51 and I'm sure those Nobel prize winners weren't trolling the library for pussy all day so they wouldn't be included in the sleazy immigrant category.
| by Anonymous | reply 53 | March 14, 2017 6:02 AM |
and i'm sure that every immigrant using the libraries are not trolling for pussy. (except for those following the president's example) those who's behavior warrants their being tossed out should be, regardless of their ethnicity or immigration status. and those who are there using the library for it's intended purpose, or just to be in a warm place, should be left alone and not harassed or insulted.
and since many of the nobel prize winning immigrants came here as children in families of modest means, they undoubted spent many hours in public libraries. they're nerds, that's what nerd's do
| by Anonymous | reply 54 | March 14, 2017 6:10 AM |
R34, we had a crazy homeless guy who used to hang out on the park bench across from our store. I would watch ambulances pick him up 4 or 5 times a month, he would get drunk and pass out in the street. I'm sure his insurance covered it.
| by Anonymous | reply 55 | March 14, 2017 6:14 AM |
[quote]OP, what the fuck are you talking about? I grew up in a mid-size Midwestern town in the 90s and the public library was always full of homeless people. Don't pretend this is a new phenomenon.
They were ruined by then. It started in the 80s.
| by Anonymous | reply 56 | March 14, 2017 1:20 PM |
Hate to bring this up since so many girls here are Islamapologists--but in the 2 wealthy 'burbs near me, ALL of the problems are caused by Msulim adults (loud, boorish, rude, major cunty attitude) or Muslim kids (rinse, repeat) and the girls are just as bad as they boys. Show 'em a rule and they break it. Most librarians or clerical staff are old/fat and not equipped mentally or physicaly to deal with the Muslim scum ruining libraries as well as everything else in the US. The kids all hang out after school, they bring in smelly food, drinks, they ae loud, the boys sit ingroups and laugh and look up porn. Adults have NO control over their crotchfruit; the weird women in their Halloween get ups roam around like they own the place. Sure not like the great immigrants who built this country, who had respect, cherished America, and prided themselves on being American. And fuckers/haters of America, DO NOT bring up the a-hole gold star folks, bought and paid for by their money/votes lovin' crooked H.
| by Anonymous | reply 57 | March 14, 2017 1:51 PM |
Really, and you know this because....?
| by Anonymous | reply 58 | March 14, 2017 2:44 PM |
Deplorable: "Why the fuck don't these people learn to speak english if they're going to live here?"
Depolorable: "Why are sleazy immigrants hanging out [in english classes] in our libraries?
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 59 | March 14, 2017 10:05 PM |
Where do you live in the United States that "Middle Eastern" immigrants are hanging out in their soiled clothes in libraries? I've lived all over the US and have never seen such a thing. The immigrants we get in the US are generally pretty educated because it's very difficult for them to immigrate here. Do you mean Somalian refugees or something?
What I do encounter much more frequently is geographically and culturally illiterate trash too stupid to distinguish among darker people, assuming everyone is Middle Eastern to justify their hatred.
| by Anonymous | reply 60 | March 14, 2017 10:47 PM |
you're not reading carefully r60. it seems the hobos are the ones in smelly clothes, the sleazy immigrants dress ok but they're in the libraries to grab pussy and watch porn
| by Anonymous | reply 61 | March 14, 2017 10:57 PM |
Our local library put in a separate area with a second bank of computers because of the public masturbators. It's right across from the childrens section and there's a sign telling parents not to leave their kids unaccompanied. Of course our library is run by imbeciles who would rather coddle the trash than call the cops on them. Apparently it's better for people to have to deal with chronic masturbators than see cops in a public space. But God forbid you bring a book back past due, they look at you like you're Hitler.
| by Anonymous | reply 62 | March 14, 2017 11:04 PM |
Doesn't your library have restrictions on websites that can be accessed?
Ours does.
| by Anonymous | reply 63 | March 14, 2017 11:13 PM |
When social services are cut and the mentally ill are pushed out on the street, the only place for them to go that is warm and allows them to be human and use a public restroom is the library, this is what you get.
I hate it for OP that his closest fucking coffee shop is soiled by the least of these. Of course, espresso is a goddamned human right these days.
Could I recommend suicide as a solution, you worthless piece of humanity?
| by Anonymous | reply 64 | March 14, 2017 11:17 PM |
It is incredible that these morons coddle these psychopathic creeps. To hell with the normal people, and the library itself.
In Vancouver they build this brand new library with a famous architect and lots of money....and they have dim lighting in the bathrooms to discourage the heroin addicts because they will not actually tell them to leave.
| by Anonymous | reply 65 | March 14, 2017 11:18 PM |
Fuck you, r64. Nobody wants to be around mentally ill crazies who jerk off in public and harass people. If you're so sensitive to their plight, invite them to live in your fucking house.
| by Anonymous | reply 66 | March 14, 2017 11:19 PM |
The issue is that there is nowhere for a lot of these guys to go. If they get put in jail for public masturbating, they'll be out and back at the library and hopping mad.
My town has the same issue with vagrants. the city council has meetings and people are seriously talking about buying some of these guys plane tickets back "to where they have a support system." Guys come to my town for work, or whatever, and end up homeless and addicted to drugs or booze or just down on their luck. Then they start hassling women and aggressively begging for money, stealing kids' bikes and playing instruments (POORLY) in exchange for money.
Approximately none of the men are from this state, or even country. And yes, they hang at the library and sleep (though it has "no sleeping" signs everywhere).
| by Anonymous | reply 67 | March 14, 2017 11:19 PM |
No, the city is showing contempt for it citizens. It does nothing about the homeless problem and allows them to ruin the library.
| by Anonymous | reply 68 | March 14, 2017 11:20 PM |
Call me insensitive, but if people are jerking off in the library and shooting heroin, I think they should be forced to leave. I know, that's a crazy idea, but I just think it would be in everyone else's best interests.
| by Anonymous | reply 69 | March 14, 2017 11:23 PM |
The point of libraries is to make sure information is provided to anyone who needs it. These days, that tends to mean the poor. Low income people use the library to get books and use computers because they can't afford to do it elsewhere. It's a public service. Yes, there are problems associated with it, but turning people away is not what libraries are about.
| by Anonymous | reply 70 | March 14, 2017 11:29 PM |
no one's disagreeing that people shooting up or masturbating should be booted, but the porn surfing sounds like bullshit to me. porn sites are easily blocked and most businesses and public do it [i know from personal experience] If libraries aren't blocking real porn they're incompetent. I'm sure however that in some communities, works of art, especially photography, would be deemed "porn" by religious zealots.
| by Anonymous | reply 71 | March 14, 2017 11:32 PM |
Fuck you back, R66, with a razor blade.
I'd rather pay a small bit of my property tax for people that have mental illnesses as a social safety net than have MORE than one half of my property taxes to educate the children of people that CHOOSE to have them. You want to have kids, fine, but fucking pay for them yourself. You don't choose to be mentally ill.
Also, we live in a glorious free-market economy so why don't you take your shitty coffe money elsewhere, you worthless piece of shit.
| by Anonymous | reply 72 | March 14, 2017 11:39 PM |
R71
Tumblr isn't blocked and it's 80% porn.
| by Anonymous | reply 73 | March 14, 2017 11:42 PM |
Fuck you right back r72. We don't need crazies intruding on public space. They should be kicked out of places where they're a nuisance and even dangerous.
And you're an idiot for not wanting your taxes to pay for kids. Even those of us who don't have kids need to have our tax money go to education and other programs as it's in everyone's best interests. Unless you want the US to end up like some third world shitbox.
| by Anonymous | reply 74 | March 14, 2017 11:47 PM |
This isn't about the poor, R70. It's about disruptive creeps and heroin users. They aren't looking for information.
| by Anonymous | reply 75 | March 15, 2017 12:05 AM |
[quote]I'd rather pay a small bit of my property tax for people that have mental illnesses as a social safety net
And they aren't doing that. There isn't a place for the mentally ill, the homeless, and drug addicts - your taxes are not paying for that. So they are letting them ruin a library. They are doing nothing for the people with problems and they are letting a place meant for knowledge be destroyed.
| by Anonymous | reply 76 | March 15, 2017 12:07 AM |
we're well on our way to becoming a third world shitbox and the trump/ryan budget along with the charter school scam will only accelerate the process,
mental illness strikes the rich and the poor. the rich have insurance to help deal with it, the poor do not, and what little they have is now being taken away.
yes a society needs to educated the children of all and even those who don't have kids need to pay. Likewise those who don't have mental illness in their families should support services for those who need them. A real First World country does not have ill people wandering the streets
| by Anonymous | reply 77 | March 15, 2017 12:09 AM |
The old system of state hospitals for nutters is never coming back. The budget would never be approved for such a thing, and taxpayers would be screaming. Jesus Christ, we can't even get health care for uninsured kids in this country, do you think people are going to want to pay for nuthouses? That's just the way this shitty country works sometimes.
| by Anonymous | reply 79 | March 15, 2017 12:12 AM |
Reagan has been out of office for almost 30 years. We have had Democratic Presidents and Congresses since then. At some point the fact that we have homeless shitting everywhere is no longer his fault.
| by Anonymous | reply 80 | March 15, 2017 12:19 AM |
when the horrible mental hospitals were closed they were supposed to be replaced with much smaller local residential and out-patient facilities. But since no one will pay the taxes to establish them, we just throw the ill people who are poor out on the streets, or put them in jail.
| by Anonymous | reply 81 | March 15, 2017 12:23 AM |
"The internet killed the library."
Actually, libraries are going strong. They aren't just places to house books; they provide a lot of services to their communities. For some people, it's the only way they can use a computer to submit job applications and do other work.
Yes, homeless people and other types hang out there. It's a public place. But if they're making a disturbance or causing any trouble security is called in. That's true lots of public places, not just libraries.
| by Anonymous | reply 82 | March 15, 2017 12:30 AM |
R82
It is called tragedy of the commons.
| by Anonymous | reply 83 | March 15, 2017 12:35 AM |
R82, the meek "security" guard at our library never confronts them, and to be honest, he doesn't seemed equipped to.
| by Anonymous | reply 84 | March 15, 2017 12:43 AM |
R10 is this on Long Island?
| by Anonymous | reply 85 | March 15, 2017 1:22 AM |
For R63: Many public libraries consider web filters as a violation of the First Amendment. Also, many filters that block porn also block websites that simply discuss human sexuality in clinical ways.
| by Anonymous | reply 86 | March 15, 2017 1:23 AM |
My library is basically a senior center during the day and a daycare for children at night. I rarely see people in their 20s or 30s at my library.
| by Anonymous | reply 87 | March 15, 2017 1:26 AM |
All the more reason why public masturbatiors shouldn't be allowed there. Some people use the library as a babysitter. Also, old people don't want to look at that and they have a right to be there too.
| by Anonymous | reply 88 | March 15, 2017 1:49 AM |
Got my Library Science degree in 82. Ended up in corporate library work (now called Knowlegde Management, etc) for the exact reasons listed in this thread. The crux of the matter is public libraries rely on PUBLIC funding. If they're not used by the public, their funding gets CUT. Do you use your public library? Do you know how many e-books you can download for free? Have you visited lately? DO IT so they have the stats to prove there're being used. Then they'll get more money for things like SECURITY GUARDS. And if you think immigrants are the problem, check out THE most utilized public library in the country, QUEENS NY public library. I read this and that they had materials in 34 LANGUAGES. I wanted to see for myself so I went there one afternoon on a Saturday and every single seat had a butt in it, studying quietly. Every table, every chair, every computer, every aisle had someone in it reading or working away. And not a silly-ass white guy in sight. Oh, and the mentally-ill are on the streets because they were confined to psychiatric houses AGAINST THEIR WILL. If you feel threatened in a public library, Do the librarians a favor, and CALL THE POLICE YOURSELF. Ask them to take the person to the hospital or to a shelter. The bottom line here is that public libraries are there as a FREE RESOURCE FOR YOU. SO FUCKING HELP THEM OUT BY SUPPORTING THEM.
| by Anonymous | reply 89 | March 15, 2017 2:02 AM |
Almost 25 years ago I worked at the public library in San Jose, CA. I don't like the way OP has stated his post, but he's kind of right, although it's not new. It was a problem then too. There was no coffee shop, but the mentally ill and the homeless had nowhere else to go but the library. I don't remember there being internet access (or at all, anywhere yet) but they would just hang around. It was sad. His comment about immigrants hitting on people is just dumb. Anyone can hit on someone.
| by Anonymous | reply 90 | March 15, 2017 2:22 AM |
The real problem in the libraries I have observed IS the fucking Muslims; whether they have money or not, they ALL are major assholes--hate US/women/gays/America/all good things in life. They are a mean, miserable people intent on RUINING our country/take over/have thousands of squalling disrepectful scum children who disobey ALL rules and will someday annihilate the US, UNLESS they are stopped. I have observed Muslim boys/teen boys gather in large crowds, laughing, talking, looking up porn, eating, disrespecting all non-Muslims, esp. women...and the teen/adolescent girls are just as bad AND LOUD. IF there are any Muslim adults, the women roam around like they own the place and NEVER discipline a child, especially a male one. The men are disgusting dirty pigs, roaming around just looking for shit to stir; they do NOTHING to discipline their children and if anyone DARE call them on it, they immediaitely scream, "It is because of what I am." NO, IT IS BECAUSE YOU ARE GUILTY OF ASSHOLISM (thank you, Divine.) AND I don't want shit back from the Muslim apologists on here--you are too stupid for words defending the people who hate you the most. You probably all love NY's stupid mayor who lets them live in enclaves where Christians and Jews and police are unwelcome and dare not venture AND who altered the NY schools' menus (no pork) re their demands.
| by Anonymous | reply 91 | March 15, 2017 2:32 AM |
R91, is this library in New York City?
| by Anonymous | reply 92 | March 15, 2017 2:55 AM |
yes the muslims are disgusting. now they're even taking over arlington cemetery
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 93 | March 15, 2017 2:56 AM |
r91 I'm friends with two doctors and several nurses, all of whom work in hospitals, and they've all told me exactly the same things you posted. Except such behavior is happening in the hospital and not the library.
| by Anonymous | reply 94 | March 15, 2017 3:10 AM |
R91 = crazy asshole with shit for brains
| by Anonymous | reply 95 | March 15, 2017 3:15 AM |
"Libraries have coffee shops now?"
University libraries have them. Apparently students would rather die than attend a university where the library didn't have a coffee shop.
| by Anonymous | reply 96 | March 15, 2017 3:17 AM |
For the love of all that is holy, won't someone please SHIT IN MY MOUTH??????
| by Anonymous | reply 97 | March 15, 2017 3:19 AM |
So OP doesn't know the definition of hobo. Perhaps he is also confused about about sleazy and immigrant?
| by Anonymous | reply 98 | March 15, 2017 3:22 AM |
I think the OP sounds racist but there's always been stories about what happens in libraries that the public doesn't see ( sex, porn, masturbation and yes the homeless sleeping in ) It's not a new issue. Librarians always have stories.
However the ones with obvious problems are probably more in the city. The suburban one I go to is always crowded so you have to really look for parking and is filled with regular people from kids to adults. It attracts a lot of people because you can take out anything from books, videos, dvds, video games to electronic books. The library I go to has a video game room, study rooms and movie nights and other activities. It also has a separate snack food/cafe/diner as well. So I don't have the OP's experience of going to an empty building .
| by Anonymous | reply 99 | March 15, 2017 3:34 AM |
R89
Your post is a perfect example of why libertarians are right.
Libraries are the Tragedy of the Commons on a micro scale.
Government doesn't need to organize knowledge- we all do it ourselves.
| by Anonymous | reply 100 | March 15, 2017 3:38 AM |
R89
[quote]...there as a FREE RESOURCE FOR YOU...
Nothing is free. Rich taxpayers provide the majority of the money that pays for it.
| by Anonymous | reply 101 | March 15, 2017 3:41 AM |
My library has this sign up.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 102 | March 15, 2017 4:01 AM |
OH MY GOD THE HUMANITY OF IT! THINK OF THE CHILDREN! There is a hobo in the library! DRAMA.
| by Anonymous | reply 103 | March 15, 2017 4:04 AM |
r103 I hope you get squirted in the face with hobo cum.
| by Anonymous | reply 104 | March 15, 2017 4:06 AM |
R95 R97 are retarded and islamopologists; toss them off a building now and do usall a favor. Crazed mental midgets, idjut liberals with a 2d grade tennessee education.
| by Anonymous | reply 105 | March 15, 2017 4:07 AM |
The vagrant/wino/bum/schizophrenic/etc phenom issue is huge in the public libraries in my giant Left Coast megalopolis. I could handle the smell, though it is vile. It is the behavioral problems, from shouting to having screaming mental freak-out episodes to menacing others with violence. I've seen a security guard put a person in a chokehold, and it technically was uncalled-for. I think the guard just snapped. Blackguard, mentally ill tantrum-thrower white guy. He hadn't attacked the guard, was just throwing shade after being told to move on or get off the computer or something. So technically it was out of line. But I understand how the guard felt.
I feel strongly that funding should be there for people to have a place to go for a plate of nutritious food, a shower, as clean cot to sleep on, and counseling/job training resources. But I also feel strongly that the few should not be permitted by PC policymakers, to RUIN public life and public resources for everyone else. It is infuriating. I HATE going to the library now. And it is my taxes that are paying for it.
| by Anonymous | reply 106 | March 15, 2017 5:03 AM |
taxes to pay for libraries but none to treat the mentally....we're #1
| by Anonymous | reply 107 | March 15, 2017 5:44 AM |
Well, there aren't enough BARNES & NOBLE stores around for them to loiter in all day. Where else should they go ?
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 108 | March 15, 2017 5:54 AM |
R60, Your words are so eloquent and you are clearly an upstanding SJW who doesn't have a racist bone in his body (oops, except for those trashy Somalian comments that is...) I am not sure what part of the country you are from or what "many" areas all over the US that you have lived, but you clearly don't frequent public libraries. I have lived in Florida, Ohio, Arkansas, Texas, California, New York, Missouri, Virginia, Arizona, and Nevada. I can honestly say that I do not frequent public libraries often, but when I do - there are a lot of down-on-their-luck (or just plain soiled and smelly) people who patron the establishments. They can always be found at the public computer stations. Immigrants, refugees and even "crackers" (as you would no doubt refer to them) are all there en masse. It is what it is and most of the above posts anecdotally support that. You crack me up - get a clue.
| by Anonymous | reply 109 | March 15, 2017 5:55 AM |
r76 THANK YOU
Libraries are repositories of knowledge, and should not be on the short end of moral hazard re: social issues.
I don't care about a person's immigration status, mental health issues, and/or socio-economic status if they are actually appropriately using library services (including respecting other patrons). If not, throw them out and ban them. Libraries are cash strapped as it is, and shouldn't have to spend limited budgets on security, social workers, and staff man hours for people who aren't even there to use them.
| by Anonymous | reply 110 | March 15, 2017 7:08 AM |
DID any of those HOBOs have juice boxes?
| by Anonymous | reply 111 | March 15, 2017 8:11 AM |
I'm cringing at R4. What an awkward and embarrassing post.
| by Anonymous | reply 112 | March 15, 2017 8:26 AM |
We need to find a place to send these people besides the library. Tax payers and knowledge seekers shouldn't have to be bothered by such people. I think they should reinstate the large mental hospitals. If these people can handle the streets they can handle a government facility.
What happened to those anti hobo laws?
| by Anonymous | reply 113 | March 15, 2017 8:40 AM |
[quote]Do you use your public library? Do you know how many e-books you can download for free? Have you visited lately?
Nope. No need. Haven't been to a library in over 20 years. I pay for internet access and to download books. It's worth every cent not to have to mingle with trash.
[quote]And not a silly-ass white guy in sight.
LOL. No, genius R89, you wont see us at the library for reasons already stated. But also because we're too busy working our "silly asses" off to pay the taxes that fund these human waste dumps.
| by Anonymous | reply 114 | March 15, 2017 8:48 AM |
[quote]. I have lived in Florida, Ohio, Arkansas, Texas, California, New York, Missouri, Virginia, Arizona, and Nevada.
R109, you know that constantly changing one's residence is a well recognized symptom of mental illness, don't you?
| by Anonymous | reply 115 | March 15, 2017 8:51 AM |
Not every immigrant is a genius or a saint. There are slimey douchebag immigrants just as there are slimey douchebag guys who were born here. My sister took her baby to the library and a sleazy immigrant (she didn't say from where) was hitting on her and making her uncomfortable. She hasn't been back since.
| by Anonymous | reply 116 | March 15, 2017 9:17 AM |
Public libraries are also where pedos cluster, because they aren't easily caught viewing kid pron (not their computer, so harder to trace), and there are kids at the library. I've heard more than a few stories of young kids being followed and "hit on" by men at the library.
Yes, you can limit what patrons view online, but there are always ways around it.
| by Anonymous | reply 117 | March 15, 2017 9:45 AM |
To get on line you must have a library card that allows you access.
If a person is online seeing porn why isn't that persons card simply cancelled.
Everyone has to agree once they log on not to look at inappropriate sites.
| by Anonymous | reply 118 | March 15, 2017 10:00 AM |
^ Another librarian here - most public access terminals are set up to automatically delete IP addresses and patron information in order to protect privacy and intellectual freedom (thank you, PATRIOT ACT). So surf away in your public library, you probably won't get caught.
| by Anonymous | reply 119 | March 15, 2017 11:36 AM |
I'm semi-SJW myself, but I also think that libraries should not permit these folks to stay around all day.
There should be a warming center with computer access where people can go for warmth, snacks, and PC access, and maybe a shower.
I want them to get help. It's not a matter of being inconvenienced. It's a matter of, let's make sure everyone's using the resources as they were designed.
| by Anonymous | reply 120 | March 15, 2017 2:36 PM |
The easy solution would be for libraries to act like most university libraries or gyms. Make people show their residency, pay for a library card and then have to show the card to get past security and get in the building. Homeless people aren't going to pay $50 to get into the library.
The BIG problem is that all the people running the libraries are so caught up in the "we must help everyone" mindset, that they are ruining the whole library concept. Make libraries nice and safe places to go and people will be more inclined to use those resources and pay those taxes.
Libraries are not daycare centers. They are not places where homeless people should congregate. It is not their responsibility to be the computer lab for people who don't have computers in this day and age. Libraries are being morphed into some public charity/social service organization.
| by Anonymous | reply 121 | March 15, 2017 3:11 PM |
It's too bad that the homeless shelters can't be open during the day, that would keep them out of libraries and other places.
| by Anonymous | reply 122 | March 15, 2017 3:18 PM |
I just don't understand how the fuck anyone (who is not homeless, obviously) cannot have a computer in this day and age.
| by Anonymous | reply 123 | March 15, 2017 3:19 PM |
I can understand if someone moved without too much money and they did not have one to bring with them, might want to/need to use a computer until they are working. Or sometimes the computers die and it is hard to immediately replace on a lower salary. They should be using them, not bums looking for porn.
And oldsters and kids trying to learn.
| by Anonymous | reply 124 | March 15, 2017 3:24 PM |
Of course you don't, r123. You're probably one of those people who texts and drives.
| by Anonymous | reply 125 | March 15, 2017 3:50 PM |
How many years has a computer been essential? How can anyone not have one in this day and age?
| by Anonymous | reply 126 | March 15, 2017 4:05 PM |
They force you to get computers and cellphones for work to apply, read work schedules, be on call etc etc.
| by Anonymous | reply 127 | March 15, 2017 4:11 PM |
For my class in local and state government I took last year, all I had to do was go to Google Books and get access to the information I needed. Without having to set foot in a public library. They have been attractive to the homeless in my hometown of Philadelphia of years now. Our main branch is in one of the most beautiful buildings in our city, but who wants to go there when a mentally unstable hobo is staring at you while he's eating a box of cereal?!?!
| by Anonymous | reply 128 | March 15, 2017 4:38 PM |
The city and the library is ruining the library as much as he is by letting him do that, R128.
Libraries aren't as crucial as in the old days now that computers are here, but they should still serve a purpose for citizens (not addicts or bums etc). And who knows, they could shut the internet down one day or make it heavily censored.
| by Anonymous | reply 129 | March 15, 2017 4:44 PM |
[quote]They have been attractive to the homeless in my hometown of Philadelphia of years now.
I had to do research at the Philadelphia library in 2004. There was no problem back then, certainly nothing I noticed. Everyone was very helpful and efficient. The facilities were great.
Sorry to hear the state of things as you describe.
| by Anonymous | reply 130 | March 15, 2017 4:51 PM |
R101, no, rich people make it a point to NOT pay taxes. Shut the fuck up. Libraries have been the cornerstone of education for the masses, past the public school phase. The poor finally had access to books. Assholes like you are the reason that libraries were formed. Go and fuck yourself.
| by Anonymous | reply 131 | March 15, 2017 4:53 PM |
I want to see R121 ask an urban parent to pony up 50.00. I also want to see R121 walk around the library and try to throw out the people he/she thinks is 'homeless' - I'm sure R121 can tell who's who. Let's let the assholes who want to marginalize and fuck over the mentally ill (because most of the homeless are, sadly) be the ones to do it. Fucking cowards. Pick on the homeless, poor kids and families by limiting access to libraries. Go to hell, the lot of you.
| by Anonymous | reply 132 | March 15, 2017 4:59 PM |
R132 Our libraries (a national treasure) should exist for their intended purpose.... not as way-stations for the homeless and mentally ill.
| by Anonymous | reply 133 | March 15, 2017 5:12 PM |
r132 who the fuck wants to be around mentally ill people in a public space? STFU.
| by Anonymous | reply 134 | March 15, 2017 5:14 PM |
I imagine OP as sounding like Paul Bland or Donald Dasher.
| by Anonymous | reply 135 | March 15, 2017 5:14 PM |
Agree with OP. The libraries in New York, and here in Mass. where I live now are all overrun with both African immigrants and homeless. I'm not sure I'd wanna run the homeless out, but they shouldn't be in the library just to hang out. But, this is where unhinged political correctness has brought us. Then again, libraries are notorious tea rooms for the non-out, cruisy queens who're still lurking around. They need to be run out also.
| by Anonymous | reply 137 | March 15, 2017 5:22 PM |
For the love of all that is holy won't someone PLEASE SHIT IN MY MOUTH??????
(homeless person a plus)
| by Anonymous | reply 138 | March 15, 2017 5:22 PM |
Some cities/towns will ban people who are nuisances in public libraries. My sister works at a library in a small town that does this. Years back, a group home for mentally challenged and mentally ill people were invited to do community outreach programs that were held at the library. Most people in that group were fine except for a couple of guys who kept making inappropriate comments to female staff members. The two guys were banned from the library and then in time the whole group home stopped going to the library. They have banned this with other homeless and non homeless men who are pervy.
| by Anonymous | reply 139 | March 15, 2017 5:46 PM |
Andrew Carnegie donated the money to ahve our library built & it is old but beautiful. It had become too expensive for the City to maintain so they formed a non profit to run it. It was going downhill but they reinvented it last year and it seems to be doing well. They are doing a lot of digital.
| by Anonymous | reply 140 | March 15, 2017 5:48 PM |
Do you live somewhere near Pittsburgh, R140?
| by Anonymous | reply 141 | March 15, 2017 6:00 PM |
I'm glad you were able to hold onto your library. I live in Pittsburgh, where the Carnegie Library is a wonderful institution.
| by Anonymous | reply 143 | March 15, 2017 6:05 PM |
r143 me too. I hate to see these things go under. I found this list of all the libraries he had built. Some have been torn down or made into other businesses.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 144 | March 15, 2017 6:12 PM |
R131 and R132 need to check their liberal privilege. No one is complaining about poor people using libraries. What we are saying is that they are a public resource, usually paid for by property taxes, which even rich evil Republicans have to pay.
They are libraries. Not homeless shelters. Not places to drop your kids off because you don't have day care. Letting them be overrun only means that people with money will stop using them...will start funding private libraries...will eventually balk at having to pay taxes for public libraries at all. How does that help your cause?
| by Anonymous | reply 145 | March 15, 2017 6:29 PM |
In order for libraries to survive, you need normal people using them for their intended purpose. Not scummy riffraff types.
| by Anonymous | reply 146 | March 15, 2017 7:02 PM |
R105 = maladjusted misfit cretin who is hated by one and all
| by Anonymous | reply 147 | March 15, 2017 7:22 PM |
Easy peasy solution - bring back the workhouse.
| by Anonymous | reply 148 | March 15, 2017 9:37 PM |
drat - with illustration!
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 149 | March 15, 2017 9:38 PM |
The Carnegie branch of the Vancouver library is famous for drugs, selling, using etc. You can shoot up right in front of it.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 150 | March 15, 2017 9:45 PM |
[quote]There should be a warming center with computer access where people can go for warmth, snacks, and PC access, and maybe a shower.
What? No cozy slippers, comfort animals, soft music and hot cocoa?
Will YOU be funding this coddling "program" R120?
| by Anonymous | reply 151 | March 16, 2017 12:17 AM |
Why, girlfriend, yall know them there SJWs who think everythin's free are gonna march and whine and moan that the nasty Republicans refuse to pay for coloring books for the dearest muslims and that IF Nobama was here, why he and giant "woman" would make sure ALL the Muslims had their every need met, and the damn 'Publicans would pay for it too, so there! After all, we all is a nation of immigrants and they have built this nation with their refusal to assimilate, their convenience stores, their religion which believes in sex with minors and killin' them there queers and keepin' their wimmen livin' like it is 1699. Sure, honey, Hilary and DiBlasio loves them some gays (ahem) but even more they luvs them some Muslims.
| by Anonymous | reply 152 | March 16, 2017 2:49 AM |
Another librarian here.
I work for a medium size suburban library system. We have everything from very busy branches in wealthy areas to small branches in little poor towns. We have started to have more homeless people, but not to the degree of a larger system. Of course, we have some old lady staff members who want to kick them out once they realize they are homeless, but unless they are disruptive, we don't do that. I've had to kick one young guy out because he was panhandling patrons inside the library, and he'd been warned before. Another older quiet homeless guy smelled really bad and patrons were complaining, so I had a local clergy person come in and take him to get cleaned up and into a shelter. Of course, it's easier with such small numbers..I am sure it's a pain in big cities.
Another thing we are seeing...our attendance for non-English speaking programs has been dropping. Apparently, they are scared ICE is going to show up and round them up.
Any library who is just trying to be about books and Internet access is doomed to fail (even though those things are still important). We are focusing on outreach and innovative programming. Just today, I went with some coworkers to a rural barbershop where we are giving away books to kids while they get their hair done. Then I went to another branch that had over 50 people attending a program where they learned to make something.
We are still having a problem reaching the people in their 20s and 30s, but we've had some luck with doing trivia nights at bars, and concerts on the lawn. Most patrons that age just use our online resources--music, movies, eBooks, audiobooks, comics, continuing education classes--but we still get to count those stats to secure funding.
Libraries are NOT dead yet.
| by Anonymous | reply 153 | March 16, 2017 3:49 AM |
We had a library but we converted it into a gift wrapping room like the Spellings had.
| by Anonymous | reply 154 | March 16, 2017 4:23 AM |
[quote]The Carnegie branch of the Vancouver library is famous for drugs, selling, using etc. You can shoot up right in front of it.
That's about the location -- smack in the middle of Canada's worst skid row -- more than the library.
| by Anonymous | reply 155 | March 21, 2017 9:16 PM |
Well, the library has been dragged into, R155
| by Anonymous | reply 156 | March 21, 2017 9:18 PM |
Goddamn it, some of you people are so dense.
When all social services are cut for the mentally ill and they are pushed out on the streets, like any other animal, which humans indeed are, they seek out safe, warm places, no matter the social appropriateness.
You can pay one way or the other. This maxim holds true when it comes to education and incarceration, as well. Unfortunately, it seems like the low-class, majority of this country doesn't realize that.
My wish for these trash is they end up like the people they look down on. In this political climate, it will probably happen sooner than they think.
| by Anonymous | reply 157 | March 21, 2017 11:04 PM |
r157 you have a point but on the other hand, mentally ill drug addicts should not be given free reign in public spaces.
| by Anonymous | reply 158 | March 22, 2017 12:14 AM |
Yes, Tony at R157 like to be self-righteous, but he really can't tell the difference between poor people , and drug addicts and public masturbators. They are not all the same, "Tony."
| by Anonymous | reply 159 | March 22, 2017 12:33 AM |
R157 I agree entirely, Tony. We need to provide adequate funding for mental health treatment.
| by Anonymous | reply 160 | May 2, 2017 2:55 AM |
"Hobos"?
Were you born in the year 1927, OP?
| by Anonymous | reply 161 | May 2, 2017 3:02 AM |
[quote]I also want to see [R121] walk around the library and try to throw out the people he/she thinks is 'homeless' - I'm sure [R121] can tell who's who.
It's quite easy, actually.
| by Anonymous | reply 162 | May 2, 2017 3:02 AM |
New? They've BEEN doing this. My entire adolescence was marred by my concern of being raped in the bathroom at the Main Libray in SF.
| by Anonymous | reply 163 | May 2, 2017 3:11 AM |
So I see this thread has devolved into what is was going to devolve to: a huge fucking rant against the most vulnerable in our society, and Muslims.
The day we have no public libraries, is the day our country is truly finished. Do any of you assholes realize this?
| by Anonymous | reply 164 | May 2, 2017 12:53 PM |
Public libraries are important and their importance is not being respected when there is a huge presence of addicts, masturbators and the aggressively mentally ill. If the people who want to read and cannot read and do research in peace, then libraries have been destroyed, and the public will not care if the funding is finally pulled out on them. There is more than one way to destroy a library.
I think there should be places for addicts and the mentally ill to get help, but is should not involve destroying the library for others.
| by Anonymous | reply 165 | May 2, 2017 1:27 PM |
Well, R165, I agree. However, we HAD a place for them, and now we do not. We're definitely not getting any type of centralized or federally funded treatment for them under this administration. So we can bitch about it all we want, however, it is clear that no one is coming to anyone's rescue.
| by Anonymous | reply 166 | May 2, 2017 2:06 PM |
Posters up thread wondered why some people would use a computer at the library. Newsflash: not everyone is able to afford one. As for the homeless, just how do you think they would be able to afford and maintain a computerized anything?
Also, I wonder if any one of the posters here have ever been homeless.
| by Anonymous | reply 167 | May 2, 2017 3:00 PM |
People still go to the library?
| by Anonymous | reply 168 | May 2, 2017 3:15 PM |
[quote]The day we have no public libraries, is the day our country is truly finished. Do any of you assholes realize this?
Dial back the drama, Felicia. We have evolved beyond public libraries. They are a quaint relic of the past. Information and education has never been more freely available to all via the internet.
As someone already stated up thread, the only purpose public libraries serve now is as homeless shelters.
| by Anonymous | reply 169 | May 2, 2017 4:08 PM |
R169, so what happens to really bright kids that need a place to actually study after school? I grew up with a mentally ill mother, and her being mentally ill is probably THE best thing I can say about her. She was, and remains, an evil bitch, who lives to make everyone miserable. So even though I was going home to a house in a very good neighborhood, food, etc., I absolutely needed a place to go to be away from her. The library actually saved my life in many ways. The biggest thing it offered, however, was a place where I could study and read, within a peaceful environment. I really needed a place like that, and I am not sure what would have happened to me, had I not had a library to go to.
It wasn't just a place to learn, it was a respite from ongoing emotional and physical abuse. I'm not trying to tug at anyone's heart strings here, but I do wonder what would have happened to me had I not had some of the most terrific people whom I have ever met, as my teachers, and those wonderful librarians who took me under their wings.
I cannot be the only one who wasn't homeless, but made the library their home away from home.
| by Anonymous | reply 170 | May 2, 2017 4:37 PM |
Our local branch in a very wealthy Manhattan neighborhood has been overrun with smelly and scary men. One day during the winter, I went in to return a book and the place was empty except for one man in rags who was asleep on a chair. For a 30-foot radius (which was most of the first floor), the smell was unbearable. There was a cluster of elderly people at the very opposite end of the first floor who had migrated to the furthest point from him. They were sitting on the hard chairs at desks because this smelly man had contaminated the area with the soft upholstered chairs.
I returned my books and got the fuck out as quickly as possible, covering my face with my scarf. Jesus god, the stench was awful.
It's not fair that the elderly patrons -- and the poor librarians!! - were subjected to it.
He was snoring like a freight train, too.
| by Anonymous | reply 171 | May 2, 2017 5:05 PM |
Fortunately our branch has the children's room upstairs and a sign that says only children and their caregivers allowed up there. There's also a security guard posted at the stairs to enforce it.
Doesn't help the elderlies who are forced to smell and deal with the smelly homeless, though.
And the bathroom.
| by Anonymous | reply 172 | May 2, 2017 5:19 PM |
R171, do you drive, or have a driver? Because things aren't much better on the subways, or busses. I was on my way home one evening in the dead of winter, when a homeless man decided to take a shit right in the middle of the bus. It was HORRIBLE, & it was FREEZING! The bus driver said not one word, and just took the scarf that she was already wearing, and covered he nose and mouth with it. Of course, we all had to get off the bus ASAP, because the homeless gentleman wasn't going anywhere. Many sleep inside the busses and subways, and some have no problem with relieving themselves in there as well.
Yes, America. We have a fucking problem. We elect people into office who refuse to help those in dire need with our tax dollars, and instead deregulate the fuck out of the EPA, or blow millions upon millions by blowing up missiles in Syria, and then claim that we must fund the MIC even more, and give the 1% even bigger tax breaks.
We only have a social problem, because we fundamentally have a moral problem.
| by Anonymous | reply 173 | May 2, 2017 5:31 PM |
I wonder what the hobos and sleazy immigrants are doing during covid.
| by Anonymous | reply 175 | November 28, 2020 8:37 PM |
Call AOC to complain and see where that gets you. She has a plan you know.
| by Anonymous | reply 177 | November 28, 2020 8:45 PM |
The immigrant comment may be a little harsh, don't you think? For example, just look at the First Whore, who immigrated to the US on a Genius Visa. She is a renowned internationally acclaimed architect, and fluently speaks five languages! You don't see her sitting anywhere near books (unless there are crayons involved).
| by Anonymous | reply 178 | November 28, 2020 9:17 PM |
Mark my words after Trump leaves the White House Vairst lady will be found hanging out at the library trying to find another rich husband.
| by Anonymous | reply 179 | November 28, 2020 9:21 PM |
"Hobos" have been hanging out in libraries for decades. I remember them having to lock the bathroom doors at the Santa Monica Public Library way back in the 70s, because they'd go in there to wash up and shave. And over in Hollywood, LAPL took the doors off the stalls in the men's room, not just because of the drug addicts, but the homeless would just sit in there. That was early late 70s. And in WeHo, they had (have) a large Russian (Orthodox) immigrant population, so the library had all kinds of material for them in a special area. The old folks would come in and just sit (and yak) for hours. I'm not saying they were sleazy, but some of them could have showered more often, definitely.
| by Anonymous | reply 181 | November 28, 2020 10:31 PM |
My local library seems to be a place where parents relax and read for a couple of hours while their children run around in circles, shrieking.
Before everyone had a smartphone, libraries used to attract pervs who hogged the computers all day long, using them to access the Internet free of charge.
| by Anonymous | reply 182 | November 28, 2020 11:40 PM |
