So are the teenagers that hang out in libraries after school as equally vile to you as immigrants and homeless people?Originally Posted by iris lilies
So are the teenagers that hang out in libraries after school as equally vile to you as immigrants and homeless people?
You are using the word “vile “I am not.
Teens who have a home to go to are a different population from street people.
JP, these issues aren’t as cut and dry as you make them appear. Librarians didn’t go to college to be social workers. However, they are doing the best they can to accommodate challenging populations. Homeless people aren’t a homogeneous group and have a variety of issues. Not the least of that they can stink something awful for obvious reasons or act out due to mental illness.
Another person on Mr MM was recently at the border and didn’t see the long lines of people waiting to get in as portrayed by the media. Also the media is not above using old footage to sway public opinion. Being retired for 11 years I am not familiar with any unique challenges that immigrants might bring except for the obvious language barrier and ptsd from trauma. I used to take my toddlers to story hour at the library and with libraries now in affect being a daytime shelter I am sure this has negatively impacted on those experiences.
IL was merely mentioning some of the issues for libraries from her experiences. I have spent my career in social services and have a lot of empathy for people. However, you can’t deny that the issues are complicated and there’s not one right solution.
Instead of letting in every person that wants to emigrate a better solution is to spend the money to help stabilize their countries. Also we have done the opposite with our meddling in other countries business that has actually led to destabilization.
I understand that IL is just presenting her perspective based on her experience. But her experience is mainly with homeless people. Not with immigrants. Which is the point that I keep pounding on. They both may not have a place to go during the day and wind up at the library, but I suspect the similarities mostly end there. One group is made up largely of people with MI and/or addiction problems and the other mostly isn't. Sure, the immigrant group may cause some issues for library staff who want to provide a quiet, serious place for people who want to read or study, but that is probably more out of boredom, not antisocial behavior, and the immigrant at libraries issue is probably more closely aligned with the issues that after school teens are likely to cause at a library, hence my reason for mentioning them.
I agree that there's not one right solution for immigration. And that with our polarized politics we aren't likely to reach any solution. But given the general shortage of employees we seem to have (unemployment is at a major lowpoint currently. And how many different threads have we had here about stores and restaurants with truncated hours because of lack of staffing?) I suspect that a rational plan to let in a somewhat larger amount of immigrants with permission to work would probably be a win all the way around. Stores and restaurants would be open longer because they could find enough staff. Libraries wouldn't have idle, bored immigrants who don't have working papers sitting around with nothing to do. Social security and medicare would be getting more revenue into their trusts to pay for today's old people's pensions and healthcare. I struggle to see a major downside.
In my limited library experience, teenagers were more of a problem than either the homeless (occasional visitors) or immigrants (I might have encountered one once; I helped a non-English speaker find a Spanish/English dictionary). I imagine it's a little different now, even in my neck of the woods. But I bet teenagers are still a PITA.
Nice to hear from you teen hating people.
My library, and every library I know, is set up to serve teenagers, to encourage them to come into the library, to participate in programs and services by library staff who recognize them and welcome them. Especially in our St.Louis rougher neighborhoods we want the library to be a haven for teens after school.
Sorry, but I don't want MY lirrrary turned into a teen hangout, where they talk and have sex and just generally disrupt the atmosphere of the place. Having an anything-goes policy is NOT the way to gain patrons of a lirarary. Nope. Hope thatt helpps you some. Thank mee.
My librarian was just telling me about her group of teens. She's trying to get a grant to provide snacks for them in the "quiet room". They were hanging out in the bathroom and she told them they could chat in the "quiet room". I'm planning to see if I can donate money for the snacks. It's a small town and a wonderful library and librarian who is becoming burned out....
I wonder if there are programs and services that libraries could put together that would be considered useful for immigrants? If they are going to be hanging out there anyway it would be great if their time could be used productively on stuff like job and housing search assistance, ESL classes and resources, etc.
I don't recall this in our previous city, but here they bring van loads of "mentally challenged" people to the library. They mostly just wander about or sit in chairs so I guess its about getting them out into the public. We also see large groups of the same brought to local thrift stores.
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