Starting, Supporting, and Sustaining a Homeless Advisory
Group – Minneapolis Central Library, Minnesota Library Association conference
October 11, 2018
In 2017 the staff at Minneapolis Central Library brought
together a homeless advisory group to inform library staff and administration
of the needs and issues pertinent to this particular population.
How did it come about?
In 2013 the library began a “Coffee and Conversations”
program modeled on the Dallas Public Library’s program with the same name led by senior
librarian Dillon Young and associate librarian Chris Ruiz.
Once a week they serve coffee in the library atrium before
the doors to the main library open, and have some sort of interactive
conversation starter. Some are very low-cost, such as a large sheet of paper
with a timeline for visitors to fill in with important milestones in their
lives. Others require funding, such as therapy animal visits and Springboard
for the Arts Ready Go presenters.
This program was popular and led to other adult programs
that serve the homeless community (among others)– Monday chess club and craft
club.
In 2015 the library hired a social worker, Kate Coleman.
Previously St. Stephen’s provided office hours, but this was an expansion of
that program. Because Kate works for the county she is able to directly connect
patrons experiencing homelessness to benefits and housing resources.
Advisory Board
In 2017 the Arc Minnesota
gave the library a micro-grant for Kate Coleman, Dillon Young, and Chris Ruiz
to start the advisory board. They use the funds to serve lunch, and give gift
cards and bus tokens to every board member at each meeting
.
Structure
Initially library staff invited patrons to join the board,
but eventually they began an application process. Some patrons will transition
out of homelessness during the course of their term. The application asks about
people’s experience with homelessness within the last year and whether they
come to the library regularly.
The board meets every other week and staff members are there
to facilitate discussion, not to make decisions or vote on ideas.
What Helps
Staff members say a strong agenda helps keep meetings
focused. Each meeting the group discusses issues in 4 areas: resources,
programming, security, and hours and accessibility. Much of the discussions
have centered on relationships between patrons and security officers.
Once the staff invited the head of security to show the
group that security cameras did not allow officers to see inside of bathroom
stalls, which was reassuring to the group.
Successes and Next Steps
The board has suggested ideas and seen them implemented.
The library opens at noon on Sundays, and the board
complained that there was nowhere else for them to be downtown in the morning
and no public restrooms. They asked staff to open the atrium earlier, and now
the atrium opens at 9. This required 1 staff member to give up off-desk time
each week, security was already in the building.
Coffee, games, crafts, and movie screenings have also been
added to the commons (a room outside of the library off the atrium).
The group hopes to develop a Homeless 101 class for
new patrons experiencing homelessness that will help them learn the rules of
the road.
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