r/Library • u/Lex_yeon • 6d ago
Discussion Homeless people are ruining libraries
Can we talk about what’s actually happening? Or should we keep pretending the problem is not there?
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Some(most) of them smell very bad, like they haven’t taken a shower for months.
It’s the armpit smell, pee smell, and cigarette smell.
Finding a place to take a shower is that hard?
Or is it just the side effect of drugs, they don’t care anymore. They don’t care about themselves, they don’t care about others. All they want is another hit of cheap drug?
With that smell, no one can sit near them. Librarians can’t refuse them, but have to wear respirators.
I saw in one case, the librarian had to wipe the desk and chair, and air refresher the area.
Another case in the bathroom, someone didn’t shit in the bowl, but have shit on the edge of the bowl, which can’t be flushed. They don’t clean their own mess, no one could use that shitter until poor worker have to clean the toilet. Usually it’s a small latino woman do the cleaning in a library, doing the dirty job locals don’t want to do.
They also trash the place where they sleep, I have two (parking) spots looks like a trash dump after some homeless moved in. And in the trashes, guaranteed to find some small needles with an orange cap on it.