McMinnville Public Library provides not only books, but basic amenities creating a space for respite
Philip Elliott used to be a resident manager for a nonprofit shelter provider. That was before the organization laid him off in 2020, and he became unsheltered himself.
Now he waits for the automatic sprinklers to begin watering the grass in public parks so he can fill his water bottle.
There are days when they provide his only source of fresh water. Restaurants and other businesses rarely want to provide free water to a man living on the streets, he said, or offer him the use of a toilet. They just shoo him away.
The public library is an exception.
When libraries open their doors, Elliott said, they generally open their arms. They allow people — all people — to fill water bottles and use toilets. He spends most of his days in McMinnville, where the library hours vary. It’s closed on Mondays.
The open hours are a godsend, Elliott said.
"All the staff members in this library are super humans — very tolerant," he told Street Roots. "This is a bastion of sanity."
As homeless residents find fewer and fewer places to welcome them — or even tolerate them — libraries are one of the few remaining truly public spaces.
"The library as a free space for everyone is the intentional backbone of a philosophy of public service that the library promotes and plans for and supports," Katie O'Dell, Multnomah County Library's capital bond program deputy director, said.
Courtney Terry, McMinnville Public Library adult services supervisor, told Street Roots many libraries embrace their role in offering not just books but also basic amenities to their communities' homeless residents.
"There are so many people who come in who are vulnerable, and a librarian — this stranger basically — treats them with respect and kindness," Terry said. "It costs me nothing to be kind, yet it makes such a difference in people's lives."
Not everyone believes public libraries are truly for everyone, O'Dell said, and they don't like the idea of being faced with people experiencing homelessness and poverty.
"The library is a free space where all are welcome, and that may not be what every patron thinks or feels, especially with their own comfort level," O’Dell said. "Still, one of the most beautiful and affirming things for the library is being a place where people do want to gather, and they can interact and learn from each other."
Few other places offer people so much as a toilet, Elliott said.
"I sometimes go to the Health and Human Services Building, but there are no others," he said. "You can't go to the Civic Center or any of the other government buildings. There's nothing. The only other ones you can use during the day are in the parks — which are far away even when they're not closed.
“So if you're down here, and you have to go the bathroom and the library's closed, you have to go in the woods."
McMinnville's parks have portable toilets ... when they're not padlocked because of vandalism.
A man who gave his name only as John told Street Roots that public toilets may not seem like a big deal unless you're a person who must often go days without one.
"Not having a place to go number two is a big deal," John said. "With number one, you can kind of sneak off and go, but number two is a big deal. It's not good to hold it."
Like Elliott, John said he appreciates the McMinnville library.
"It was a very welcoming feeling coming in there," John said. "The music is nice. It's soothing. Walking through these doors, everyone was very helpful. I used the bathroom. No one said anything except ‘thank you.’"
Librarians are not so friendly in other communities, he added.
He recalled having a cluster headache a few weeks ago. He gets them frequently.
"I was having one in a library, and I just needed some time," he said. "It was about 20 minutes later that the police showed up."
They hauled him out of the building because a staff member saw him and thought he was sleeping, John said.
"Some libraries have a firm policy against sleeping in the library, especially for the houseless," he said. "One library has a nice warm fireplace, and people aren't allowed to sleep there even if it's 41 degrees outside and raining,"
Such libraries are not uncommon, he added.
"There are a lot of libraries that are like that, far more than ones that are like this one in McMinnville," he said.
Laura Kimberly, Newport Public Library director and community engagement director, would invite him to visit her library on the Oregon Coast. Kimberly told Street Roots it has evolved far beyond a place to find books.
"The library here is considered Newport's living room, which is very true," Kimberly said. "A lot happens here. It was even more evident how much people relied on us when COVID shut everything down, how much they relied on us for all kinds of different things. When we reopened, it gave us an opportunity to reset on certain things and see where there were bigger needs."
Newport librarians started a food pantry in February 2023 through a grant from Oregon Humanities. In addition to offering food, the program enables people to share recipes and knowledge related to food.
Kimberly said the library started a seed library last April with the help of the Lincoln County Master Gardeners so people can learn how to grow their own food. Librarians also developed a garden space in a patio area on the ground floor.
People using the restrooms in the Newport library can obtain hygiene pads, tampons, shampoo, conditioner and other basic items.
"People can take what they need," Kimberly said. "We also hand out naloxone and Narcan, especially with what's been going on with the fentanyl situation. People just need to let us know they're interested in getting Narcan or naloxone … We try to keep it barrier-free."
Newport librarians gained such a reputation for reducing barriers they were invited to give a presentation on their efforts at the Oregon Library Conference.
Kimberly said she and her staff simply accept the library often represents the only place people can turn for water, toilets, computers and a whole range of things more privileged people take for granted.
"People rely on us for all sorts of things — for entertainment, for social connections, even food," she said. "We feed a lot of people with our food pantry. People are struggling every day. We see that."
Librarians must respond to the needs of the 21st century, she added.
"Libraries have definitely had to reinvent themselves," she said. "We see a need in the community, and we try to address that."
Sarah Frost is the public library director in Willamina, a community of about 2,240 people some 55 miles southwest of Portland. Her small library started a food pantry and offers basic hygiene products.
"We're small but mighty, and we make it work," Frost told Street Roots. "Libraries are there to meet the needs of the community, and as the needs shift, libraries shift. We can't say yes to everything, but we do our best."
She helps people with specific needs connect with services. "Libraries are the ones who see the needs first because of the people who are coming in to use the library," said Frost. "This is a space that connects with people."
Her community has been extremely supportive of the library's efforts, she said. It helps that she knows so many people in town. It also helps her deal with any minor blowback, she added.
"As a rural librarian, I'm uniquely positioned not to have those challenges — knock on wood," said Frost, who once served as Willamina's interim city manager. "I also have really good relationships with all of our community organizations. I go to the Chamber of Commerce meetings. People have seen us as more than a library since the beginning. They see us as a resource center and community hub."
Terry said the shift in many libraries has been nothing short of seismic.
"For a long time, it was a sort of metaphorical shelter," Terry said. "It was like, 'Come to the library and find things you're interested in.' Now we're seeing more and more people who just come in and spend significant amounts of time in the library."
Often, she said, they seek basic shelter.
"In McMinnville, because there are few daytime shelters, the library has become a shelter in some ways," Terry said. "I want to be really careful how I say that because I don't want people to get the idea that it looks like the intake line at Ellis Island. You come to the library on any given afternoon, and you'll find people doing the quiet things they've always done — reading and sitting and using the computer."
A major change can be seen in the personal connections librarians make.
"There have been a few different people over the years who come to the library," Terry said. "They don't have housing. They come to the library every day. They're spending time here. They're using the library. They're using the computers. And staff gets to know them because they're regulars. We've been able to help connect people to services.
"Some libraries employ social workers in the library, and we just don't have the capacity to do that. I think that's wonderful. In lieu of that, we do a sort of triage. We help where we can."
Many librarians also adjusted the way they deal with people exhibiting problematic behavior, Terry said.
"A big change over the past two years is that we've all become more educated about trauma," she said. "We've learned a lot more about how to be empathetic while also having clear boundaries as to what behaviors are acceptable. We've shifted from thinking 'that's a homeless person problem' to dealing with the individual behavior that needs to change."
It's not a hard concept to grasp, she added.
"Part of it is just treating people as human beings," she said. "It's just that basic dignity and respect. It really makes a difference when you approach someone in a friendly way."
Terry said being friendly is often much more effective than playing the heavy.
"It's not coming in with this punitive attitude," she said. "It's seeing what is going on and seeing what we can change so people can keep using the library, and we don't have to keep talking to them about their behavior."
Sometimes people's behavior isn't truly disruptive. A visitor to the McMinnville library a few weeks ago was dancing at the computer while watching YouTube videos, Terry recalled. Another visitor was disturbed. Terry looked at the dancer and smiled, then looked at the other person and smiled.
That little bit of eye contact let them both know there was nothing bad happening, she said. She likened her role in the situation to being a flight attendant.
"If there's turbulence, you look at the flight attendants," Terry said. "If the flight attendants are calm and doing business as usual, you know the plane is fine and nothing is going on. If dancing at the computer makes someone else uncomfortable, it's not really a disruption."
Multnomah County voters approved a $387 million capital bond in 2020 to build and transform library buildings across the county.
Many of the county’s capital improvements focus on making its 19 libraries more welcoming to historically marginalized people, O'Dell said.
"Libraries all over the country are working on this, working on that goal of helping all people use the library successfully and figure out what they need to use the library," she said. "It's not about how we manage folks with problematic behavior, but how do we create spaces, situations, words, environments that are supportive even before you walk in the door?"
That means opening things up, she added.
"We're all too close to one another — teeny, tiny libraries with an overwhelming amount of computer use, materials movement and programming," O’Dell said. "It meant a lot of elbows were rubbing together, and that's not what our communities need."
This is especially true of people who have experienced trauma.
"How they operate and work in a building is really different from those who haven't (experienced significant trauma), so we don't want to create temples of learning or palaces that take your breath away," O'Dell said. "Our central library is so beautiful, but it might not have been the most welcoming to folks prior to our renovation."
The renovation spreads seats and work areas farther apart, and designers added more windows so people can look outside while being soothed by gentle and supportive colors inside.
"It's really about an environment you can breathe in," O'Dell said.
And park your posterior in as well.
"We really only had two kinds of chairs in our libraries," she said. "There were not a lot of choices people could make. Now when you come into the library, instead of sitting down in a hard chair where you're elbow-to-elbow with other people, you can sit in an armchair and sit at a window and look out at the trees."
For those heeding nature's other call, the central branch on Southwest 10th Avenue has more restrooms. After being closed for renovations, the central library reopened last winter.
"There has been a really concerted, intentional effort to get these projects done fast," O’Dell said. “It has meant multiple closures, which has affected how people use our libraries. But we're getting through it. We have an eight-year bond, and we'll have the work completed in five years."
Some people say the internet made libraries quaint to the point of obsolescence, O'Dell said.
"That definitely comes from people who have privilege and access to information, to purchasing," she said. "There are so many people in our community who do not have access to Wi-Fi, who don't have a book budget to go and buy books, who really benefit from these shared resources."
The changes of libraries' roles in society cannot be overstated, O'Dell said.
"That's such a game changer, even in the past five years, of who is allowed to have space — and even who is allowed to experience beauty and design in architecture," she said. "And that is one of the roles of the public library, where everyone can come and have access to the same material and now also access to beautiful buildings with light and great air circulation and interact with other folks. Or not. That's OK, too.
"There's no one way to be in a library. We're trying to make sure we can manage and support our buildings and our services in ways that make them the most accessible."
Terry said it can be a daunting task.
"There are moments I still get frustrated because there are just not enough resources to help people," she said. "As a librarian, I want to help people get access. It doesn't matter who those people are or what their information needs are."
Elliott said he is glad there is one place left in society where all people can turn.
"There's really no other option, so you go to the library,” Elliot said. “The people who run this place are angels. They support all of us the best they can."
Street Roots is an award-winning weekly investigative publication covering economic, environmental and social inequity. The newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Street Roots newspaper operates independently of Street Roots advocacy and is a part of the Street Roots organization. Learn more about Street Roots. Support your community newspaper by making a one-time or recurring gift today.
© 2024 Street Roots. All rights reserved. | To request permission to reuse content, email editor@streetroots.org or call 503-228-5657, ext. 40