The Chicago Public Library and the Homeless

Originally published in 2007.

Tom Knoska steps out of the Pacific Garden Mission on State Street on a hot and windy June day holding a plastic CVS pharmacy bag and headed nowhere in particular. He walks with a cane and with each step his right leg sticks out slightly awkwardly. His white t-shirt and jeans are spotless and his hair and beard are neatly trimmed.

Tom Knoska

“I had a stroke in ’97 and couldn’t get insurance. The money ran out and that’s basically what happened. I’ve been here off and on since 2003”, he said.

After the stroke, Tom spent weeks in the hospital and lived in a nursing home causing his medical bills to soar. He went through an inheritance left to him by his mother after her death in 1995 and later sold his home because he could not afford to pay the property taxes. He eventually ended up homeless.

“Well, it’s [Pacific Garden Mission] open 24 hours. It’s free room and board and the food is ok. I ain’t got no points with the food. There’s no reason for anyone to stay hungry in the city of Chicago. They’ll take anybody. Doesn’t matter who they are or what they did,” he said.

The Harold Washington Library Center sits on the corner of Congress and State one block north of Pacific Garden Mission. Tom goes there frequently.

“I go there all year but I read like crazy anyway. I’ve been of the opinion that if I couldn’t read I would have shot myself a long time ago. Of course, I don’t mean that seriously, but I don’t know what else I would do,” he said.

Tom admittedly reads a little of everything occasionally picking up biographies, mysteries and historical texts in addition daily newspapers. He has a library card and says that he goes through about 4 or 5 books a week. Although he has never had any problems dealing with library staff or anyone who uses the library, some other homeless men have had different experiences.

“Security has problems with some of the guys. Some of the guys don’t know how to act. They tear up the bathrooms, bother the women. You know, there’s always that element. I don’t think they are treated badly per se. They have problems with those guys but security is always on it,” he said.

Demetris works in the loop and normally uses the North Austin branch library in her neighborhood but has recently begun using the internet at HWLC. She has concerns about the homeless using the library. “The thing is that I’m asthmatic. I’m sensitive to odors. Although I really don’t want them here I can’t deny them a place to go. It sounds bad to say but maybe they should have a separate place for them inside,” she said.

“Homelessness is a broad term. Are they medicated schizophrenics?” , asked Micki who works downtown and was visiting the library for a meeting. “I think that the same rules would have to apply to the homeless as to the homed. If they have good hygiene and they are quiet then fine. If I get to then so do they as long as they follow the rules of quiet and courtesy,” she said.

Maggie Killackey Jurgensen, Press Secretary for the Chicago Public Library, says that since its inception the Chicago Public Library has been a community center and a place where people could come to read the paper and get information. She says that library staff is trained to give good customer service which includes how to deal with difficult patrons and that the job of library security is to quiet children, give direction and ensure that the library is safe and comfortable.

“Guidelines Governing use of the Library” posted on the CPL website asks patrons not to engage in a variety of activities including bringing animals that are not guide dogs and loitering to entering the library if hygiene has been neglected because it “constitutes a nuisance to other patrons”. Patrons who do not follow the guidelines will be asked to leave the facility or may be arrested.

“Our guidelines apply to all patrons. We are welcoming of everyone. We don’t ID people and don’t know if they are homeless or not. Our librarians are trained to deal with the stuff that occurs every day and deal with folks of all walks of life,” Jurgensen said.

Author: Chanel Polk