Library Services for People Experiencing Homelessness

I often read about success stories where libraries have employed peer workers to be front-line staff at hteir branches. These workers can relate to people in the libraries and near the libraries and make them feel welcome when they may otherwise feel judged or excluded. This video is a great example of a peer worker in a public library in Denver, Colorado and the powerful influence she has on the community she works with. She is literally saving lives. Peer workers can benefit the library, its vulnerable users, and the peer worker themselves. When this works well, I can see no down-side.

 On February 17, I spent a second day with the staff of Yarra Libraries and their outreach service. This time we were set up outside the injecting rooms at the Richmond higy-rise flats. As before we were sharing the space with other community service providers: OrangeSky was there with their laundry van again, and they also had a shower bus with them this time. There was also a presence from Ask Issy  which is a service that runs through mobile phones and connects people to services. The Ask Issy people were spruiking their site and were giving away phone charging banks.  It was very quiet, but all the staff from each of the services were saying that this quietness was really unusual and nothing like what had been the case before COVID. These days out in the community were the first in a long time since lockdowns had lifted. They suggested that the numbers would rise as they became more visible in the community and as word got around that the services were back in operati...