In class on Thursday, we had a lot to talk about. We spent a long time discussing a recent local controversy surrounding the proposal of a park next to the public library. It sounds nice; it would be great to be able to take your kids out on some playground equipment after leaving the library, or to see small musical acts or stage performances put on by local artists in the community in a proposed staging area. How nice! How idyllic! What's the problem?
The article is here, and it brings up some excellent points. The reason the proposed park is controversial is actually because the director of the public library as well as the the board came out against the construction of this park. They already see a large amount of substance abuse within the walls of the library on such a regular basis that they feel making a park next door would further exacerbate the problem.
As you can see in the article, some of the city council did not feel that the claims made by the library director were true. I think a big part of the problem is that in this kind of community, people either aren't aware or turn a blind eye to problems. This is a wealthy community. This is a clean city. The public library is well-funded, it's a beautiful space with enormous collections and excellent, innovative programming. We do not have drug users in our community, and they certainly wouldn't be found in the library. But it is true. A public library in any community attracts the homeless, and the drug users (who are not always the same people, by the way). Even on the island of Kodiak, Alaska, I heard rumors that the city's homeless gathered there. I was more surprised that the island had homeless people than that they chose the library as their preferred haunt.
But in her interview, the director of the library explained that the drug abuse is such a problem in the space of the library walls that they have had to remove ceiling tiles in the bathrooms to prevent people from stashing their drugs there. The library has quietly been dealing with this major community problem on its own for many years. They are only now being vocal about it because they can see that adding outdoor space just outside the walls of the library would invite more miscreant behavior. They have concerns about the safety of the space both next door and inside their walls. The director paints a vivid picture of someone having to clean up the syringes every morning in the proposed space. Who takes care of that? Since the library is next door, will they be in charge of monitoring activity in this public space? A shocking figure reported is that the library spends $250,000 annually on security personnel. That is a very large amount of money to be spending, and I am sure that the library would not spend nearly so much if they did not have the need for it.
I guess what our conversation boiled down to was that so many in this community, and other similar communities, see this as a library problem, when it is really a community problem. There are no homeless shelters in the area (so I'm told). Heroin is cheap and popular. What I really thought was admirable was that in her interview, the director doesn't place blame, but she doesn't shy away from talking about the problem either. Hopefully this controversy sparks more than just angry words about whether or not a park should be built. Maybe someone will start to consider what else could be done.
This is a really interesting discussion. Drugs in Ann Arbor are a bit like drugs in Midland - people know they exist, but they don't want to admit they know anyone involved, or that the places they go are becoming unsafe because of it. Libraries are interesting places - we tend to want to help people, to solve problems, to give people a chance to make things better, but we're not really social services, and we absolutely don't have the staff and training for dealing with such issues. Having a park next door is great, for all the reasons you point out, but until the city acknowledges that it needs to work on this problem - whether it's a gated park (if that even works) or with regular sweeps of the space after dark - I can completely understand the library's hesitation.
ReplyDeleteAs for homeless shelters, there are a few. Washtenaw County actually has one of the highest populations of homeless people due to the number and quality of homeless-assistance services provided in the area (among other reasons). Check here for Washtenaw County's Homeless Services: http://www.ewashtenaw.org/government/homeless.html . Of particular note is the Shelter Association. Just FYI - you covered a lot of great license.
I completely agree with this post. People often assume that since this is a nice clean area, that drugs simply can't exist in the same space. When in reality, anytime time you have a public location where people can amass for hours, there is a strong possibility that illicit behavior can occur. I love how Parker is upfront and transparent about the issue but doesn't place blame; instead the mayor (I believe) recognized what a tough spot that library has been placed in and understands it's hesitation. I'm not sure if a public park will exacerbate the problem (more space/more people) or curb the behavior (more police patrol) but all angles must be considered.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that this was an interesting conversation! The fact that this library issue brought up larger community issues is really important. I think Josie Parker is handling the situation remarkably well by not placing blame on anybody, but rather trying to get the community to realize the issues that are right in their own backyards. The library has handled their problems internally, which I think gives the illusion that these problems don't exist, but the possibility of the park means that the library will not be able to handle the problems the park will inevitably face as well.
ReplyDelete(The fact that the library spends $250,000 on security was astounding to me, especially considering that amount constitutes some libraries' entire budgets!)