We clearly need to shut down all public libraries. The govt. can't be doing anything that helps the poor.

So THAT's why the dude next to me smelled like gym shorts and licorice.

FTFA: "He checked on a regular in matted dreadlocks, who often percolated with wild thoughts and spent hours filling sheets of paper with tiny numbers."

So libraries are now wrong? Man, maybe if we actually had some kind of decent support services for the homeless, this wouldn't happen. Of course that's socialism. In america we only give out corporate welfare, just like it should be.

Obviously the librarians can't do anything about it, but as a concerned citizen I could make staying there more uncomfortable for the homeless.

And before liberal farkers talk shiat...

Do you really want homeless drug addicts hanging out in the library your teenaged daughter needs to visit?

/MLK Library in DC is a perfect example of a public library that now ONLY services the bums.

Do you really want homeless drug addicts hanging out in the library your teenaged daughter needs to visit?

The thing about the homeless is that they're much easier to spot than the fellows like the guy dressed in a business suit recently arrested for assaulting girls in our library.

And before liberal farkers talk shiat...

Why can't conservative folks like me be be supportive of providing homeless folks with a place to read? I didn't realize that being conservative automatically makes one an asshole.

ChairmanKaga: Do you really want homeless drug addicts hanging out in the library your teenaged daughter needs to visit?

Silly me, I thought there were laws and law-enforcement agencies to deal with dangerous people. Had no idea you had to be an asshole to the homeless.

Not to mention that some homeless people just look like scruffy normal people - not all of them resemble the picture below. Since there are many scruffy college students who frequent the library, I guess you'd just have to be an asshole to everybody, ChairmanKaga

Not to mention that some homeless people just look like scruffy normal people - not all of them resemble the picture below.

Did you check out ChairmanKaga's profile pic? I wonder if, when he's dressed in his bike leathers, people ever confuse him for a criminal thug, or perhaps a gay 'top':)

Obviously this is the the second biggest problem in our society just after homosexuals wanting to commit to each other.

Deacon Blues: Did you check out ChairmanKaga's profile pic?

And I thought Glenn Hughes from the Village People died in 2001.

The building itself is more spacious, with more individual breathing space and fewer creepy isolated areas.

at least they left some

HotLonelyTeenageGirl: if we actually had some kind of decent support services for the homeless, this wouldn't happen.

What would you suggest? Some kind of a "shelter" where they could get fed and have a bed for the night?

What would you suggest? Some kind of a "shelter" where they could get fed and have a bed for the night?

Pinko commie.

Croooow!: What would you suggest? Some kind of a "shelter" where they could get fed and have a bed for the night?

no, no, no... what is needed is social programs that are geared specifically towards the homeless, much like the writing workshops that the library offers

wait, what?

Croooow!: What would you suggest? Some kind of a "shelter" where they could get fed and have a bed for the night?

Maybe some form of educational training center that could prepare them to get a GED or a job...

I know, it's crazy talk.

/spent a summer working at one of these nonprofit centers in 2004

thejoyofpi: spent a summer working at one of these nonprofit centers in 2004

Pinko commie.

Round up the usual winos

Our clown is crazier then your clown!!

this is great, now bumfights can develop into bumdebates.


/ rebuttal from the man digging through the garbage

HotLonelyTeenageGirl: Man, maybe if we actually had some kind of decent support services for the homeless, this wouldn't happen. Of course that's socialism.

Funny thing, since JFK (a closet socialist) was the one who turned out all the mentally ill out onto the streets in the first place, when he deinstitutionalized the U.S. of A. back in the early sixties.

If you haven't seen the library it really is breathtaking.... as for the homeless, they could be doing worse things then reading..

I think the homosexuals ran them out of the city park.

I get them confused because they'll both offer you a blowjob in the 4th floor library bathroom.

If I had to be homeless anywhere, it'd be Seattle. Your biggest problem is boredom.

I was up in Seattle this weekend visiting my sister (I left before the ice came). This was a huge story on the news shows. The city is also making it illegal to give the panhandlers money. After only walking a few blocks along the waterfront, I can see why they want it that way.
The bums there are much more agressive than the Portland bums.

Croooow!: What would you suggest? Some kind of a "shelter" where they could get fed and have a bed for the night?

Surely there is a market-based solution to this problem that will make everyone happy.

thespindrifter

Funny thing, since JFKReagan (a closet socialist) was the one who turned out all the mentally ill out onto the streets in the first place, when he deinstitutionalized the U.S. of A. back in the early sixtieseighties.

Fixed it for you.

I've seen this library...no wonder there is confusion, is it a library, or is it a homeles shelter? It looks like a bunch of kitchen hoods piled on top of each other....but Koolhaas is cutting edge and so cool.

thespindrifter: Funny thing, since JFK (a closet socialist)

JFK? Really? I think he was pretty farking conservative, personally

From what I read of it, the library is adapting quite well, creating rules and training the staff to enforce them without confrontation.

The guards' attitudes are quite impressive. Treating humans like humans - novel idea, that.

Deacon Blues: The guards' attitudes are quite impressive. Treating humans like humans

Bunch of pinko commies

Compared to a lot of city libraries, Spokane for example, the Seattle one isn't bad as far as the bums and winos go. I usually went there 2-3 times a week in the afternoon between June and November and never had any problems. The bad ones can't beg for booze and drug money in the library so they seem to stay out. There is a lot of open space so the smell doesn't collect.

I'm much more offended by the library building itself than I am by any of the patrons. They really did try hard when putting the thing together but there is so much concrete it feels like you are in the USSR circa 1979. Retro-Soviet design might have been the big thing back in architect college but it really subtracts from what should have been a great building.

awfulperson: Wouldn't you hang out in a library if you were homeless? I know I would.

Um...yes....if I were....cuz I'm not....hehe....um....

Dread Pirate Slasher I fell asleep the other night with the TV on and around 4am I woke up to that movie. I had no idea what the hell it was and I ended up having to finish the damn thing...

"most loyal patrons"??

I didn't read anything about that. To the contrary, the article demonstrated that problems with homeless people are minimal due to effective policies.

I love that library. Like every library there are homeless people, but I've never had a problem with them. Homeless people have every right to come in and read books - the same right as the rest of us.

Also, the escalators are neon green.

internet > library

jobless hang out here; homeless hang out there

If you're bored, read the security log for this library. Mostly just tossing people out for sleeping, but there are some occasional gems.

Read all about it

1. There is no parking anywhere near it...
2. I shoulda walked to it more.
3. Seattle bums are harmless. Go to Chicago/Detroit... the fear of the impending winter really gives them a competitive edge. Never ONCE did I feel threated by a Seattle vagrant over the 2 year span I lived there.

Apparently no one read TFA. The library actually has a good security force that keeps people from being a nuisence all around, and they kick out the stinky ones and tell them where they can get a free shower. So, quit your biatchn.

I have been homeless; So I am really getting a kick out of most of these replies.

Some of you guys are very good at making it sound like you know what you are talking about.

But trust me.... You don't.

I think you just want to make yourself sound smart, when in reality you don't know what you are talking about.

This is how bad info gets passed around.

If you dont know about the topic....Dont make yourself sound like you do. Cos some Farkers believe anything they hear.

Ok, I am an expert on security in libraries, and one of the major causes of problems is the homeless.

And they still have the right to use the library, and should be encouraged to do so, until they break library policy and/or rules.

The homeless NEED to have educational facilites available to them. They should be welcomed, and assisted in bettering themselves. In fact, few need libraries more than the homeless.


BTW, I can't stand bums. Still, they are people, and deserve simple common courtesy.

mrroboto4l it has a huge parking garage underground, you farking moron.

And ck1938 nailed it. Since you can't sleep, beg or scream maniacally in the library, the only bums you get in there are the ones who want to either hang out where it's warm, read or take a dump.

None of those bums really bother me, but I'll be DAMNED if I use the bathrooms there.

so you studied to become an expert on security in libraries?

Were the mid-terms hard?

ElCorridor"

None of those bums really bother me, but I'll be DAMNED if I use the bathrooms there.

Amen brother

Did anyone read this article...the guy who wrote the desc. sure didn't.

FarkinHostile: I am an expert on security in libraries

I can't think of anything blander to be an expert on.