Frugal people at the Library

[OSUBearCub]

Andrew Carnegie set up over 2,500 libraries out of his own pocket.

...plus Carnegie Hall, Carnegie-Mellon university, et cetera.

... with the explicit rule that the community that received his great assistance would turn around and publicly support the library's maintenance and growth.

I just wish they could keep out the smelly people and the mentally ill.  Our libraries are mildly unsavory.

What would be really great is if our society as a whole put a greater emphasis on helping these people instead of trying our best to pretend they don't exist. There has been much research done on how hospitals, emergency medical teams, mental health institutions, jails, social workers and libraries (yes - libraries) all play a role in dealing with this "problem" (although libraries just found themselves in this circle not by choice). Not to mention the loads of cash we all collectively spend due to our own attempts to ignore them. It would be fiscally responsible (if you like saving money) to fund more programs that assist these people than to pay more over time for the costs of hospital visits, incarceration, visits to clinics and such that these people deal with. If this societal shift occurred, yes, you would probably see fewer people as you describe in your library.

Hippy.  ;-)

[YK-Phil]

I discovered our public library a few months ago, after we decided to cut our internet (and home phone) service. The closest branch, which I had never visited since we moved there, is just across the street from our condo, housed in one of the oldest and most charming historical buildings in Calgary right at the entrance of the oldest municipal park. My wife and I are now regular visitors: I go there to work and use the internet, while she browses magazines and newspapers, and selects a few DVDs that we will watch in the evening on our un-cabled TV. People who frequent the library are from all walks of life, and being downtown, we have our fair share of homeless people. However, it comforts me to see them here especially in winter, quietly reading the news or browsing the internet.