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Comment by wyclif | Hacker News Reader

It's because of the homeless and mentally ill problem that every big city unfortunately has now. But SF is absolutely the worst.

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Libraries are one of the last bastions of being able to be somewhere legally without spending money. With the homeless crisis we shouldn't be surprised that these places are used in this way - it's 100% an expected outcome.

It's a logistics and resources problem - libraries are: shelter, safety, heating/cooling, running water, restrooms, a place to sit... Truth is we don't afford that to everyone here and a lot of people ignore the cruelty/suffering. Hell - some even justify and celebrate it.

> Libraries are one of the last bastions of being able to be somewhere legally without spending money.

What other free indoor facilities existed in the past?

Churches were and arguably are, still a big one. Granted, only one day a week but still.

I think it's fine to encourage people to spend time at the library. I know as a kid, I grew a lot as a person at our local library.

They had after school activities once a week, it was about a mile down the road, so we had to learn to be responsible walking after school. The librarians were always kind to us, even though I'm sure as teenagers we probably weren't always a carbon copy of the model, upstanding citizen.

I could spend time with my friends discussing various topics, with easy information available if we couldn't agree on the facts. Plus, I kissed my wife for the first time on the bench outside. Libraries are great :)

>Churches were and arguably are, still a big one. Granted, only one day a week but still.

You're expected to donate, you're just allowed not to.

Some churches, especially catholic ones or historic buildings, are still open all week.

Not just one day a week. A lot of churches open to homeless all during the week. It makes sense because it's a waste of resources to let a large heated building sit empty the other 6 days of the week that aren't Sunday when they can use that space to help the less fortunate.

I moved out of SF during the pandemic but before that the city had homeless and mentally ill people and there was no security check at the library, and it was full of books.

As an active library user w a 4 year old and 1 year old going to the bathroom at the sf library wasn’t a good situation- so for many folks (disabled, those w young children) the library was not available to them.

https://sfist.com/2013/08/27/were_doomed_sf_main_library_bat...

And yes, with children access to a bathroom is necessary.

Also now elsewhere and going to library is so fun. We can bike etc. they are reasonably strict though. No sex, drugs, sleeping etc

It was my experience at a bathroom on the SF main public library that led me to post my comment about it. It was beyond disgusting. There was literal shit smeared all over a stall, and bathroom had essentially been commandeered by mentally ill people living there.

I contrast that with the library in Austin. Obviously, as a free, warm, comfortable space, there are tons of homeless people there. But, unlike in SF, the Austin library doesn't let them trash the place - the homeless there are just using the library like everyone else. There is a strict no sleeping/lying rule (which I've seen enforced) which prevents anyone from basically taking over a section of the library. The bathrooms have always been immaculate whenever I've used them.

IMO the Austin library's policy toward the homeless shows how you can be respectful and welcoming to all while still requiring everyone who enters to respect the building.

Every big city? Or do you mean every big American city?

Let's split the distance. Every big city has some homeless, but no western European city has such problems with homeless people and guns to the extend to be a problem that requires screening visitors to a library, or having metal detectors, and drug and gun checks in public buildings...

I think you might be prejudiced here. Homelessness is a huge problem in other parts of the world too, especially Africa and parts of Asia.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_...

And Europe too.

The below article seems to indicate and average of around 700k in the EU.

https://www.greaterchange.co.uk/post/does-europe-have-a-home...

>they treat everyone who enters like a potential criminal. They check your bags for weapons and run metal detector wands over you. Basically the worst library experience I've ever had

I don't believe there are many other parts of the world where this happens.

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