I saw every possible combination of anti-social behavior from the homeless that would encamp there. Many times I had to 'assist' asking someone to leave. The librarians _could_ have called the cops and had the violators permanently barred from re-entering but they would rarely do that.
It is 100% scaring away families and elderly.
We're literally giving up on social activities and safety and trust because we're not willing to meaningfully address the down and outs.
For some, if they in particular aren't disturbed from their AirPods, murder or other crime is a-ok.
For others, if you wear the wrong ratty clothes into the library, you're breaking the social contract.
This is a very bad faith re-statement of what I wrote about my experiences with the homeless in my library.