Most everyone who lives in a metropolitan area  has grown accustomed to seeing homeless people at the library. We also know that soup kitchens serve hundreds of people every day.  It’s a fact of life that makes us uncomfortable, because we don’t know how to deal with it  But when I saw a lady coming out of the handicapped stall at the library with wet hair, it really hit me in the gut.  Should a homeless lady wash her hair at the library?

It wasn’t clear if she had washed  her hair in the hand sink before she went into the stall, or worse yet, dunked it in the toilet. She seemed disoriented.  The bathroom smelled of her dirty bags .  There were food crumbs scattered all over the floor. After an initial reaction of revulsion, I was overcome with feelings of sympathy.  The woman wasn’t that old—maybe fifty.  She was someone’s child, granddaughter, maybe mother or wife.  She was a human being in desperate need of help. And I had no idea what to do.  And so, I merely smiled and left.

I couldn’t erase the scenario from my mind.  What should I have done?  I turned to an internet chat room (Reddit) and asked for other’s opinions.  Most agreed that there was nothing I could really do, except smile and leave.  Other’s felt that the library should not tolerate this type of thing because the woman could have Aids, STDS , and other infectious disease  that could endanger others.  Some said I should have reported it to an employee of the library.

I surfed the internet to see what other libraries do.  Many cities like Seattle  have specific policies and procedures for dealing with the homeless.  https://www.newstatesman.com/world/north-america/2018/12/how-seattle-s-public-library-stepping-deal-city-s-homelessness-crisis  Some have social workers available to help those in need.

I ‘m not sure if librarians are in a position to deal with such problems.  In our town, various non profits provide homeless shelters.  But shouldn’t the government bear some responsibility ? Homeless people were probably once taxpayers, maybe served our country in the military.  At the very least, we should have public bathrooms where the homeless have access to showers. I know that security would be a problem, but it seems like that could be dealt with.  The poet John Donne would tell us that any man’s misery diminishes us, because all of us are involved in mankind.