Sudbury library adjusting to life on the 'front line' of homelessness and addiction crisis

The main branch of Greater Sudbury's public library is extending its weekend hours thanks to funding from a federal homelessness program.

The funding from the Reaching Home programis being distributed by the city, which has already disbursed some to Grace Church to operate an overnight warming centre, and to the downtown Samaritan Centre to extend its drop-in hours.

But some people still needed a place to go on weekends, so the city worked out an arrangement with the centrally located downtown library branch.

CEO and chief librarian Brian Harding says this is thefirst time federal money will go toward libraryoperations.

He says it is a sign of the changing demands on libraries, as more vulnerable people with complex mental health and physical needs find sanctuary alongside bookworms, crafters and other regulars.

"Certainly there's been changes in our operations," he said.

"I think it's well known that our community is undergoing changes and we are certainly seeing pressures, whether it comes from drug poisoning, whether it comes from increases in homelessness.And the library is on the front line of some of those challenges that our community is facing."

Notable changes at the main branch include the hiring of a security guard who keeps the peace and supervises access to the washrooms.

"There was a time where our staff were experiencing a large number of what we call 'incidents' in the library," Harding said.

"And to support the safety of patrons and to support the safety of staff, we identified that the addition of a security guard to the main library would be one of the tools that we could put into place to ensure that security."

As for the access to washrooms that used to be open all the time, Harding says locking them is a harm reduction measure to prevent those who use substances from going in and potentially overdosing.

He says the library is a place of connection especially since it has brought in social work students to link people with services and programs they might not know about.

Branch manager Mette Krueger says one social worker student built a trusting relationship with a library user and the woman eventually confided that she was in a dangerous relationship and the student was able to find a safe place for her.

"One thing that we say, or sort of acknowledge is that we can't always control who comes through the doors of a public library," Kruegersaid.

"We're open to everyone. We can't control what happens, but we can control our response to something that happens. We have a really good team of people who have incredible relationships with our users and people who come to the library."

Krueger admits sometimes they need help to deal with stressful incidents. For instance, she was once involved with other staff in responding to a person who had apparently overdosed and paramedics were called because the library doesn't have naloxone on site.

But now, Krueger says library staff have access to a city-wide peer support program for workers who have experienced stressful incidents on the job.

Library staff have also been through special training, including a session with Ryan Dowd, the author of The Librarian's Guide to Homelessness.

Dowd ran a homeless shelter outside Chicago, Ill.when he was first approached by his local library for advice on how to relate to the growing number of homeless patrons.

He says most librarystaff aren't prepared to deal with situations where they may have to break up a fight, or ask someone to leave.

Dowd calls himself the "chief empathy officer" of his firm and says his services are in demand all over the world.

"One, it's helping people have a little bit of empathy for someone whose life experiences are wildly different than their own," he said.

"Because when you understand where problematic behaviour is coming from, it's actually a lot easier to manage it. And the second thing is just teaching people the practical skills to get people to follow the rules with as little conflict as possible."

As for whether libraries are the right place to meet the needs of those people, Dowd says it's complicated

"Libraries should serve the function of a library, which is to obviously be a repository of information but also a gathering point for the community," says Dowd.

"To the degree that libraries are expected or forced to be the types of organizations that should exist elsewhere in the community but are under or are not invested in, that does a disservice to our libraries, which does a disservice to our society."

Back in Sudbury, chief librarian Brian Harding admits that librarians are generalists, not specialists.

But he says thelibrary is working hard to be a safe and welcome space to every person who walks through the door.