Disorder in the Stacks: Homeless Services Burdens NYC Libraries

The New York Public Library's Science, Industry and Business Library sits at the corner of Madison Avenue and 34th Street, in the former B. Altman department-store building. Every morning before 10 AM, when “SIBL” opens, a small crowd of men gathers outside the door, many carrying their personal items in plastic bags and wearing dirty and mismatched clothes. Some may have slept the night before at the Bellevue men's shelter on 30th Street, a 15-minute walk away. By late afternoon, on cold days, the number of homeless patrons at SIBL can swell to more than 40; their presence is especially dominant in the lower-level reading room. SIBL, which the NYPL plans to close as part of a broad reorganization of its midtown facilities, opened in 1996 and was touted as “a prototype library for the twenty-first century.” That has turned out to be the case, but not in the way that the NYPL intended. SIBL's de facto function as a daytime homeless shelter is shared by many public libraries in New York and across the nation. The homeless set up shop in NYPL branches to charge their cell phones, watch Netflix and YouTube, play video games, stay warm, sleep (though that's technically against library regulations), use the bathroom, and generally while away the time.