From an instant message conversation with a friend:
Friend: “Im at the uncg campus library, but they have changed things around here pertaining to the pcs so I will not be here but for 5 mins”
Me: “how did they change it”
Friend: “no chairs and theres a time limit for l5 mins on the one I am on”
Me: “no chairs?”
Friend: “alot of the homeless was taking up the pcs for hours and the students couldn’t get on them; I don’t blame the library, I understand”
I understand, too. But how do we solve this problem? (Other than time limits and disappearing chairs?) The Interactive Resource Center, a day center for homeless people, is now open on East Bessemer Avenue. The center has a computer room. They need computers, desks, and chairs. Donate or call or email someone you know who can.
That is a pretty radical approach to controlling computer usage! Every student on our campus can access the computers with their own password, therefore, strangers coming off the street can’t take up the time/space. Even then, our lab is overflowing most days.
Our public library, however, has open use, limited to one hour.
Anna, yeah, it is radical, but I do understand their frustration. The library is always crowded and I’m sure they need all their computers for students.
There’s also a safety issue, though. I’m an advocate for homeless people, but some homeless people do some really dumb things and make it look bad for everybody else on the street. (My homeless friends will be the first to tell you that — and how mad it makes them!) According to a police report, one of the guys on the street here went into the campus library and stole a bookbag from a student while the student was up at the printer. The homeless guy also tried to use the student’s credit cards. (After he was arrested, he told a very different story about the incident on the street.) He’s facing multiple charges, including felonies, and last I heard, was in jail on a failure to appear. I hate it when that kind of thing happens. It’s the exception — not the rule — of behavior among the homeless people I know, but it’s what the public remembers, and it can affect decision-making when it comes to policies about how to deal with homeless people.
That’s a real shame. On weekends when I had a day off, I would go there to get on the computer for a few hours. That was if I was able to find a parking spot, which meant they weren’t busy. I would take breaks every couple hours, for about 20-30 minutes, in case someone else wanted to use it. It was nice being there, with the energy of the students around me, and besides it was a little safer than the library.