The Ballard Branch of the Seattle Public Library (SPL) closed on May 9 for two months, cutting off an important social service to the homeless people who live in the area.
On the first day, patrons were surprised by the closure.
“I was caught off guard,” said C’zar, a regular patron who relies on the Ballard Library. “That’s a pain in the butt. I have to go two and a half miles to another library? Dale Carnegie would shit his pants!”
The closure was a surprise to many patrons, but especially the homeless people who use the library.
“Ballard has a significant homeless population, many of whom depend upon the library for services,” said Seattle City Librarian Marcellus Turner and two other top Seattle Public Library administrators in an April memo to the SPL Board of Trustees.
Even so, SPL closed the Ballard Branch leaving that population lacking much more than books: no bathrooms, no water fountains, no daytime shelter from the weather, no computers, no internet access, no place to charge a phone and the loss of an important community gathering place. For them, the two-month closure is a slap in the face.
“Wi-Fi is off,” said Thomas, who tried to visit the library right after a breakfast at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church nearby. “They should leave Wi-Fi on for the homeless who can’t go in a coffee shop.”
Some Ballard Branch users are frustrated enough about the library closure that they are speaking out and organizing. Zach Yates, a young college graduate who says he became “houseless” when he lost his job, said that the library is an important resource to him.
“I consider the Wi-Fi at the library to be like the pen to my paper, a teacher to my classroom, or even a canvas to my brush,” he said. “Without access to my Ballard library and the Wi-Fi I use there, I will still love to learn, but I will be forced to learn somewhere else.”
He and other Ballard patrons have organized a group that meets weekly called the Library Equal Access Project (LEAP). Members are working to enhance library responsiveness to the needs of all library patrons, including those who are experiencing homelessness.
The changes to the Ballard Branch are part of Turner’s plan to turn libraries into “re-imagined places,” which the SPL website describes as adapting library spaces “for new uses in keeping with changing services, programs, interests and needs of Library users and the ways they use Library spaces.”
The Ballard Branch is not the only branch to be closed for months at a time. The Rainier Beach Branch was closed for four months in 2015 for a $1.5 million reroofing and similar re-imagining. As other recently built branches hit the 10-year mark, they too will be subject to closure for similar makeovers. The administrators who call the shots on re-imagining projects explained what will be accomplished during the Ballard closure: improvements to the children and teen areas; consolidating service, reference and circulation desks; and upgrading furniture, carpeting and finishes throughout the branch.
SPL provided notice of the closure, but for many Ballard Branch users, the closure came as a complete surprise.
“It’s going to be horrible for me,” said Devyn, one Ballard library patron in front of the library on the first day of the closure. “I don’t know where I’m going for reading, writing, using the computer, talking to my family.”
In a memo to the Board of Trustees, SPL top administrators suggested that library patrons were not consulted about the re-imagining prior to the closure: “In the future ... the Library may wish to engage in a series of outreach sessions and conduct a survey of library patrons,” that would allow users to share what they like about the space and what enhancements might make the library better.
Turner said in an email interview that the library did not seek patron feedback on the remodel because the changes did not constitute significant changes, noting that the major reason for the renovation is re-carpeting.
Despite SPL’s stating that the changes are not significant, the price tag remains hefty. The Ballard improvement project will cost $586,279.
This funding does not add new computers, laptops or public access to phones, all things that would benefit people who are homeless or struggling financially. The library could provide other valuable services to homeless patrons, such as free lockers. Patrons are routinely turned away from and even banned from using The Seattle Public Library because they are carrying all their possessions on their backs. Other public libraries across the country have recently added lockers to their lists of amenities.
LEAP continues to advocate for homeless and low-income library patrons. During the first week of the Ballard Branch closure, they began construction of a website LeapOrg.wix.com/leap, conducted a street survey with patrons and created an online survey about the closure at surveymonkey.com/r/83NCL=SLH
Laurel Holliday is an author and independent journalist. Her investigative news stories have appeared in The Stranger, The Seattle Press, The Seattle Weekly and The Seattle Review of Books.