Social services staff in library to assist the homeless

Answering questions about housing, child care, resources

A rotation of city social service workers are now maintaining office hours within the Peterborough Public Library all day, three days a week, to further help the vulnerable and marginalized people who’ve been congregating there.

City community services commissioner Sheldon Laidman mentioned it to city councillors at a virtual committee meeting Monday night.

The initiative started April 26, according to library CEO Jennifer Jones.

Since then, there’s been a rotation of social services staff members working in the library from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. three days a week (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday).

They’re there to answer questions about topics such as child care, housing, rent supplements and referrals to community resources.

“These are early days yet, but the partnership appears promising,” Jones told The Examiner by email on Tuesday.

“On the first day, several people were specifically looking to speak with a social services staff member. This level of interest continued throughout the week.”

For months now people experiencing homelessness, addiction or mental-health difficulties have been using the library as daytime shelter — so much so that Jones mentioned it at a library board meeting in February.

At that meeting, Jones said that while it’s fine that people are seeking all-day shelter at the library, unruly behaviour and frequent paramedic calls for suspected drug overdoses in the washrooms have left library staff feeling unsafe at work.

A month later in March, Jones told the board that the library had implemented some changes — including having city social services workers regularly drop by the library to check in on vulnerable people.

A worsening homelessness and addiction crisis in Peterborough and in cities across Canada has seen many public libraries become havens for marginalized people. Jones said in February it has left many local librarians stressed out or burned out.

After one person died in the library washroom in 2021 of a suspected drug overdose, Jones said

These are early days yet, but the partnership appears promising.

JENNIFER JONES PETERBOROUGH PUBLIC LIBRARY CEO

the library has continued to see drug use, with paramedics still being called in regularly in early 2022.

One safety measure the library implemented in March was installing a lock on the door of the mezzanine washroom (people must now ask for the key to use the washroom).

Meanwhile, there’s also a plan to start offering supervised drug consumption and treatment services soon in the former Greyhound bus station at Aylmer and Simcoe streets, across from the library.

While the provincial operating funding was announced in late February, it’s still unclear when the service might launch.