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As we ask for the libraries to be closed, admin keeps coming back with the concept that libraries are an important safety net for people in this difficult time. Let's talk about that for a sec. I'd like to start here: https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-lightfoot-pandemic-budget-city-joliet-water-durbin-judiciary-spin-20201125-hnmnoehuonervkq2vad45dq4e4-story.html #ProtectLibraryWorkers
After passing the city budget, @chicagosmayor celebrated with a scotch, a cigar and a steak. She did so after shooting down the Treatment not Trauma initiative: https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-lightfoot-pandemic-budget-city-joliet-water-durbin-judiciary-spin-20201125-hnmnoehuonervkq2vad45dq4e4-story.html This would have been vital for libraries in Chicago, because we call the police on people.
When I say we call the police, I mean we HAVE to. We are given no other option. We call the police on people in crisis who need real help, opening them up to violence. If we want another option? We've been told to call for CIT officers, who have notoriously shoddy training -
and are STILL POLICE. We don't house people overnight in the freezing winter, when many homeless people freeze to death. We don't keep people when they're in crisis and offer them resources - we hand them off to cops. What do we offer? An hour on a computer.
Have you never been employed and desperately hunted for jobs? Had to fill out SNAP applications, apply for a government phone, for CHA assistance? My whole job used to be helping people do this, and yeah, an hour on the computer with little to no help isn't gonna cut it.
So what are we ACTUALLY doing right now? So glad you asked! We are letting people sit around for HOURS in old buildings with old HVAC systems, breathing recycled air that might give them COVID-19. That's what we're doing by staying open. That's the vital service.
Thinking about the Mayor a month, a year from now standing up and talking about how they kept the libraries open to provide vital services makes me feel sick. That's not what we're doing. If you want to #ProtectLibraryWorkers and save lives, @chicagosmayor , CLOSE CPL!
If you live in Chicago, please call your alderman and tell them you are scared the libraries being open is making people sick. Ask them to put pressure on the mayor. Call the mayor, call the governor and tell them the same. Then sign this. https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/make-cpl-safe?source=direct_link&
Last thing @chicagosmayor - librarians aren't interested in being your fucking scapegoat. Fund mental health care, housing, and social services or resign and let someone else do the work.
