Teen Vogue rocks on as one the most progressive forms of journalism in mainstream media. Today their focus is on policing in libraries, featuring our unhoused friend Theo Henderson @TheoHen95302259 of @WeTheUnhoused podcast fame.

Thread/1 https://www.teenvogue.com/story/police-public-libraries/amp

Libraries are public spaces w/ the public often forgetting that unhoused people are also the public, citizens and residents w/ just as much right to be in libraries & use the resources. A prime example of how unhoused are considered "others" with different standards applied.

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Libraries are beautiful places of serenity to get lost in with the powerful words of writers and desire for knowledge. Yet for the unhoused population, they are an even more valuable resource, overtly highlighting the disparity and inequity of the haves and have nots.

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Libraries are cooling centers for brutal heat waves, warming places for harsh cold & dry respites during torrential rain. When extreme weather happens, and a small chance @MayorOfLA opens needed relief, they’re often not accessible to unhoused people. Libraries fill the void.

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Libraries are charging stations, providing electricity for unhoused people to power up their phones, giving them access to things only capable with a working phone. Phones are an entryway to jobs, outside resources, service providers and medical appointments, to name a few.

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Libraries are everything that homeless shelters and encampments are not. They’re not as crowded, not as loud. Libraries are a refuge from the chaos of homelessness, an opportunity to get away from the mental jail and physical being of being unhoused for just a little while.

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“Access to library & information resources, services, & technologies is essential for all people, especially the economically disadvantaged, who may experience isolation, discrimination, & prejudice or barriers to education, employment, and housing.” American Library Assoc.

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