Public libraries are among the most important resources in any town.
You can earn an entire education in a library — almost free of charge.
When Matt Damon’s character in “Good Will Hunting” taunts a pompous Harvard graduate student, he tells him: “You dropped a hundred and fifty grand on a … education you coulda’ got for a dollar fifty in late charges at the public library.” (Expletive excluded.)
Many libraries also provide classes for the young, lectures for the elderly, gallery spaces for aspiring artists, and performance stages for local stars.
So it is disturbing to see that so many of California’s libraries have essentially become homeless day care centers.
As The California Post reports, our public libraries have become “no-go zones” in which vagrants sleep all day, trash the toilets, monopolize the computers, abuse drugs, and even commit violent crimes.
Once, you could drop your teenage daughter off at the library to study for her SATs or final exams.
Now, you have to worry about whether she will be stalked by a dangerous criminal — or whether she will be able to endure the smell of reading room companions who have not bathed in months.
And spare a thought for the librarians, who have to handle their duties while also dealing with the constant fear of being attacked, or tripping over someone passed out in the stacks.
At the Los Angeles Central Library, more than one hundred homeless people filled the building on an ordinary weekday. One man still had his jail clothing, having just been released.
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There aren’t enough security personnel. And the city has focused on providing other government services inside the libraries, rather than the basic task of keeping libraries safe for patrons, families, and children.
The reason this horrific situation continues is because a lack of political will.
LA City Councilmember Traci Park introduced a motion to tackle the issue, and to review security at local public libraries.
That was in 2024. The council hasn’t done anything since then. It must, now.
But this issue can’t be treated like an overdue library book — hidden or thrown away because you’re afraid to pay the fine.
This is an urgent threat to some of our most cherished public institutions. And the longer we wait, the worse the problems will become.
Libraries exist for the public — to read, and to learn. Not for the homeless and dangerous to destroy.
