Another Comrade in Arms
In these days of political correctness and democracy gone wrong, it's nice to see that there are people out there with a forum for their thoughts that aren't afraid to take a stand against a horrendous outrage, even with the likelihood of offending their audience. Robert L. Jamieson Jr. writes in Library for all--not just the homeless about the new Seattle Central Library that there's apparently more than just the general public anxiously awaiting its opening. Unfortunately, there appears to be a ground swell of excitement within the homeless community due to the fact that they can't wait to befoul this sparkling new gem of a library with their odors, filth, drunkenness, and outright offensiveness. The sinks will be large enough to bathe their feet. A new "living room" full of couches and comfy chairs will provide adequate sleeping quarters for the day. The size of the building will allow all kinds of loathsome actions to occur unseen by those in charge.

There are claims that new measures will be put into affect that will alleviate the problem, but who knows how long that will last. Once the building loses its gleam of newness, who knows how lax the policies will be and how much enforcement will actually occur. This is reminiscent of the problems that occurred on a daily basis in the library where I was working. Policies are put into place and never enforced. This leads to problems. Administrators claim this won't happen in Seattle, but who knows.

Jamieson slips into the time-honored tradition of not pushing the line too far. He claims that there's probably only a handful of bad bums that have given the whole bunch a bad rap. I don't agree with that at all. Again, if you can't appreciate the fact that the library is open and what it provides, you shouldn't be allowed inside. Also, if you don't pay for the building, there's no reason for libraries to go out of their way to allow each and every person inside in an effort to create a utopia for one and all.

My advice is to have the library lined with a phalanx of riot-gear clad police officers. Let's see how many derelicts are willing to approach that intimidating scene.