by Jennifer Mösenfechtel, reprinted with author's permission
In 2021, the brutal killing of a homeless person in Zürich caused horror throughout Switzerland (Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen [SRF], 2023). According to a recent Swiss study by Dittmann et al. (2022, p. 86), however, discrimination and derogatory treatment of homeless people (HP) in public space are no exception, as social workers from the Pfarrer Sieber centre in Zürich confirm. In recent years, their clients repeatedly reported incidents of verbal and physical violence to them (SRF, 2023). Accordingly, Dittmann et al. (2022, p. 106) found HP surveyed to be highly vulnerable. This raises the question how social workers can offer or strengthen protective factors or safe places for HP. But first of all, what kind of places are important to HP? According to Dittmann et al. (2022, p. 77), these are primarily public places such as public libraries.
Against this background, the following article would like to address the question to what extent public libraries can be safe(r) spaces for the homeless and to what extent social work in and with libraries could help to create more functional conditions of everyday life for HP in the sense of Grunwald and Thiersch’s concept of “Lebensweltorientierung” (lifeworld orientation, or LWO) (2016, p. 43). As lifeworld-oriented social work looks for possibilities that refer to creative leeway while respecting the given circumstances and has confidence in the potential of development opportunities (Thiersch, Grunwald & Köngeter, 2012, p. 179), professionals of social work should take a closer look at the developments in their own field. Therefore, this article wants to provide an insight into social work in public libraries to combat homelessness and other social problems – an existing practise abroad, yet hardly known in Switzerland (or Germany). It aims to examine to what extent this practice corresponds to the maxims of LWO social work and whether it could be of potential for social work with HP in Switzerland.
First of all, however, I want to address and if possible, define the term “homelessness” and give a rough overview of homelessness in Switzerland, before I will discuss the term "safe space".
Homelessness in Switzerland
To begin with, it should be pointed out that in Switzerland, “there is no legally binding or socio-politically agreed definition of homelessness, which complicates the professional ... discourse on homelessness” (Dittmann et al., 2022, p. 34).
However, the European Federation of National Organizations working with the Homeless (FEANTSA) offers some orientation with its Typology of Homelessness and Housing Exclusion, called ETHOS (2017). According to this typology, people are considered homeless when they live on the streets and in public places (Dittmann et al., 2022, pp. 34-35). Some of them (at least sometimes) spend the night in emergency shelters that usually do not offer day stays (Dittmann et al., 2022, p. 1). According to Drilling, Mühlethaler and Iyadurai (2020, p. 6), the lack of an official definition makes it extremely difficult to secure rights for HP, to determine or assess the extent of homelessness in Switzerland, and therefore to enable international comparison.
Nonetheless, the study by Dittmann et al. (2022), which is based on a survey of visitors of 62 selected facilities for people affected by poverty in eight large cities in Switzerland, resulted in the following important findings: While health problems and addictions are significant factors, poverty and migration are more important factors for describing and explaining homelessness (Dittmann et al., 2022, pp. 11–12). Another major risk factor for, and thus also a starting point for combating homelessness, is a lack of affordable housing (Dittmann et al., 2022, p. 76); whereas social resources are to be interpreted as a protective factor (Dittmann et al., 2022, pp. 11–12). Accordingly, in order to prevent, cope with and combat homelessness, exclusion from society should be counteracted at an early stage.
Public libraries as “safe space” for access to information
In her article “The Library as Safe Space,” Wexelbaum (2016) traces the history of the term “safe space” from its origin in the civil rights movement, through its use by the feminist movement, to the LGBTQ community, as well as in the university environment. Since then, the term “safe space” has been used in many different contexts (The Roestone Collective, 2014, p. 1346) and is mostly understood as a space that is safe for members of a certain minority, or at least considered as safe by them as they have reason to assume that in this space the likelihood to experience discrimination or social exclusion is significantly lower than elsewhere.
However, Wexelbaum (2016, p. 40) points out that “while libraries have not traditionally used the term ‘safe space’ to describe themselves or the environments that they create, librarians commit to a code of ethics that, if practiced, would make libraries a safe space for information gathering and exchange.”
Accordingly, the Code of Ethics of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) (2012) states that “in order to promote inclusion and eradicate discrimination, librarians and other information workers ensure that the right of accessing information is not denied and that equitable services are provided for everyone... .” Obviously, this also applies to HP.
Public libraries as “safe spaces” for homeless people
First of all, it can be said that public places in general are of particular importance for HP because they spend a lot more time in these places than people with shelter. Public places serve them to satisfy their interests and basic needs, such as relaxation, sleep, personal hygiene and other activities that other people mainly pursue at home (Dittmann et al., 2022, p. 77).
In addition, Lloyd (2020, pp. 51-52) understands public libraries as protective factors for people who face major challenges, risks and stigma on a daily basis due to their living conditions, such as homelessness. Last but not least, public libraries provide them with access to water and the internet, as well as opportunities for learning and entertainment. But even more fundamentally, they also offer them protection from the elements (Wexelbaum, 2016, p. 39).
Forrest (2022, pp. 64–65) notes that previous research on the needs of HP and their use of public libraries is mostly based on the perspectives of library staff. From 2001 to 2021, she could only make out 14 studies worldwide that take self-reports from HP into account. Almost all of them are from English-speaking countries, eight of them from the USA. One of the key finding of her literature review is that while some HP use public libraries to meet their basic physiological needs, most of them use libraries for the same reasons as sheltered people do. “Importantly, homeless library users indicated that spending time at the library contributed to their sense of belonging and social inclusion.”
Social work in public libraries – a growing trend in the United States
Since research mainly refers to the US, we want to take a look at the US now, where, in 2009, (Robinson, 2019) “higher homeless populations had begun to change the clientele of libraries in states like California. According to the 2009 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, there were 133,129 HP living in that state. That same year, the San Francisco Public Library was the first North American library to hire a social worker after serious safety concerns, such as drug use, violence and people having sex in the library’s washrooms could no longer be ignored. Adding more security personnel wasn’t a sustainable long-term solution for the well-being of these vulnerable library patrons.” Whereas hiring a specialist proved to be a sustainable example. Ten years later, more than 30 public libraries in the United States had hired social workers.
In addition, “outreach teams/programs” were created to combat homelessness (American Library Association, 2012) and “peer navigators” – people who were formerly affected by homelessness and mental illness themselves – were hired (Lloyd, 2020, p. 51). Furthermore, at least two universities (Dominican University, n.d.; School of Information University of Michigan, n.d.) offer corresponding dual master programs, which combine a master in social work with a master of science in information or a master of library and information connecting science.
Accordingly, Lloyd, who is the first public library social worker in Texas (Lloyd 2020, p. 50) states: “library social work is an emerging practice area. Social workers and other helping professionals can now be found in public libraries across the United States.” And, according to Soska and Navarro, collaboration between libraries and social workers appears to be increasing outside the US as well (2020, p. 415).
But to what extent does social work in libraries correspond to the LWO concept (Grunwald & Thiersch, 2016), which is so relevant for social work in Switzerland and Germany? And to what extent can this model contribute to a more functional conditions for the everyday life of HP (p. 43)?
Social work in libraries for the benefit of homeless people – from the point of view of “Lifeworld orientation” (LWO)
In their concept of LWO, Grunwald and Thiersch (2016) list various maxims or principles for LWO social work (pp. 42–46) - including the maxim of participation. According to Straßburger and Rieger (2014), the first (pre)-stage of participation (from an institutional-professional perspective) is information. Since providing information and ensuring access to information is the main task of public libraries (Bibliosuisse, 2021, p. 5), social workers find a suitable partner and framework in public libraries. This also applies to the common maxim of integration or rather, inclusion (IFLA, 2012). However, as the “principles of differentiation and exclusion are so powerful in today's competitive society,” Grunwald and Tiersch (2016, p. 46) insist “that the proclamation of the goal of inclusion should not be equated with its realization,” which means that social worker must vehemently advocate for the inclusion of their clients when working together with other professions. In terms of inclusion (instead of just integration) and the maxim of closeness to everyday life, it should be noted that social work in public libraries is only close to everyday life if they really are a part of the everyday life of the respective client, since inclusive social work does not expect their clients to involuntarily adapt their life and habits to the life-style of the majority (Grunwald & Thiersch, 2016, p. 45). Therefore, more studies and needs analyses that focus on the perspective(s) of HP and therefore follow the maxim of participation are necessary.
Furthermore, the principle of regionalization or social space orientation requires decentralized, but present, integrated and flexible offers of assistance with good connections to other important infrastructural institutions in the same social space (Grunwald & Thiersch, 2016, p. 45). This corresponds with a presence of social in public libraries and the networking of social workers, libraries and other social institutions in the respective social space. Accordingly, Wahler, Provence, Helling and Williams (2020, p. 40) see mediation as a key role of social workers in which they can support public libraries. With regard to social space orientation, it should also be ensured that resources are strengthened in such a way that dramatization and hardening of social problems can be defused and new, productive support services can be arranged (Grunwald & Thiersch, 2016, p. 44). Wahler et al. (2020, p. 40), for example, recommend that social work professionals conduct workshops and training sessions on topics relevant to public libraries – for their employes as well as their clients.
Conclusion
It could be shown that public libraries, to a certain extent, provide a protective factor and “safe space” in the everyday life of HP, which is not least due to the task of public libraries to grant the right of access to information to everyone. In addition, an insight was given into the increasing practice in the US of integrating social work into public libraries or cooperating with social work specialists in order to deal with the problem of homelessness.
This approach presents itself as an innovative and successful practice in a country-specific context: By offering information, advisory and mediation services, professional social work in public libraries strengthens the library'’s resources and support them in their function as a protective factor for HP. At the same time, they offer a low-threshold, everyday, and above all professional (and therefore also safe) point of contact. In this way, foreseeable stress can be recognized and intercepted, and a more functional and less vulnerable everyday life can be established for HP, which ultimately takes the maxim of prevention in to account as well (Grunwald & Thiersch, 2016, p. 43).
However, research showed that comparatively little attention has been paid to this cooperative practice in German-speaking countries. In addition, the few articles available were written exclusively by librarians. Thus, there is still need for further research to clarify whether this innovative practice could be applied to Switzerland. In any case, it could be shown that social work in public libraries in many respects lives up to the maxims of LWO according to Grunwald and Thiersch (2016).
Photo Credits: Canva
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