Jaycee Snelson Week 7: The Library
Jaycee Snelson Week 7: The Library
The fondest memory of elementary school was going to the Fremont Main Library with my Grandma. Every Wednesday, religiously, my Grandma would pick me up from school and drive me to the library. Once there, we would return the books from last week and spend what felt like hours roaming through the isles. Picking up lots of books for both me and my brother and having some one on one bonding time. However, as I got older I stopped going to the library. I had gotten busy with school work and didn’t feel safe there anymore. “Why?” You ask. Because the public library is overrun with homeless people.
The Homeless are stereotyped as crazy individuals who could be dangerous. Although a majority do not fall into this category. The perception for them makes the public wary whenever they see someone on the street.
If you have ever gone past the library you can see the community of homeless people camped out all around the library. They’re in the entranceway, behind the building in the fields, and they seem to have their own fortress within the parking lot. But they are not just at the library, they are scattered on the sidewalks and entrance ways of many businesses throughout the city. In 2022 there were over 1,026 people who were unhoused and living on the street. Thankfully the number of people has decreased but the numbers are still extremely high.
So, what caused the homeless rate to be so high?
The Economy.
In 2022 the cost of living, in the Bay Area, was 10 times the median household income (Bay Area Equity Atlas). This drastic price range led to many average and low income families struggling to find a place to live and the increase of homelessness in the Bay Area. On top of the high prices no one is doing anything to make the Bay Area a more affordable place to live. The state and federal funding for affordable housing has been insignificant in meeting the needs of the people and the city government is too scared of being seen as unsympathetic to do anything to get people off the streets.
We need to do something to help those who are unable to have a place to call home, because of the high prices of housing and unlivable wages given in the Bay Area, and make our community feel safe enough to visit the library.
Jaycee, I’d like to start by saying that I found it interesting you chose to write about libraries. It seems that, and New York seem to be common themes in this week’s blogs amongst our cohort. I also love the fact you chose to capitalize Grandma. Yes this is an APLANG class and yes we have been wired to analyze every word and letter of a text, but I have always felt a deep interest in the difference between a capital and proper noun—specifically when it comes to words that would be spelled the same way besides that first letter that makes it a proper noun. It adds so much meaning and makes it so much more personal. In my eyes, it's the same difference between “a” and “the” because the first option implies it could be anything or anyone but “the” suggests that it is specific and cannot be understood if it wasn’t for that specific one. I don’t even know if this makes sense; it was a thought I’ve held onto for a while now and I’m happy your blog prompted me to share it, so thanks for enabling me to do so. I also relate to your sharing of how it “felt like hours” in the library. I remember the times where I got so invested in a book sitting at the library, that I did not want to leave till I finished it. Granted, those books were nowhere near the size of books we read now, but hey, who’s counting… I also find it interesting that we collectively have stopped going to the library as we’ve gotten older. It’s kind of sad to think about. To attribute this issue directly with the homeless urges me to think about it, and visualize the homeless that I’ve seen not only at libraries, but in public spaces in general. Especially being near San Francisco, most of us have witnessed extreme levels of homelessness and would be familiar with how it looks, making the issue only more important to us. Finally, I’d like to point out the fact you used your own photo on what looks near the Jamba Juice on Fremont Boulevard (pardon my Geoguessr skills; I’m not too confident if this is that). I feel that this shows how personal and close the issue is to us. Overall, I loved this read, and it helped me understand the details of homelessness in our area.
ReplyDeleteJaycee, I can’t imagine how sad it has been to see that a once-beloved, staple outlet of your childhood, enjoyed with your Grandma, has now been reduced to a place which houses the unhoused as a result of our government’s neglect to fix our rampant economic issues. These rising prices truly stunt community and places of enjoyment in the Bay Area especially, which affect both library-goers and the much unfortunate homeless population, and the blind eye turned to the economic state of this increasingly expensive place to live simply piles more harm onto the people. Nobody benefits from viewing the homeless as crazy people, which they mostly really aren’t (like you said), and from barricading library access—libraries of which are already on the decline as people are more inclined to shut themselves in and read digitally, or not read at all. It’s absurd how the government can reason with remaining standstill to all these things. I do heavily resonate with the last sentence you’ve written—we can’t just stand by like this. But it feels hopeless with how big California is and its wide array of demographics who vote on the representatives in this state who CAN do something about this downward slope of housing issues. Some people truly believe the homeless should just be eradicated—solving nothing. If we don’t fix this troubled economic state, we will get nowhere. And it seems that these issues are reflected across America too, where people just can’t agree on a solution to fix the country or progress it toward a less dysfunctional future. Perhaps our representatives should be evaluated, or something greater should turn the tides of our ever-snowballing problems and struggles…
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I do wish our libraries could be more accessible and homely as they once were. I personally love libraries, they are such sacred places of solace. And, I’m sure they were once comforting to you too!
Jaycee, first thing I wanted to address, even if it’s not as relevant, I’m really glad that you also decided to write about these issues with the library as well! I’m deeply sorry that a place so magical to you in your childhood is slowly being seeped away by the broader work of society. I remember a few years ago seeing some standup by a comedian on YouTube who essentially made a joke grappling with the fact that he, a native Californian, would likely not be able to stay in the place he cherished so deeply simply for the fact that, as you said, it’s so expensive to live here. I also appreciated your ominous separation of “The Economy” from everything else. It really gives the impression that it is something that inevitably looms over all of us, very literally being the title for much struggle. Community is one of the strongest things that can be forged in the world, and the loss of it here is just a domino in a long line of them that have been falling for reasons (including but not limited to The EconomyTM). Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention!
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