We Must All Serve the Disconnected

Sometimes I envy my public library colleagues. Yes, those of us in academic libraries regularly get professional development funds, faculty status, considerable respect from the teaching faculty, and blessed quiet at 3:15 in the afternoon. But at public libraries, all patrons are considered equal—young or old, rich or poor, marginalized or member of the library board.

Conversely, at private universities, we must give priority both in usage and access to the university community; namely, to the students who pay a great deal of money to have these resources available to them.

Not far from my university is a halfway house for homeless teens. These young people often come to use our computers because the nearby public library requires its patrons to have a library card (which in turn requires an address and a parental signature for minors) and limits the amount of computer time each patron is allowed per day.

Because our library is a member of various programs that share resources among academic libraries, it is open to anyone with a picture ID. Our policy states that computers are to be used for scholarly (i.e., research) purposes, but we tend to be relatively lax in enforcing this when students use the computers to access, for example, email or social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. These days, who's to say that watching a YouTube video isn't research-related?

The visitors from the halfway house are about the same age as our students. While some try to remain as inconspicuous as possible, others seem to invite negative attention, by listening to music without headphones, say, or congregating in one spot to laugh and cut up. Often, however, they are difficult to differentiate from our other patrons.

As Kathy Degyansky of Queens Library, Jamaica, NY, put it in her article "The Disconnected" (LJ 7/08, p. 30–33), these are the disconnected—young adults who have fallen through the cracks and face "insuperable economic and social challenges" as a result. These patrons hang out at libraries more than any other demographic group, to do everything from apply for jobs to play computer games.

I have tried to help some of these young people fill out job applications online, but many have no keyboarding skills; they often can't fill out employment forms, let alone write résumés. Many have either dropped out of high school or barely made it through. And some talk of taking the General Educational Development (GED) test when their skills are not even at the level of taking the prep classes.

They are largely not ready even to begin the preparation process for entering our university, whose curriculum is heavily based on philosophy, theology, and premedical science. In fact, most average high school graduates aren't at the reading level needed for some of our first-year classes.

As a liberal arts university, we believe in the importance of education, especially the importance of lifelong learning in order to achieve wisdom. Wisdom is not the prerogative of any one class or social group. How can we abandon these patrons merely because they have not had the same opportunities as our students?

Moreover, as a religious institution with a fundamental belief in social justice, we are compelled to work to undo the injustices that have created this great inequality.

How best to reach these patrons? The easiest answer is also the most obvious one. Treat them exactly as you would your students. Greet them with hospitality. Don't guard or watch them any more than you might your other patrons. Answer all seemingly menial requests for help promptly and with the same openness and enthusiasm you'd give to a complex research question.

This is not enough to engender real change in these young people's lives, but creating an environment where they feel accepted and respected is a good place to start.

Begin a conversation with your students about this issue, and ask for their input. Our students are dedicated to social justice and have done everything from instigating recycling efforts to offsetting our carbon footprint by planting trees to demanding fair wages for the janitorial staff.

Once students become aware of a problem, they are usually very creative in finding solutions, and they can be an invaluable resource in improving the library experience of their peers.

The needs of these "hidden" patrons are increasingly being served in public libraries. It is time academic libraries step up to the challenge as well.