[pachyderm]

"People with untreated severe mental illnesses may pose a greater risk to the future of America’s public libraries than does the invention of the Internet, according to a new survey released in the March/April edition of Public Libraries, the journal of the American Library Association."

(DocJohn has an article on his Blog pointing to this; he says he cannot find the survey. This is from an outfit called the Treatment Advocacy Center, of ill fame over many years, in my opinion.)

http://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.o...352&Itemid=247

[bestillandknow]

[quote=pachyderm;992829]"People with untreated severe mental illnesses may pose a greater risk to the future of America’s public libraries than does the invention of the Internet, according to a new survey released in the March/April edition of Public Libraries, the journal of the American Library Association."

(DocJohn has an article on his Blog pointing to this; he says he cannot find the survey. This is from an outfit called the Treatment Advocacy Center, of ill fame over many years, in my opinion.)

Ha! Not surprising. Ofcourse, this means all the children who convene at our library after school are too full of Fruit Loops? I think in larger cities about 35yrs. back or so-libraries had security guards to enforce the standard policies of conduct. Parents in our small community value our library, our librarians-and our children's social priveledges. We try to work together to teach them proper behavior, and why the rules are there.
Usually, a church is still alerted in the most dire situations where there are
no other relatives-but the State Hospital is where the unruly are 'roused through the process' again. What does everyone plan to do about this problem?
Yes, what will we do with all the homeless whack-jobs in the streets-round them up and end their misery? How can we strain out which homeless are which, with so many out of work, and the relief shelters
overflowing? How muddy the waters of poverty and confusion!
Strange, how-the problems of the few 'oddballs' of society have become the 'problems & stressors' of over 4 million!
Who would do that? We'd better wake up and pay better attention.

[thelionkinglives]

Originally Posted by pachyderm

"People with untreated severe mental illnesses may pose a greater risk to the future of America’s public libraries than does the invention of the Internet, according to a new survey released in the March/April edition of Public Libraries, the journal of the American Library Association."

(DocJohn has an article on his Blog pointing to this; he says he cannot find the survey. This is from an outfit called the Treatment Advocacy Center, of ill fame over many years, in my opinion.)

http://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.o...352&Itemid=247

LOL!!! I had an issue in the library a few years back. I walked in with my wife & my 2 oldest kids. I went to check out a couple books on witchcraft & pagan stuff. The lady looked at the photo on my library card said that she didn't believe it was me....same white guy, same green eyes, same goatee which also matched my drivers license...I eventually started getting loud & maybe dropped a couple 4 letter words...the security lady came over, looked at my id & let me check them out...

who the hell is going to get a fake library card?

Yes, because I'm going to ruin all of your libraries. If anything I'll just be a pain in the butt by maticulously scanning the shelves over and over and over...and then walk away to another aisle and do the same thing...and then walk back and look some more... because I can never make up my mind on what book looks the best and really good to read... and for whatever reason I'm always really jumpy when it comes to other people during this process...

Me: *scanning books*
Person: *comes within sight of me*
Me: *darts behind bookshelf*

Yeah, I try to avoid as much human contact as possible in the library... or any other public place such as a library for some reason... probably because they are all strangers and I have stranger issues. I'm okay so long as there are some people I actually know around.

So yes, hold your children tight to you for I might go bolting at the sight of you like a feral cat and that has to set some kind of bad example for little Jhonny...right?

Originally Posted by thelionkinglives

who the hell is going to get a fake library card?

An illegal immigrant who really wants to read Oliver Twist.

[freemychi]

Other findings include:

• 28 percent say they have witnessed someone with a psychiatric disorder assault a staff member;
• 58 percent report more library patrons who appear to have serious psychiatric disorders now than when they first started working in the library;
• 61 percent say library patrons with psychiatric disorders utilize a disproportionate amount of staff time; and,
• 66 percent say they have needed to change library rules because of patrons with mental illnesses.

Well I think we all know what that 61 percent taking up all that staff time is, well it is me quite frankly stalking back and forth between librarians with questions about the self help section of the libarary stacks. I quite frankly am trying to not only diagnose my conditions but also harassing that poor staff( the same staff that is getting paid to do a JOB) about various meditation books while also asking about you know that one book called "Wherever you go, there you are". Quite honestly its been about 7 years and I still keep asking these librarians what the heck do it mean? Wherever you go, there you are....uh, perhaps the definition of walking....as in I go someplace and I arrive.

Oh well, I can't really explain why people think this, if you'll excuse me I have to go back to the library and bring some more of my mentally ill homies to ask some more "crazy" questions...

Can you smmmeeeeelllllllllllll the scarcasm?

[Rhapsody]

WOW - I never knew..... I have lived in the same city for thirty two years and I have never seen nor heard of this happening here.

[pachyderm]

Originally Posted by Rhapsody

WOW - I never knew..... I have lived in the same city for thirty two years and I have never seen nor heard of this happening here.

Maybe that's because it did not happen.

[spiritual_emergency]

I went searching for the study myself and was able to find a PDF version at the article linked below...

Press release vs. article

The article, headlined “Problems Associated with Mentally Ill Individuals in Public Libraries" (PDF) offers significant details about the design of the survey and the responses to an issue that librarians, notably former Salt Lake City Public Library deputy director Chip Ward, have been raising publicly. (Here’s a 5/28/08 LJ Q&A with Ward, who is also cited in the article.)

Source: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6650957.html

Overall, I found the tone of the article to be distasteful because it's purporting a treatment that does not cure, it only warehouses.

I can sympathize with the difficulties library staff may have to endure however as one librarian quoted in the article above noted:

“I used to work in a public library and certainly we had a number of patrons who exhibited symptoms of various mental and physical health conditions. Was this uncomfortable for some other patrons or staff? Sure. But there’s no law against being uncomfortable in a social situation…. Patrons who actually violated rules (after reasonable accommodation) are another kettle of fish entirely. Some folks who exhibited symptoms and plenty of folks who didn’t exhibit symptoms were asked to leave because of behavior that made the library unsafe or unproductive.”

The point being that library staff may often find themselves in the position of having to deal with difficult patrons, some of whom may be mentally ill and many others who may not be ill at all. It is to Torrey's benefit to focus strictly on the "assumed mentally ill" but it may well be that the mentally healthy pose a greater risk and strain on library staff and resources.

Here's a direct link to the PDF File: Mentally Ill Individuals in Public Libraries

Note that the referenced item in the article above regarding Salt Lake City Public Library deputy director Chip Ward were also interesting. Ward did not recommend forced treatment however, he proposed the provision of housing and a stable environment.

In the essay, titled “What They Didn't Teach Us in Library School: The Public Library as an Asylum for the Homeless,” Ward discussed how the “library wrestles with where to draw the line on odor,” how overworked local social workers and overwhelmed local hospitals were “uncertain allies,” how a librarian who left social work because of emotional stress rediscovered her despair at being unable to help “mentally ill people,” and how the clearest solution—difficult in these underfunded times—is the provision of housing and a stable environment. (LJ noted it.)

According to the same interview, a movie is also in the works...

Q. How’d the movie come about?
A.. Emilio Estevez and his dad, Martin Sheen, read TomDispatch.com. Emilio contacted me, said he was very moved and interested in the topic, and wanted to do a movie. My big fear was it would turn into some kind of comedy. I was very assured Emilio got it and he was serious.

Q. Did you have any input?
A. Not really. [Emilio] sent me the script. I told him, there are dogs that know more about algebra than I do about screenplays. But Emilio did find it inspiring and wanted to honor that. The title is The Public—it’s apparently the nickname of the Los Angeles Public Library. It would be a mistake to think the movie is just about homeless people in the library; it’s also as much about erosion of civil liberties and climate of paranoia.

[The Hollywood Reporter said of the movie in a February 5 article: “The story, set in Los Angeles, takes place during a 48-hour period on the two coldest days in the city, with the library overwhelmed by people seeking shelter. After getting rebuffed by the administration to keep the doors open, one librarian stages an act of civil disobedience. He ends up dealing with the library's new inhabitants, many of them mentally ill.”]

Source: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6563612.html

.

[KathyM]

I realize serious psychiatric disorders can be a true danger to library staff and patrons, but who are they to determine who is and who is not dangerous or mentally ill?

It's not only the mentally ill. One of our suburban libraries are trying to enforce a hygiene code - an underhanded way to oust the homeless. So will people have to pass the smell and fashion test before entering the library? Again, who will decide who smells good enough to enter?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-smelly-libraries-13-apr13,0,2550405.story

In another suburb, one of our libraries are complaining of disorderly drunks. It's another underhanded way to oust the increased number of homeless after the local homeless shelter closed. I find it sad armed policemen have to defend the library against it's own people. I find it kind of sad this suburb has a shelter for animals, but not human beings.

http://www.thereporteronline.net/atf.php?sid=14660

[free2beme]

"Why are public libraries still important to society?"

Libraries are a cornerstone of democracy. Free speech, intellectual freedom, and open access to information are essential to a free nation. Public libraries protect the right of every citizen, regardless of race, age, gender, or economic status, to have access to any information that is vital to his/her life.

from: http://archive.mailtribune.com/archi...ary_column.htm

People are born with all sorts of different advantages. Those advantages might include high intelligence, great wealth, a secure and loving family, a respect for education, nurturing teachers, a safe neighborhood, a chance to play, not being born genetically susceptible to substance abuse or mental illness, not witnessing violence, not being a victim of rape or abuse, etc.

The way life works is that once you have a disadvantage, other disadvantages tend to come along with it. If you have a predilection to depression, that makes you more likely to be an alcoholic. If you are unlucky, you become depressed and an alcoholic. If you are depressed and alcoholic, you are likely not to have a stable family life, secure income, good education, etc. So these "risk factors" tend to snowball.

Further, our society is not set up to help people who have a strike against them. If you lose your job, you can become depressed. You also lose your health insurance, so you can't get treatment for depression. Depression makes it harder to find a job. Not having a job makes you more likely to become an alcoholic, or lose your family. So many people are just a car repair away from being homeless. If their car breaks down, they can't get their job. They have so little resources that just that little change can tip them over. It is like standing on top of a giant ball of ice. As long as you are on top, you are fine. But begin slipping just a little, and pretty soon you are slipping faster and faster off the side. And the mantra you hear is "You have to decide to change," as if everything bad in your life is your choice.

Libraries are one of the few things in the world that give even the worst-off people a chance to improve themselves. People can learn about depression, alcoholism, personal finances, how to find a job, fix their house. It isn't easy, and you still have to work hard. You have to know English, and you have to spend many hours at it. But a library at least offers a door.

So it is one of the very few forces in the world that can help you climb back up if you slip, that doesn't help only the people who already have a lot going for them.

Libraries treat every question, every need, every person equally, with the same respect. You can learn why you can't seem to concentrate, why you feel so bad about yourself, why you can't get a job, without judging. It is an open book.

from: http://askville.amazon.com/public-li...uestId=1025025

[ewingrrl]

Hm... I used to spend all my spare time in college in the library (cuz I had no friends and was afraid of the common areas) in the psych or history sections... often sitting on the floor reading and comparing segments of several books at a time, giving nervous sideways glances at anyone who came by... nobody ever did... I was the only one who read those books.

[(JD)]

how a librarian who left social work because of emotional stress rediscovered her despair at being unable to help “mentally ill people,

Obvious to me that this person doesn't belong in the helping nor service professions! And perhaps that is the problem with any library encountering such a dilemma? The employees think all they need to do is scan books and stock and straighten shelves, and have no people skills. It may be that the employees are the ones with the mental disorder of not wanting to deal with people? Oh my.

[pachyderm]

Originally Posted by _Sky

Obvious to me that this person doesn't belong in the helping nor service professions! And perhaps that is the problem with any library encountering such a dilemma? The employees think all they need to do is scan books and stock and straighten shelves, and have no people skills. It may be that the employees are the ones with the mental disorder of not wanting to deal with people? Oh my.

Maybe the person quoted does not actually represent the average library worker. Maybe they are not as limited when thinking about people as that. Think about the source of the original article: E. Fuller Torrey's [Involuntary] "Treatment Advocacy Center".

[(JD)]

as you said "of ill fame" ???

[Perna]

124 librarians polled, does not a scientific study make? There are at least 123,129 libraries in the U.S. http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offi...factsheet1.cfm and if you have an "average" of, say, 3-5 librarians there. . . rather small sample. I don't think I'm running for the hills yet.

[pachyderm]

E. Fuller Torrey is "of ill fame" in my book and in that of some others. You can see some information about him, including criticisms, on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuller_Torrey

[LizzyB]

My 24 year old son works at our local public library. He is also eventually going to become a librarian. I told him about this discussion thread. He has quite a sense of humor about the whole thing. Of course, he has twice been hospitalized due to mental illness (depression and anxiety) himself, so he has sympathy for the mentally ill. Also, his uncle is schizophrenic. But when I told him about the thread, he started laughing about all the wierd and bizzare behavior he sometimes sees due to some of the mentally ill patrons at the library. He has never been physically assaulted, nor has he witnessed a physical assault by any of the known mentally ill patrons at our library. Many of the "regulars", in fact, are very well read and literate and well-versed in a lot of topics. Some of the regulars also are devoted to their library, and would probably spring to its defense if called upon. But....there are a few patrons who are fine when medicated and utterly bizzare once in a while when their medication is off somehow. Then, he recalls that when he was brand new to the job, there was a crazy woman patron, well known to the rest of the staff but not him yet, who verbally assaulted him about Lindsey Lohan of all things!!!! He had made an offhand comment about Ms. Lohan, and the patron just went off on him (about how Lindsey needs help and alcoholism is a serious dixease and on and on). His supervisor heard, and told him to go into the back for 15 minutes or so, until the patron's rant had run its course.
He has lots of funny stories, and he's good at telling them, while I'm not.
But he feels that the teens who frequent the library are more trouble than the mentally ill patrons, generally speaking.
Just thought I'd add that personal perspective.