Meet the NYC Librarian Who’s Helping Change Homeless Kids’ Lives One Book at a Time

"You build relationships with them..."
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Editor

A Bronx librarian’s kind decision to volunteer his time to read to local homeless kids has become a viable model to show cities and other localities how to help increase literacy among poor children.

Colbert Nembhard, who manages the New York Public Library’s Morrisania Branch, has spent the past 8 years visiting children at the Crotona Inn homeless shelter every Wednesday, where he reads stories and sings to kids, The New York Times reported.

Operating out of a day care room at the shelter, Nembhard brings parents and children in, and works to deliver an educational experience for those suffering due to their economic situation; he’s worked hard to make books important fixtures in their lives.

Working as a library branch manager over the years, Nembhard said he saw how libraries often serve the homeless, allowing the poor to put their resumes together, search for housing and explore other services. That said, not every homeless person felt comfortable going inside, so he decided to initiate the reading program to help bring the library to them.

And what started as a good deed has become a model for other shelters in the city looking to consider integrating books and learning into the shelter system, the Times reported.

Nembhard doesn’t simply show up on Wednesday mornings, either. He puts his all into the experience, learning the names of the parents and children he interacts with at the shelter.

“You build relationships with them so that when you see them they feel comfortable,” he told the Times.

Read more about the librarian’s story here.

It’s apparently not all that rare for libraries to support the poor. American Libraries Magazine published a story in 2014 that explained why many homeless people routinely use these locations as places of refuge after spending nights inside shelters or on the streets.

While this certainly adds a complex layer to the process of managing libraries, the American Library Association encourages engagement with the poor and homeless. Here’s the organization’s policy on engaging the poor:

The American Library Association promotes equal access to information for all persons, and recognizes the urgent need to respond to the increasing number of poor children, adults, and families in America. These people are affected by a combination of limitations, including illiteracy, illness, social isolation, homelessness, hunger, and discrimination, which hamper the effectiveness of traditional library services. Therefore it is crucial that libraries recognize their role in enabling poor people to participate fully in a democratic society, by utilizing a wide variety of available resources and strategies. Concrete programs of training and development are needed to sensitize and prepare library staff to identify poor people’s needs and deliver relevant services. And within the American Library Association the coordinating mechanisms of programs and activities dealing with poor people in various divisions, offices, and units should be strengthened, and support for low-income liaison activities should be enhanced.

The organization also lists a variety of ways it encourages libraries to reach these goals. You can check that out here.

(H/T: New York Times)

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