One of D.C.’s largest public libraries has begun enforcing rules against sleeping and lying down on library property, a move that will further limit spaces in the city available for people experiencing homelessness.
As of Aug. 20, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in downtown D.C. implemented a new protocol to more stringently enforce its rules of behavior, specifically its policies against sleeping or lying down inside or right outside the library. Advocates and people experiencing homelessness who frequent the library see the move as “inhumane,” “aggressive” and a “no-win situation” that will make the library a less friendly space for people experiencing homelessness. The policies prevent sleeping outside the library overnight, which about 20 people did, according to people who spend their nights there.
Sitting on the first floor of MLK Library and wearing a red “Homeless Lives Matter” shirt, Susan Young told Street Sense the library is central to her life. She spends most of her nights under the awning on the side of the library, and her days inside reading, writing, or working on her advocacy projects.
Young was notified about the new protocols via a flyer library staff gave her during the week of Aug. 5. She disagrees with the rules, in part, because now she doesn’t know where she’ll go at night, and because it would be nice to be able to rest inside when the library is open. But she’s unsurprised by the move.
“I’m used to being told you can’t be here anymore,” Young told Street Sense.
Since 2014, the rules of behavior for all D.C. Public Libraries (DCPL) have included a prohibition against sleeping or lying down, according to the D.C. Register. But the library hasn’t enforced these rules through signage or overnight patrols outside by the Office of Safety (OPS), uniformed police officers the library employs.
The library administration announced the new enforcement at MLK to staff on July 31. The accompanying PowerPoint presentation, obtained by Street Sense, says OPS will conduct overnight patrols for up to 30 days around MLK Library to “ensure the area around the building remains clear for health and safety reasons.” A spokesperson for DCPL told Street Sense the protocols aim to address documented instances of drug use and criminal activity under the awning on the front and side of the library, as well as a recent loss of life, adding regular library staff are not equipped to handle those situations.
“Individuals will not be allowed to lie down or camp out in and around MLK unless participating in an authorized activity,” the presentation read.
If individuals do not move themselves or their belongings when asked, they will be issued a “bar notice” that prohibits them from entering all DCPL locations. If an individual returns after being given a “bar notice,” they can be asked to leave. If they refuse to leave, they can have their bar extended and are subject to arrest, according to the presentation. As of now, these protocols only apply to the MLK Library downtown, though the ban on sleeping is technically policy at all 26 DCPL locations.
Jamie Smith, who, like Young, sleeps outside the library most nights, was also notified of the new enforcement via a flyer. He told Street Sense the nearly 20 people, who spend their nights under the awning waiting for the library to open, all received flyers explaining the new protocol and were told by library staff they would no longer be allowed on library property at night.
Smith said library staff told him security would be outside the library at all times and people could face severe consequences — including arrest — for sleeping there.
“We have to vacate by the 20th or there will be other consequences,” Smith said in early August. “If they catch someone sleeping, they’re going to lock them up on sight.”
A spokesperson for DCPL clarified that no one will be immediately arrested, rather staff “will first attempt to inform people and connect them with social services to help them.”
Smith and his friend Nabarro Lloyd told Street Sense they think the new protocols are being implemented in part because “people with money” have been complaining about the presence of people experiencing homelessness outside MLK Library. While DCPL did not say this was a factor in the closure, it is not uncommon for anti-homeless neighbors and businesses to encourage encampment closures. Smith and Lloyd noted people often urinate outside the library, causing unpleasant smells, but urged compassion — some of those people might have medical conditions, they said, and there aren’t any public restrooms nearby at night.
Young said she didn’t have concerns about staying out under the awning most nights.
“It was good, the only problem was the mosquitos,” she said.
Despite the increased enforcement outside MLK, the interim guidelines of behavior recently released by the library show that when it comes to sleeping inside, the library staff have been instructed to take a more lenient approach. While they are still expected to enforce the prohibition on lying down, they are not supposed to enforce the prohibition on “sleeping, or appearance of sleeping;” rather staff is instructed to “use their best judgment,” and only rouse someone who appears to be sleeping if they are concerned they might need medical attention.
The DCPL spokesperson told Street Sense the new protocols would apply to all library patrons equally, and staff do not assume someone who is sleeping in the library is necessarily experiencing homelessness. The spokesperson also clarified the protocols do not constitute a new policy but the enforcement of an existing policy, and that all staff, not just OPS, are responsible for enforcing them.
Both advocates and people experiencing homelessness who regularly use the library are angered by the increased enforcement. Smith told Street Sense he was frustrated about the new protocol and didn’t know where else he would go.
“It’s a no win situation, except that they’ll let us sleep here till the 20th,” Smith said days before the library began enforcing the protocol.
Stop the Sweeps, a group that organizes in D.C. to oppose encampment closures, put together a petition to oppose the new protocols. It’s garnered over 1,200 signatures so far. The petition condemns the protocols as “aggressive” and states they are “a concerning departure from the role libraries should be serving in our communities.”
“We’re especially concerned about, like, these new policies at the library, just because the library is such an important institution as, one of the only public spaces where someone can exist indoors without the expectation of spending money, or having, like, a reason to be there,” Stop the Sweeps organizer Adam Klager said. They also noted that the awning at MLK Library is an important refuge for many people experiencing homelessness who live downtown.
“I personally was at the library on Saturday interviewing folks, who are outside, about the new policies. I know a number of people, named that, like, they specifically sleep outside the library because it’s, the only public building in downtown D.C. with a big overhang that, like, historically, at least people have been able to sleep under and so it’s like a safe place if you don’t have a tent,” Klager said.
The petition also condemns the use of police officers in enforcing the new protocols, arguing it puts unhoused people at risk for police violence. Smith and Lloyd both also noted that using police officers to enforce the protocols could lead to criminalization and negative interactions between police and people experiencing homelessness. There are worries that the new protocols could snowball into limiting the overall access of people experiencing homelessness to the library.
“One of the worrying things about the new policies is that people who are, you know, kicked out or whatever. Or who are sleeping after they’re implemented and are caught, are then hit with bans from the library overall, which means that they can’t go inside the library during the day either,” Klager said. “And that just makes the space, you know, less welcoming to unhoused people as well.”
Reginald Black, a vendor for Street Sense, who has sold his papers outside of MLK, concurs with Klager. He learned of the new protocols at a recent Interagency Council on Homelessness meeting, and he sees them as a “bombshell” that’s going to prevent people experiencing homelessness from using one of the few refuges that exists downtown.
“It’s sad to think because they are implementing this policy, and it’s going to have ramifications on the whole G Street corridor,” Black said. “It will make that corridor essentially anti-homelessness.”
The petition, like Black, connects the new enforcement to a nationwide increase in policies that criminalize homelessness, especially after Johnson v. Grants Pass, and make public spaces “increasingly hostile to unhoused individuals,” Lloyd said, adding that that sentiment rings particularly true at MLK Library, given its namesake.
“This is not what it’s supposed to represent,” he said. “It’s named after Martin Luther King.”
