Metal detectors, social workers and naloxone: how Canadian libraries are responding to communities in crisis

Author Shannon VanRaes
“The public library is the community’s living room.”

Why It Matters

Libraries are increasingly having to deal with complex social issues such as homelessness, poverty and addiction as Canada’s existing safety nets strain under the weight of pandemic fall-out and austerity. However, libraries aren’t prepared to become a catch-all solution for systemic problems.

var TRINITY_TTS_WP_CONFIG = {"cleanText":"Metal detectors, social workers and naloxone: how Canadian libraries are responding to communities in crisis. WINNIPEG\/TREATY 1 \u2014 Two armed police officers, thumbs jammed under their bulletproof vests, watch people queue at an airport-style metal detector as private security guards poke through bags with yellow sticks; from somewhere above a man yells \u201cfascists\u201d at the scene below. Welcome to Winnipeg\u2019s Millennium Library . \u201cI don\u2019t like this at all. I\u2019m only here because my mom asked me to pick something up. I don\u2019t want to come back,\u201d says Susan Plett before joining the line. \u201cIt really seems like too much.\u201d Another man, who doesn\u2019t speak English, stops in front of signs detailing the libr

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