![]() ![]() That growth can sometimes drive public animosity. Between 20, the number of people experiencing homelessness in the state grew by 9,973. An estimated 30 percent of the homeless population in the US lives in California, with 171,521 people tallied on a single night.Īnd that population is expanding, as many Californians struggle with high costs of living relative to other parts of the country, resulting in housing insecurity and other issues. For Wetta, the situation raises the question of “why library workers are being asked to step up and fill those gaps”.Ĭalifornia is the state with the highest rate of homelessness in the country, according to a December report ( PDF) released by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. “A lot of these programmes we offer are in response to gaps in existing services,” said Molly Wetta, library services manager at the Santa Barbara Public Library, along the central California coast. As the western state struggles with issues ranging from extreme weather to homelessness, library staff find themselves on the front lines, addressing a gamut of needs, from disaster relief to shelter. There weren’t any shortcuts: You had to put in the work.”īut while libraries in the United States often serve as centres for education and literacy, California’s library network has faced a unique set of challenges in recent years. ![]() You could take courses online, and since I have a job and bills to pay, that appealed to me a lot,” Irons told Al Jazeera over a recent phone call. “It was posted everywhere at the library, every time I went there. After 18 months, Irons finished the course and obtained her diploma. Irons found the answer in a place many Californians have turned for help in difficult circumstances: the local public library.Īfter seeing posters at the San Francisco Public Library for an online programme where people could earn an accredited high school diploma, Irons decided it was time to give it a try. Los Angeles, California – Terrae Irons had been mulling the possibility of completing a high school education in the hope of qualifying for a better-paying job in office management, but did not know where to start. ![]()
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