Just Access: Public Library Marginalization of Unhoused Patrons

ABSTRACT Unhoused patrons are uniquely vulnerable to marginalizing public library policies. To first capture the scope of the problem and then to offer a lens for productive critique, I perform a content analysis on the behavior policies of all thirty‐five library systems in Los Angeles County, California, USA, describing the methods by which libraries deny unhoused patrons access to library spaces. Then, by applying Iris Marion Young's work on “enabling justice” to these policies, I give a name to these processes: marginalization. I argue that if public libraries are to live up to their name, policies that affect public access need to be viewed through a justice lens. Public libraries that truly are “public” need to design policies that enable justice for all members of their public, and the methods I apply to the Los Angeles County case study offer tools to aid that transformation.