Homeless in RI: In extreme cold or heat, Libraries often become place for respite – with ecoRI

by Colleen Cronin, ecoRI.org

Photo: Providence’s public libraries, including the Rochambeau Library, above, can become official heating and cooling centers during extreme temperatures. (Providence Public Libraries)

In the dog days of summer or the icy chill of winter, Rochambeau Library is cooled or heated to a comfortable temperature. There’s a little coffee machine for visitors to use, cushy chairs next to the big windows that overlook Hope Street, and plenty of reading material.

Rochambeau, like many public libraries, is one of the few third spaces — locations outside of home and work — that is free and open for anyone to use. Because of that, libraries have become a place where people can be safe and comfortable during cycles of extreme weather, whether they’re looking for a place to warm up, cool down, or stay dry.

When the weather is particularly brutal, the Community Libraries of Providence, which includes Rochambeau and eight other locations, become official city heating and cooling centers, according to library director Cheryl Space.

“What’s nice about the library is, when we’re open, you know, we can offer a movie. Obviously, there’s books, there’s magazines, there’s computers, there’s games, there’s puzzles, there’s tons of stuff for folks to do,” Space said. “Libraries make ideal heating and cooling centers for that reason.”

Space said during spells of extreme heat in particular, libraries can be places for people to cool off. While there are protections and regulations in Rhode Island that help guarantee heat for residents, fewer people have air conditioners to combat warming New England summers.

With funding from the Providence Office of Sustainability, Space said the library has been able to open up a few times on days it usually be closed to offer air conditioning. They also recently installed water fountains, which are particularly important during heat waves.

Even in normal winter cold or summer heat, Space said she sees a lot of people taking advantage of the libraries’ amenities.

“It does hold a unique place in the community,” she said. Sure, there’s coffee shops and restaurants where people can go, Space continued, but there’s an expectation that they have to buy something and can only stay for a certain length of time. “So, I think we do fill a unique need every single day.”

East Providence Public Library director Meredith Bonds-Harmon also said she sees community members coming in for a respite from the weather.

“In the summer, we see a lot of use of the library specifically because it is cool and air-conditioned,” she said. “We’ll see folks just spending time reading, using the computer, and just being in the building to enjoy the air conditioning, as well as also in the winter with heat.”

“And I don’t take that for granted,” Bonds-Harmon added.

The East Providence Public Library system is also used as an emergency heating/cooling center — although Bonds-Harmon has noticed that the library’s Wi-Fi, which extends to the parking lot and can be used even when the building is closed, has also come in handy when big storms have knocked power out in other parts of the city.

When asked about how she saw libraries fitting into climate resilience — or communities’ ability to combat a changing climate — Bonds-Harmon said she wouldn’t go that far.

“As much as I wish we were as innovative and adaptive to be called climate resilient,” she said, “what we are is hyper-responsive to community needs and local needs, and doing what we can to fulfill the people who use our library their basic needs.”

On top of providing free access to utilities, the library also has a “community cupboard,” where visitors can find basic hygiene and medical products. The library also has a social worker on staff who can help connect visitors to things such as housing and medical care.

But being able to provide those essential offerings can sometimes feel precarious, according to both Bonds-Harmon and Space.

The East Providence Public Library’s social worker position is funded by a temporary grant that Bonds-Harmon said they’re trying to find new funding sources for.

Earlier this year, the Community Libraries of Providence faced potential funding shortages, urging Space to write a public letter warning of potential closures. City funding issues have been figured out and the libraries won’t lose money, Space said, but more resources are always needed.

“We never have enough,” Space said. “We have these buildings and we have staff and we have resources, but six of our libraries are not even open on Saturday, and they’re only open one night a week.”

“We’re always sort of struggling along a little bit from that sense in that we have to sort of compromise on what we’re offering,” she added, which is a lot more than just books.

“I often feel like we kind of level the playing field,” Bonds-Harmon said. “I feel proud that we provide a service that can be considered maybe by some very simple and basic, but also a necessity and really valuable to those who need it.”

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This article is printed in publication partnership with ecoRI.org, a fellow member of the Rhode Island News Collaborative