[Editorial]

摘要

Libraries are all about access to information in its many forms, and librarians have a long and admirable tradition of striving to increase that access whenever they can. Several recent events have spurred me to think about real-world barriers-visible and invisible-and how seeing them in light of access to the library could influence services. In San Francisco, as in all too many of our cities, the library grapples with a crisis in the level of homelessness. Instead of turning away, the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) has long faced the problem head-on and proactively, originating services designed to support and serve the homeless population, not just manage or police behavior. Now SFPL is helping to provide showers and toilets to the homeless through a partnership with the nonprofit Lava Mae and other city agencies. The mobile showers that Lava Mae developed are so very direct in addressing an immediate need-a seemingly simple solution that resolves a very real problem.