BOZEMAN — Public libraries across the country are all the same; they welcome everyone no matter what, and it's no different here at the Bozeman Public Library.
John Dinneny is among the thousand patrons visiting the library nearly daily.
“I go up to the library just to try and stay warm throughout the day,” John says.
When John's truck broke down and the HRDC's Warming Center was closed for the day, he knew he could stay warm at the library.
“I was trying candles and everything in my truck, but I was always seeing my breath, so that's when I had to go to the library,” John says.
John walked nearly an hour to the library in below-freezing temperatures. Library Director Susan Gregory says everyone is welcome.
“We are talking about human beings being out in the snow, in the ice. If they can behave, they are more than welcome to be here. We open the door,” Gregory says.
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The library holds everyone to the same behavioral standards.
“We go in waves where there'll be three or four people who might create a series of incidents, the main thing being, they're inebriated, or they're struggling with some sort of mental illness,” Gregory says.
The library staff is well-trained in de-escalating situations; there is also a police presence at the library, and they are looking at private security for the weekends.
“Having that presence of someone here, we've been told by patrons reassures them that there is someone sort of keeping order and there is some that gives us somebody, that this patron who's in crisis or patron who's having a hard time can talk to, but that security person will deal with it rather than our library staff.”
Of course, the library's primary mission isn't just keeping people warm. Gregory says the library is the people's university.
“The baseline for a public library is the dignity of the individual and the freedom of everyone. To have access to the information that they want,” Gregory says.
The Bozeman Public Library hopes to open a west side location in the near future.
