A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon news story “When did America’s public libraries become homeless encampments?” from Conservative Blaze Media. I thought: Yeah. Because that has been the situation with the carport at San Diego Public Library University Heights branch for years. I often wondered why homeless men (mostly) and (fewer) women chose the location.
While I link to the story, published on May 31, 2025, you can’t read it without a subscription. C`mon Blaze? You can’t give readers a couple free reads a month? O.W. Root writes: “Across the United States, a tragic number of public libraries have turned into daytime homeless shelters and temporary asylums for the mentally ill, the insane, and generally disturbed”.
I don’t go inside my local library enough to say whether homeless are camped out in the aisles, but outside beneath the structure they are a fixture. Correction: Were. On June 30, while walking to Sprouts market, my wife and I passed the library, which carport is now blocked by a massive chain-link fence. Today, I asked a librarian about when the structure was erected. “About a week ago”, she answered. What I should also have asked (but didn’t): Why are homeless blocked and why now?
Left-leaning The Guardian is more generous with its free-reading policies. “Why US libraries are on the frontlines of the homelessness crisis” is two-and-a-half years old but as relevant as the current Blaze story—and you can actually read it.
The Featured Image, captured using Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, shows off the new barrier in all its glory. I wonder where the vagrant exiles will relocate and what will be the consequences. We may see more canyon fires, for starters, resulting from encampment displacement. I won’t guess what else. You can. Please feel free.
Photo vitals: f/1.7, ISO 80, 1/8000 sec, 23mm (film equivalent); 9:23 a.m. PDT. Composed as shot.
Footnote: This post’s title pays homage to the Tom Petty song of the same name. The music video is storybook themed. You recognize which fantasy, right? And the irony?