The Open Hearts, Open Minds project is my Innovation Strategy & Roadmap for a program designed to create positive and lasting connections between library staff, patrons experiencing homelessness and law enforcement officers. Many of us who work in public libraries (or not) may be aware of the often contentious relationship between the library, police department and the homeless.
What if we could create opportunities for officers and this community to get to know one another on a personal level by playing board games together, thereby establishing rapport, understanding and perhaps even connecting people with needed services? When you play a card or board game with someone, everyone starts on the same, level playing field and you get to know someone pretty quickly. This program, coupled with the addition of hourly personal belonging lockers is an attempt to remove barriers and communicate the message that the library supports all of its community members.
I wanted to include this news segment from CBS News Wire I found during my research for this project. It takes the idea of “board games with cops” steps farther and educates people about how to safely and lawfully interact in an encounter with law enforcement.
CBS News Wire. (2020, September 29). Board game aims to teach people how to interact with police. WREG Memphis. https://wreg.com/news/board-game-aims-to-teach-people-how-to-interact-with-police/
Hi Laura,
Hi Laura. Bravo! I loved the idea of fostering better relationships between the homeless and police through the use of games, with the eventual idea to expand to other segments, like social services. While I was looking through your report, I was reminded of observing a policeman on his bike, holding a long conversation with a young homeless person in front of a north beach cafe in SF. I was so struck by the fact that these two people seemed to have an on-going relationship. The policeman was offering mentorship and advice to the young man, something I was not used to seeing in the typical interactions between the police and the homeless. It was truly heartwarming to behold!
Thank you, @Roya! Yes, those are heartwarming moments and for me is a big part of what fuels my drive to librarianship–relate-ability and relation-ality with people. It also makes me think of those “Human Kindness” commercials (I think from Sutter Health). I can never watch one without getting welled up.