Homeless people, through virtual reality, artificial intelligence, gamification or role-playing games for example, and even robots can in the library, interact with a world where when on and off virtual reality and any other emerging technology, can improve their mental health and wellbeing.
Also because of the fact that the homeless spend a majority of their time on a computer or connected to a Wi-Fi, hotspot, etc., with the use of earphones or they watch videos, they can while connected to these resources be for a greater time period while at the library, engaged in, when not in use of VR, AI or any other emerging technology, viewing or listening to mental health videos, apps, etc.
A library isn’t a mental health institution, and it isn’t incumbent upon librarians or even the library to have resources for the homeless. Or is it? Since so many homeless have access to the library, why not provide with an outlet to better their mental health so that they can, hopefully, re-engage with society.
In my research so far of the Burbank Central Library, I have seen the sheltered and homeless looking for food in the trash cans outside of the library, sleeping on the floor in front of library and on the it’s grounds, using their bathroom, sitting at their chairs and tables with all their stuff in a backpack or many bags while they read a book or magazine or are charging their phone and tablet while they sleep or listen to something on their devices or are watching something on their devices, using their seats as beds, and using their computers to search the internet or use YouTube, I’ve seen one man talking out loud erratically in a foreign language and two homeless argue to the point of a fight where one of them was punched in the face and knocked down while the other screamed and yelled at him and asked others while he was on the floor if they saw that. I’ve also seen the almost helplessness of a librarian who seem to not know what to do in these situations and can only ask them to quiet down or how they are doing and if it got too severe to call the police.
It isn’t the library’s or librarians' job to provide mental health resources to the homeless nor is the library a mental health institution, yet the library has the technological resources to connect them to that.
For example, for the homeless man who has more than once clogged the toilet in the men’s restroom rendering it unusable for other and who talks almost incomprehensibly and loudly to the point of it being disturbing, couldn’t he as soon as he walks into the library, have a VR headset ready for him and put on him where he can preset the app, game or program to match what he would describe is happening to him so then that he can work on that mental health issue in peace and quiet in the library? And after he is done for that day, he can record his responses in a survey which data would then be used the next day in the presets he set? Or he could be typing everything he is saying also to an AI chatbot.
Could he not then be placed in a VR situation which although not having anything to do with their mental health problems, at least be trained for employment or be at least engaged virtually in a world which is less painful than the life that they are living?
In a place where a technology or technologies such as VR or AI is emerging, libraries are a place where such a thing as mental health can be addressed and made accessible to patrons of the library, especially those patrons who are the homeless of the community (Raizada, 2024). Because of AI for example, based on the user’s input and feedback, there can be accurate predictions of what they are going through and what can be done for them based on their mental health profile. The apps that come along with these can use the devices’ built-in sensors to collect their information about their typical mental health and behavior, and the app can then detect changes in their mental health and behavior which can then be a signal that help is needed, if it is that a crisis is occurring or can occur (National Institute of Mental Health, 2019). Instead of them walking in and out of the library every day and every week in the same mental condition, they can be improved every day, every hour by the hour with the hope that they will come to realize what has been afflicting them in their past or present or even in their future, and this with the help of technology in the library.
Works Cited
National Institute of Mental Health. (2019). Technology and the future of mental health treatment. Www.nimh.nih.gov. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/technology-and-the-future-of-mental-health-treatment
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