ABSTRACT
Across the United States, many in the library workforce are addressing the challenges of community homelessness on a daily basis without the necessary vocabulary, background, and tools. This chapter discusses a case study of two online library and information science (LIS) courses. The first was entitled “The Role of Libraries in Addressing Homelessness and Poverty” (INSC 590), taught annually at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville’s (UTK) School of Information Sciences. The second was entitled “Youth and Children Homelessness: The Role of Libraries” (LIS 598H) and was co-taught in winter 2021 for the Information School at the University of Washington (UW). Both courses offered students an in-depth look at the daily challenges of homelessness and the ways in which libraries can grapple with this social justice issue. The chapter provides examples of how these subjects were approached and the responses of the students to the material. Examples of action plans, the culminating project for both courses, are also presented. Homelessness is a confluence of multiple societal and systemic failures that cannot be remedied easily. Using a social justice approach, these classes highlight inequities, while encouraging and supporting library-related actions that can make a difference to community members who are unhoused.
