Chicago Public Library Makes Homeless, Others Feel Welcome

Tom Knoska steps out of the Pacific Garden Mission on State Street on a hot and windy June day holding a plastic CVS pharmacy bag and headed no where in particular. He walks with a cane and with each step his right leg sticks out slightly awkwardly. His white t-shirt and jeans are spotless and his hair and beard are neatly trimmed.

"I had a stroke in '97 and couldn't get insurance. The money ran out and that's basically what happened. I've been here off and on since 2003", he said.
After the stroke Tom spent weeks in the hospital and lived in a nursing home causing his medical bills to soar. He went through an inheritance left to him by his mother after her death in 1995 and later sold his home because he could not afford to pay the property taxes. He eventually ended up homeless.

"Well, it's [Pacific Garden Mission] open 24 hours. It's free room and board and the food is OK. I ain't got no points with the food. There's no reason for anyone to stay hungry in the city of Chicago. They'll take anybody. Doesn't matter who they are or what they did," he said.

The Harold Washington Library Center sits on the corner of Congress and State one block north of Pacific Garden Mission. Tom goes there frequently.

"I go there all year but I read like crazy anyway. I've been of the opinion that if I couldn't read I would have shot myself a long time ago. Of course I don't mean that seriously, but I don't know what else I would do," he said.

Tom admittedly reads a little of everything occasionally picking up biographies, mysteries and historical texts in addition daily newspapers. He has a library card and says that he goes through about 4 or 5 books a week.

Although he has never had any problems dealing with library staff or anyone who uses the library, some other homeless men have had different experiences.
"Security has problems with some of the guys. Some of the guys don't know how to act. They tear up the bathrooms, bother the women. You know, there's always that element. I don't think they are treated badly per se. They have problems with those guys but security is always on it," he said.