I don't know how robust your museum's evaluation programs are, but echoing those who referred to possible solutions that do not involve the criminal justice system, it could be a truly radical act to get a qualitative sense of why the specific people in your lobby chose your lobby. While the answers may seem simple enough--shelter, climate control, a place to be that is clean, has water and a restroom, that has not yet been hostile to these uses/needs--hearing individual stories might actually help to understand the path that leads these particular people to your door. Perhaps the human needs and stories that are elicited could even serve as a basis for an exhibition or cultural collaboration with orgs that work to serve that community.
While I understand the complexity of balancing the need for your museum to be able to serve the public in the ways intended by its mission and not be asked to take on a public role for which it is not purpose-built, there could be real value and benefit to looking at houselessness, excessive heat, poverty, low wages or any of the things presumably driving people to seek shelter in your lobby as the kind of human experiences that would be within your mission to address with art and culture, with ways of seeing that might be able to shift politics or sentiment around vulnerable people in your community.
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Kelly Porter
Head of Archives, Preservation Hall
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-09-2024 10:00 AM
From: Susan Hawksworth
Subject: Policy and signage for people who are loitering inside the museum
We are a small, free, city-operated museum, and we have had an issue with people coming in and hanging out for hours in our lobby to beat the heat. They often have a lot of baggage and look like they are camping out. One even tries to sleep. We have told her she cannot sleep in the lobby, but we are struggling with how to address the loitering. They do not utilize the museum's services at all except the public restroom. We do have a policy to address disruptive visitors, but not for those just loitering. Upper management would like us to come up with a policy and signage that they can then approve to address the situation.
We have had a similar issue with people sleeping on our back loading dock. We were told to put up a "No Loitering" sign in order to have the police do something about that. I hesitate to put such an unwelcoming sign in the lobby for our visitors to see. Does anyone have a policy they would like to share? What do you think about a sign that reads "Museum Lobby for Patrons and Customers Only"?
Susan Hawksworth, Museum Director
Smoky Hill Museum
Department of the Salina Arts and Humanities
Salina KS