‘The Public’ Movie Based on Homeless Issues at Salt Lake City Library
Apr 1, 2019, 7:42 PM | Updated: Apr 2, 2019, 1:56 am
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – There’s a new movie hitting theaters this weekend with some pretty big names attached. But what’s really interesting is that the film is based around an issue at the Salt Lake City public library.
The film is called “The Public.” It’s about a group of homeless people who take over the city library in Cincinnati to seek shelter from the cold. It’s written and directed by Emilio Estevez, who acts alongside Alec Baldwin.
But the lesser known star of the film is Chip Ward.
“I’m a librarian, not a movie critic,” said Ward. “It’s been a surprise. Of course, it’s been 11 years in the making.”
In 2007, Ward wrote an article that was published in the LA Times. He was the deputy director of the Salt Lake City public library back then. Ward says he encountered the city’s chronically homeless on a daily basis, and wrote the article on the way out of his job.
“I wanted to raise awareness about the fact that public libraries today have become defacto shelters for the homeless, which mean librarians have become defacto social workers and first responders,” said Ward. “They’re doing it without any additional resources or acknowledgement or training and I thought that was unfair.”
Ward wrote the article hoping to bring about change. But the library’s current executive director says the library has already changed.
“Is it a persistent problem? Is it something that on any given day you’re going to see something like that? No,” said Peter Bromberg.
Bromberg says there are now attendants monitoring the bathrooms and social workers on site. He also says employees are now trained to deal with behavioral problems.
Bromberg says the Salt Lake City Library is quite a different place than it was 11 years ago.
“Certainly for two years now we haven’t seen or heard of those persistent kind of behavior problems that I think were a fact of life here previously,” he said.
Even though there have been changes, Ward believes there is more to be done. He says Estevez read his article in 2007 and made the movie because the actor is passionate about bringing the issue to light.
“The Public” has already been previewed in dozens of libraries across the country, as well at the Salt Lake City Library. It’s in theaters nationwide on Friday.