California’s Homeless Find a Quiet Place

On a recent visit to the Sacramento library, the high number of homeless patrons I saw there surprised me.

Seeing them in that quiet space, consumed by traditional media, I was struck by the difference between them and most of society with its 24/7 connection to streaming digital media. I began this project to take myself out of my own patterns and habits, to change my perspective, to observe, to listen, to understand, and to share this place of quiet.

I met a woman, homeless, seated at a desk in the “quiet zone” on the fourth floor. She was looking thoughtfully out the library window and writing in her journal. She had a heavy volume on nursing with her. We talked. She

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