When you walk into your neighborhood public library, you expect the librarian to help you find your next favorite book or some accurate information on a topic at interest. You don't probably expect the librarian to come running out from behind the reference desk with Narcan, ready to revive someone overdosing on heroin or fentanyl. But this is happening at some libraries.
当你走进社区的公共图书馆时, 你期待着图书管理员 帮你找到另一本你最爱的书 或对你感兴趣的话题 查到一些准确信息。 你可能不希望图书管理员出现时 带着Narcan(注:一种急救药) 从咨询台后面跑出来, 准备去抢救某个 过量吸食海洛因或芬太尼的人。 但是这种事的确发生在某些图书馆里。
Public libraries have always been about community support with all kinds of services and programs from assisting with job seeking efforts to locating resources for voter rights to providing free meals to kids and teens even. But what we think of as community support takes on new urgency when you're in the middle of an opioid and overdose crisis.
一直以来, 公共图书馆通过各种服务和项目 提供社区支持, 从协助求职者找工作、 到为保证选民权利而寻找资源、 到甚至为孩子和青少年提供免费用餐。 但当你处于鸦片类药物过量危机, 我们所说的社区支持 就面临一种新的紧迫需求。
I work at the McPherson Square Library of the Free Library of Philadelphia. It's located in Kensington, one of the lowest income communities in Philadelphia, with a long history of being isolated from resources and opportunity. And because of that, it has been the center to the city's drug trade and drug use for decades. And so inside the neighborhood, our library is nestled inside of a park, which has unfortunately garnered a reputation for being a place to find and use drugs, especially heroin, out in the open, putting us and the community in direct contact with the drug trade and use on a daily basis.
我在费城免费图书馆下属的 麦克弗森广场分馆工作。 它位于肯辛顿, 费城收入水平最低的社区之一, 那里长期财力匮乏, 没有发展机会。 正因为如此, 几十年来,肯辛顿一直都是 费城的毒品交易和毒品吸食中心。 所以在这个社区, 我们的图书馆落脚在一个公园里, 但不幸的是, 它已经成为远近闻名的“毒品窝”, 人们到这里寻找和吸食毒品, 尤其是海洛因, 完全公开,不加遮掩, 这让我们还有社区居民 每天都直接接触到 毒品的交易和使用。
And so inside the library, it is routine to see people visibly intoxicated on opioids: eyes closing, body swaying slowly. It is routine for me to ask them if they are OK, but at the same time remind them if they can't keep their eyes open, they have to go. It is routine for our volunteer, Teddy, to pick up dozens of discarded needles on our property and throughout the park. And it is normal for kids to come into the library to tell me or our guard, Sterling, that someone is outside using, which typically means finding someone injecting on our front steps, benches or near the building, then asking them to move along because kids see them. And it is normal for the community to see people in various states of intoxication and withdrawal, to see people buying and selling, and to see people act and react violently.
所以在图书馆里, 经常能看到有人出现 鸦片类药物中毒的典型症状: 双目紧闭,身体抽搐。 我每次都要去问他们还行不行, 同时也提醒他们, 如果他们不能保持清醒, 就必须离开这里。 而对我们的志愿者泰迪来说, 捡起图书馆内和公园里 大量的废弃针头已经是固定工作。 孩子们会走进图书馆, 对我或者我们的保安斯特林说, 有人在外面吸毒, 这样说通常是指他们发现 有人在图书馆门口台阶上、 长椅上、 或是大楼附近注射毒品, 然后我们会要求这些人赶快离开, 因为孩子们看到他们了。 对社区居民来说, 看到人们处于吸毒和戒毒中的各种状态、 看到人们买卖毒品、 看到人们的激烈行为和反抗 都是很正常的。
I'm not sharing this to sensationalize Kensington. I'm sharing this because this is the reality of a community that is constantly striving to move forward, but due to factors like structural racism, urban segregation, the cyclical nature of poverty, of trauma -- the community has inequitable access to education, health care, employment and more. And this is also what it's like when the drug trade and use affects every aspect of life in the neighborhood. And the opioid epidemic has only amplified that stress.
我分享这些不是为了耸人听闻, 夸大肯辛顿的情况, 我分享这些, 因为这就是一个社区的现状, 这个社区一直在努力向未来发展, 但是受一些因素限制, 例如结构性种族主义、 城市隔离、 贫穷的周期性、 挫折的周期性等—— 社区居民无法公平地获得 教育和医疗资源、工作机会、 以及其他更多东西。 而毒品交易和使用 对社区生活的各个方面 也会带来这样的不良影响。 鸦片类药物的盛行 更是加剧了这种影响。
When I was hired by the Free Library in 2013, I specifically chose to work at McPherson because I understand what it's like to grow up in an environment where substance use disorder shapes the everyday, and I wanted to use those personal experiences as a guide for my work. But before I get to that, I want to share what it was like to witness this epidemic grow in Kensington.
当我在2013年被免费图书馆雇用时, 我特意选择去麦克弗森工作, 因为我知道生长在一个 日常生活被滥用药物 主导的环境里是什么样, 我想利用那些个人经历 指导我的工作。 但是在说那个以前, 我想分享亲眼见证 毒品在肯辛顿日益盛行是什么感觉。
Like many other communities, we were just not prepared. We began to take notice of IDs we were seeing: addresses from nearby and upstate counties and then slowly out-of-state ones. People from Arkansas, Ohio, South Carolina, Alabama coming to Philadelphia for cheap heroin. People began to linger longer and longer in our public restroom, causing us to pay more attention to the restroom than to our daily responsibilities because it was an accessible place to use drugs just purchased. One day our toilet clogged so badly in the restroom, we were forced to close our library for two days because the culprit of the clog was discarded needles. For a while prior to that incident, we had been asking for a sharps container for the restroom, and after that, the library administration quickly approved installing one along with hiring bathroom monitors. And as the weather warmed, we struggled to respond. People began camping out in the park for days, weeks. You could walk outside on a sunny, warm day to find multiple groups of people in various states of intoxication and children playing in between them. The amount of needles collected by Teddy on a monthly basis skyrocketed from 100 to 300 to 500 to 800, to over 1,000, with many found on our front steps and the playground.
跟其他许多社区居民一样, 我们还没准备好。 我们开始去留意 我们看到的那些身份证: 上面的地址从周边或州北边的县, 慢慢扩大到州以外的县。 来自阿肯色州、俄亥俄州、 南卡罗来纳州、阿拉巴马州的人 为了廉价海洛因来到费城。 人们开始在我们的公共厕所长时间逗留, 因为那里可以吸食刚买到的毒品, 如此一来,我们对厕所的关注 比对日常工作的关注都要多。 有一天,厕所里的马桶严重堵塞, 我们被迫闭馆两天, 而导致堵塞的罪魁祸首就是废弃针头。 在那次事件不久前, 我们已经申请给厕所配一个锐器盒, 事件发生后, 图书管行政处很快就批准了安装申请, 同时还批准租用厕所监控器。 而随着天气转暖, 我们也在尽全力应对。 人们开始连日连周地在公园里露营。 如果在一个暖和的晴天走出图书馆, 你会发现一群群形态各异的吸毒者, 孩子们就在他们中间玩耍。 泰迪捡到的针头数量按月急剧增长, 从100,到300、500、800、 再到1000多, 其中很多都是在 图书馆前门台阶和游乐场发现的。
Then there were the overdoses. So many occurred outside in the park, some inside the library. Sterling, our guard, would spend his time walking in and out of the building and throughout the park, constantly making sure everyone was safe, because at times, our fear of having someone overdose and die came close. One overdose in particular occurred after school, so the library was full of kids, noise and commotion. And in all of that, we heard the thud from inside the public restroom. When we opened the door, we found a man on the floor, unresponsive. He was pulled out in plain sight of everyone -- kids, teens, adults, families. Someone on staff called 911, someone else escorted the kids and teens downstairs, somebody went to flag down the ambulance in the park. And the rest of us -- we just waited. This had become our overdose drill because at the time, it was all we could do. So we waited and we watched this man lose air -- seize up. He was dying. I don't know how many of you have witnessed an overdose on opioids, but it's horrific because you know the gasping for air, the loss of color in someone's face, is a timer running down on the chances of this person surviving. But luckily for this man, the ambulance arrived and he received a dose of naloxone through injection. And I remember he jolted like he was electrocuted, and he pulled the needle out, and he told the paramedics to back off. And then he stood up, and he walked out. And we -- we went back to work because people were still asking for time on the computers, kids still needed help with their homework and this was our job -- our purpose.
再就是吸毒过量。 很多都发生在馆外面的公园里, 还有一些发生在图书馆里。 我们的保安斯特林, 会花时间在大楼里外 以及整个公园里巡视, 时刻确保每个人都没事, 因为时不时地, 我们就会担心有人吸毒过量而死。 有一例吸毒过量很特别, 是发生在放学后, 当时图书馆里都是孩子, 叽叽喳喳、吵吵闹闹。 而在嘈杂声中, 我们听到从公共厕所里传来砰的一声。 我们推开门,看到一个男人 躺在地上,失去了知觉。 他在众目睽睽之下被拖了出来—— 小孩子、青少年、大人、一家人, 每个人都看着他。 工作人员有的拨打了911, 有的疏散小孩子和青少年下楼, 有的去公园里拦急救车, 剩下的—— 就在现场等。 这已经成为我们的吸毒过量演习, 因为在这种情况下, 我们能做的就是这些。 我们等啊等, 眼看着这个男人失去呼吸—— 全身僵硬。 他快死了。 我不知道你们中有多少人 亲眼见过鸦片类药物过量, 太恐怖了, 因为你知道呼吸困难, 脸上失去血色, 意味着这个人的生存时间所剩无几。 但是这个男人够幸运, 救护车来了, 他接受了一剂纳洛酮注射。 我记得他就像被电击一样突然苏醒, 接着他拔出针头, 让急救人员后退。 然后他站起来走了。 而我们—— 继续回去工作, 因为还有人在请求使用电脑, 孩子们的家庭作业还需要帮助, 而这才是我们的工作—— 我们的目的。
I think that incident stays with me because of the waiting. It made me feel helpless. And it was that feeling of helplessness that reminded me so well of my childhood. Before I was born, both of my parents began using heroin. It made our lives chaotic and unstable: promises being made and constantly broken, their fighting, the weight of their secret -- the weight of our secret kept so much so-called "normal" out of our lives. Every time we'd be dropped off at our grandparent's house, I'd be stuck on the thought that I was never going to see them again. Every time we'd be left in a car, at a house, at a store, I'd cry. And every time I saw those El tracks -- the same ones I take to work now to McPherson -- from the backseat of a car, I'd be angry, because even kids know when their parents are trying to score drugs. There was so little I could do to control what was going on around me, that that feeling of helplessness was overwhelming. I struggled in school, struggled to read, I was prone to anger and depression. When I was 11 years old, I started smoking, which shortly after led to my own experiences with drugs and alcohol. I convinced myself that my parents' past would be my future. But eventually both of my parents entered recovery and maintained recovery from opioid use. And their strength and their commitment provided support and stability for me and my siblings, and it was those personal experiences that brought me to McPherson.
我认为那次事件让我难忘是因为等待。 等待让我感觉无助。 那种无助感让我回想起自己的童年。 在我出生前, 我的父母就开始吸海洛因。 把我们的生活搞得 一团混乱,动荡不安: 许下承诺,又不停的违背承诺, 他们争吵, 他们吸毒这个秘密—— 我们家有人吸毒这个秘密 让我们的生活失去所谓的“正常”。 每次我们被丢在祖父母家, 我都固执地以为 以后再也见不到他们了。 每次我们被丢在 车里、房子里、商店里, 我都会哭。 每次我从汽车后座—— 看到那些EL型轨道—— 跟我现在去麦克弗森上班的线路一样, 我都会愤怒, 因为连小孩子都知道 什么时候他们的父母要去买毒品。 我对身边发生的一切都无法控制, 那种无助感极其强烈。 我上学和读书都很吃力, 我容易发怒和沮丧。 11岁时,我开始抽烟, 这导致之后不久 我又开始滥用药物和酗酒。 我说服自己相信 我父母的过去就是我的未来。 但是最终他们都戒掉了毒瘾, 而且再也没碰过鸦片类药物。 他们的意志和承诺 给了我和我的兄弟姐妹 支持与坚定信念, 正是这些个人经历让我来到麦克弗森。
Choosing to be a librarian and choosing to be at McPherson was me letting go of that feeling of helplessness and finding ways to be supportive to others. And one way to provide support was learning how to administer Narcan. Public libraries respond to the needs of their communities, and not knowing how to utilize Narcan was a disservice to the needs of our community. We were on the frontlines and desperately needed access to this lifesaving tool. So finally in late February of 2017, after much advocating, we finally received training from Prevention Point Philadelphia and about a month of so later, I utilized Narcan for the first time to save someone's life. It was after school again, and Teddy came into the library and said someone was overdosing on a front bench. Someone on staff called 911 again, and I grabbed the Narcan kit. The woman was barely in her 20s and barely breathing. Her friend was frantically slapping her in the face in hopes of reviving her. I administered the Narcan nasally, and thankfully she came to. But before the ambulance arrived, she and her friend ran off. And when I finally turned around, I saw the kids -- kids that come into the library on a daily basis, some that I have known for years -- standing on the steps of the building. They saw everything. And they didn't seem like they were visibly upset or in shock, and so I walked into the building, right into our workroom, and I cried. I cried partly from the shock of what just happened because I never thought I'd be saving anybody's life ever, but I mostly cried because of the kids. This is their normal. This is the community's normal. This is a catastrophic normal, and in that moment, I was forced to confront once again that this should never be normal, and as with my childhood, when you're in it, you just accept it.
选择做一名图书管理员, 选择来到麦克弗森图书馆, 就是为了释放我心里的那种无助感, 想方设法去帮助支持他人。 而提供支持的一种方式 就是学会使用Narcan. 公共图书馆要响应社区的需求, 而不知道如何使用Narcan 则会给我们的社区帮倒忙。 我们身处一线, 迫切需要用到这种救生装置。 所以在2017年2月底, 经过多方倡议, 我们终于参与了费城预防点的培训, 在大概一个月后, 我第一次用Narcan救了一个人的命。 那还是在放学后, 泰迪走进图书馆 说前门外的长椅上有人吸毒过量。 工作人员再一次拨打了911, 而我抓起了Narcan急救装置。 那个女人只有20出头, 几乎停止呼吸。 她的朋友当时正狂扇她的脸, 希望可以以此唤醒她。 我朝她鼻子里喷了Narcan, 然后,谢天谢地,她醒过来了。 但是在急救车来之前, 她和她的朋友就跑了。 当我终于转过身时, 我看到孩子们—— 那些每天都来图书馆的孩子们, 有些我都认识好几年了的孩子们—— 站在大楼的台阶上。 他们看到了一切。 他们看起来并没有不安或震惊。 我走回了图书馆, 走进了办公室,然后我哭了。 我哭,某种程度上是因为 还没从刚发生的一切缓过来, 因为我从没想过我会救了一个人的命, 但是我哭,主要还是因为这些孩子。 这是他们生活的常态。 这是社区的常态。 这是一种灾难性的常态。 在那一刻, 我再次被迫认识到, 类似的事情应该永不显得稀松平常。 而在我的童年时代, 当你遇到这种事, 你只要接受就好了。
The opioid epidemic is not just about those living with opioid use disorder because the reach of the epidemic goes well beyond those living with this and their families. It impacts the entire community. Kensington was a community in crisis before this for reasons that are endemic and intertwined, and anyone familiar with the neighborhood can think of why: racial disparities, failure of local and federal government to properly fund schools, lack of economic opportunity. And what we're trying to do at McPherson is find ways to support this community out of crisis. And perhaps now, because of the epidemic, more people are paying attention to Kensington. But regardless of that, at McPherson, we will continue to do what we can with the resources we have and we will continue to provide whatever help we can in hopes of keeping our community safe and healthy because public libraries have always been more than just books. We are physical shelter, a classroom, a safe haven, a lunch room, a resource hub and yes, even a lifeline.
鸦片类药物的盛行不仅仅关乎 那些有鸦片类药物使用障碍的人, 因为这种盛行影响到的范围 远远超出了那些吸毒者 还有他们的家庭。 它影响整个社区。 肯辛顿在毒品盛行前也曾处于危机, 因为一些特有的、错综复杂的原因, 任何一个熟悉这里的人都能想到原因: 种族差异、 当地以及联邦政府 未能合理筹资修建学校、 缺乏经济发展机会。 而我们试图在麦克弗森做的 就是设法帮助社区脱离困境。 也许现在,因为毒品盛行, 越来越多的人正在关注肯辛顿。 但不管怎么样, 在麦克弗森, 我们将继续利用现有资源 做力所能及的事 也将继续提供 任何我们能提供的帮助, 希望以此保持我们的社区平安、健康, 因为一直以来, 公共图书馆不仅仅只是与书有关, 我们还是一个实实在在的收容所、 一间教室, 一个安全的避风港、 一间午餐室、 一个资源中心、 并且是的, 甚至还是一条生命线。
Thank you.
谢谢。
(Applause)
(鼓掌)