By Alex Kiester, Picayune Intern

Two and a half years ago, during his junior year at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, Justin Patrick had something of an epiphany. As he watched a family friend distributing reading glasses at a weekly breakfast sponsored by the Foundation for the Homeless, it occurred to him that, though the homeless had access to reading glasses, they had nothing to read. An avid reader himself, Justin reacted strongly. 

“I would be most unhappy if I didn’t have a steady source of books,” Patrick said. 

So, with the help of his 14-year-old sister, Emily Patrick, the two started organizing a library to serve the homeless population in Austin. 

They began by requesting donations of books and magazines from other families at St. Stephen’s and took the small collection to the weekly breakfasts served at the Family Life Center on Lavaca Street, a facility owned by First United Methodist Church. 

“Because it’s difficult for them to get to a library, this is often their only source of books,” Emily says of the Austin homeless.

 From the beginning, the reaction to the traveling “library,” large plastic boxes stuffed with books, was positive. 

Justin recalls one of his earliest visits in which a homeless man, eager at the chance to read, began reciting a monologue he had memorized from one of his favorite works of literature, “Hamlet.” As he stood in front of the siblings quoting, “Alas, poor Yorick; I knew him, Horatio,” they realized the importance of the service they were providing as well as what an eye-opening experience it was for them. 

They “end up having really interesting conversations with people,” Justin says. “You meet an interesting crowd.” 

After that visit, they committed to make the literary distribution a weekly endeavor.

The Patricks receive many book requests from the homeless, mostly for murder mysteries, romance novels and thrillers. Emily keeps a running list of the specific titles and authors and they always do their best to fulfill them. It is possible to see the development of the recipients with the program’s expansion by their progressively specific literature requests. On occasion, someone requests something as random as an advanced calculus textbook or a specific how-to manual. 

“This project has opened my eyes to the fact that many of the homeless people of Austin are incredibly intelligent and well-read,” Emily says.

They once helped a homeless man find a series of books about computer programming to help in his search for a technical job. He disappeared soon afterwards, and they later heard from one of his friends that he was working.  

Developments like these prove to Justin and Emily that their work affects the people they serve in all aspects of their lives. 

Since their first visits, Justin and Emily have expanded their program considerably. Because of scheduling conflicts, they changed locations to the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless, located in the heart of downtown on the corner of Seventh and Neches streets.

Initially, they only had a few book donors; now they have established a long list of contributors. They have expanded the source of donations by advertising in the St. Stephen’s newsletter and by a personal request to the Westbank Community Library. Each has been helpful in the expansion of the library, and the Patricks make monthly rounds to collect these widespread materials and often store a large selection of books in their garage. 

Although the program continues to flourish, they always look for ways to improve it. Their next goal is to install bookshelves in the men’s dormitory on the second floor of the shelter. It would operate on the honor code, ensure a constant source a reading material and make the books available to a larger group of people. 

The Patrick siblings hope to continue their work for a long time, because while it serves a large group of people, they also love it. 

Emily recalls one of her favorite visits when she was swarmed with eager readers. As they sifted through the books, they thanked her profusely, affectionately calling her “the book lady.”

Justin realized early on that any day they worked for the “Library for the Homeless” became his “favorite day of the week.”