A Message from Street Books’ New Co-Directors
Our new co-directors, Josh and Monica!
Happy late summer to our Street Books community!
Today brings exciting news from Street Books HQ, as we officially welcome our new Co-Directors Josh Pollock and Monica Beemer! Monica and Josh are not new to Street Books–Josh works weekly shifts as a longtime member of our amazing team of Street Librarians, while Monica has been steadily building up our operations and development capacity behind the scenes. Together as Co-Directors, they are bringing a new leadership model to Street Books, and we couldn't be more thrilled about it!
In a letter to our community, they explained how this new approach will help Street Books continue to advance our mission to serve people who live outside and at the margins:
Dear Street Books Library Patrons, Volunteers, Friends and Supporters,
We write today to share that Street Books is starting a new chapter in our story. As two people who have devoted years to this project and are invested in seeing it continue to thrive, we are excited to present a new leadership model that we believe will offer important new benefits while maintaining continuity for Street Books. Starting August 1st, Street Books will transition from the traditional Executive Director model to a Co-Directorship. Within this model, the two of us will share the responsibilities of leadership as Co-Executive Director of Finance and Development (Monica) and Co-Executive Director of Programs (Josh).
The Co-Directorship model has a lot of strengths. Shared leadership is less isolating than a sole Executive Director, and can alleviate some of the pressures that lead to burnout by allowing the Co-Directors to support each other in their work. Furthermore, in the event that one of us is unavailable, there is always a clear line of support and guidance. We have worked together for three years now and we have complementary strengths. Our Co-Directorship will benefit from both Josh’s operational experience and Monica’s fundraising and administrative experience. This type of coordination will strengthen all aspects of the organization and support a unified internal culture, one where librarians and patrons feel heard, and supporters and administrative staff feel like they understand the situation on the street. We’re excited about this new direction, and feel like it also addresses coordination between development and programming, especially in compelling storytelling and accurately reporting out on what we are doing every day.
This transition to a Co-Directorship model reflects the core values of Street Books and our vision for a more just and equitable world. Access to books, with their capacity to transform the way we think, is critical to bringing about the just and caring society we all deserve to live in. As we brace ourselves to survive the fallout of a political system that seeks to consolidate power against many of the critical values that we stand for (things like community care, racial justice, basic human needs, and civil rights) it feels imperative to think creatively and strengthen our networks of support as much as possible. Co-Directorship will be a move towards enacting our values of horizontal leadership and democratic decision-making. It will help create a culture of collaboration and will allow for a plurality of experience and perspective in leadership, which will in turn make the organization more resilient and effective in our mission.
We believe that this new leadership model and everything it will enable is the best way forward for Street Books as we continue to grow and solidify our role as a reliable resource for our communities. We would like to thank all of our Street Books patrons, staff, board, donors, and supporters for trusting us to steward this important project into the future—we appreciate the roles that each of you play in making Street Books work every day!
Sincerely, Monica and Josh
What’s Going on with the Executive Order on Homelssness?
On July 24, 205, the Trump Administration issued a new executive order that threatens to further criminalize homelessness in America. We are appalled by the language and rhetoric of this order, but we feel it is also important to resist these fear-mongering tactics with facts and care.
So what does the order actually mean for our communities right now? We have collected some links (below) to help shed light on what is really going on, and what it might mean for unhoused Portlanders and the organizations and people that serve them. The most important takeaway? A federal executive order does not carry the power of a law, and can’t change or dictate how state and local governments operate. The Trump administration could still attempt to exert pressure through other means, as we have seen with the deployment of federal agents in Washington D.C. over the weekend. But for now, this order does not appear to impact local and state-level policy or services.
We’ll have our eye on this issue, and we’ll be sure to keep you posted in the event of any new developments. In the meantime, check out the helpful links if you want to know more about what’s going on:
NAACP Legal Defense Fund: Trump Executive Order Criminalizing Unhoused People Explained
National Alliance to End Homelessness: What the Recent Executive Order Does and Doesn’t Do
OPB: Trump Executive Order on Homelessness Brings Uncertainty to Oregon
Regardless of what happens, Street Books remains committed to the work we have been doing for 15 years to provide community, resources, and advocacy for people living outside or at the margins. Please consider making a donation to help us prepare for whatever may come—your support makes this important work possible!