NORMANDY, Mo.—To help people in places where they already go, U.S. Rep. Cori Bush this week said a test program that puts congressional staffers into some St. Louis-area libraries to do constituent service work has moved from a pilot phase into permanent practice.

The idea, dubbed “Congress in your neighborhood” has caseworkers in the St. Louis City Library’s Walnut Park and Carpenter branches, as well as three libraries in the St. Louis County system–Lewis and Clark, Rock Road, and the newest location at the Natural Bridge branch.

What You Need To Know

  • At no cost, Congressional offices can help constituents with issues they have with the federal government, from problems with accessing VA benefits to passports 

  • U.S. Rep. Cori Bush has caseworkers who operate out of a handful of St. Louis City and St. Louis County Public Library branches and meet with constituents in library quiet rooms

  • St. Louis County Library Director and CEO Kristen Sorth described the arrangement as a “perfect complement” to other services the system has embraced in recent years, including after-school meals for kids, diapers and period supplies and access to social workers

  • Bush says the move allows her to pay staff a liveable wage instead of paying for multiple physical spaces that all require rent and utilities. The physical district office, which is moving to a new location at 11th and Locust in downtown St. Louis, will still be open for in-person constituent service

“Our libraries have the superpower of serving as integral hubs within our community. Having service centers in these libraries allows for us to continue to provide all the much-needed services to even more people and we are just getting started,” Bush said at a news conference Thursday at the Natural Bridge location.

She described stories of constituents, like one who came to the Walnut Park Library and met with a caseworker over an immigration issue that led to a reunion with family, or another who came to the Carpenter Library location after he’d lost everything in last summer’s flash flooding. Bush said they learned the person was eligible for VA services, and helped recover 46 years of back pay.

Caseworkers can address a range of issues where constituents have problems with the federal government, from immigration to Social Security or Medicaid, to passports and Small Business Administration grants. There is no charge for meeting with a caseworker.

Bush calls the locations “Neighborhood Service Centers”, but in actual practice the concept operates discretely and without fanfare. Meetings are held in library quiet rooms that patrons use for a variety of reasons.

St. Louis County Library Director and CEO Kristen Sorth described the arrangement as a “perfect complement” to other services the system has embraced in recent years, including after-school meals for kids, diapers and period supplies and access to social workers.

“Libraries have become the center of communities we serve. Through partnerships such as this, we are able to provide critical resources to individuals and families,” she said.

Bush is moving into a new district office in downtown St. Louis at 11th and Locust that will still be in position to do in-person constituent work, but the library strategy makes her office more approachable to some, and, she says, makes financial sense.

“Instead of spending more money on having three or four locations across the district to make sure we're servicing people appropriately, spending money on rent and utilities and such, we were able to instead spend more money on actually having liveable wages for our staff,” she said.

Locations and Hours:

  • St. Louis City (Monday and Wednesday): 

    • Walnut Park Library: 5760 W Florissant Ave, St. Louis, MO 63120 (12:30 PM - 5 PM)

    • Carpenter Library: 3309 S Grand Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63118 (9 AM - 2 PM)

  • St. Louis County (Tuesday and Thursday):

    • Lewis and Clark Branch: 9909 Lewis and Clark Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63136 (9 AM - 2 PM)

    • Rock Road Branch: 10267 St Charles Rock Rd, St Ann, MO 63074 (9 AM - 2 PM)

    • Natural Bridge Branch: 7606 Natural Bridge Rd, St. Louis, MO 63121 (9 AM - 2PM)

 

Constituents can also submit casework requests online.