This paper deals with the issue of homelessness, which is approached not only as an extreme form of poverty, but also as a vicious circle of social exclusion and a degrading human rights crisis. If we take into account the complexity of this phenomenon, along with the methodological shortcomings in its research, it becomes clear that thorough and systematic work of a number of institutions is needed for significant progress. A bed and a hot meal are necessary for every homeless person, but the initiators of radical change can only be education and resocialization, that is, as stated in the old Chinese proverb: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Unfortunately, it is not uncommon to turn a blind eye to this marginalized group – both citizens and responsible institutions are often lulled into the certainty of prejudice that homelessness is an individual rather than a social problem and that there is no point in devoting oneself to it. In an endeavour to reduce the gap between “us” and “them”, public libraries have taken the role of an institution whose task (apart from meeting educational, informational and cultural needs) is to build a democratic society by promoting tolerance and affirmation of “others”/“different”. By expanding the boundaries of its activities and deconstructing prejudices against the homeless, the library also changes the prejudice about itself – from a passive custodian of knowledge it turns into an institution with the potential to be a driver of change and contribute to overall social and cultural maturity.