The Republican nominee for Illinois' 17th Congressional District says he "over-exaggerated" the number of unhoused people he encountered at the Galesburg Public Library in a viral campaign video, but stands by his statement that a public library is not the appropriate place for them to gather.
In the video posted to his campaign Facebook page on Aug. 6, Dillan Vancil claimed he was "greeted by a dozen homeless individuals" when he entered the library and described the library patrons as "screaming and hollering" and "detoxing or in between."
"We should not have our kids walk into the library and have to deal with this as soon as they walk in," Vancil says in the video. "It's wrong. We need to do better."
Security footage obtained by TSPR through a public records request shows Vancil visited the library and filmed the video on July 17.
The footage shows Vancil walking through the library's north entrance around 9:50 a.m. No patrons are visible near that entrance at that time.
In an interview with TSPR, Vancil revised his claim about seeing a dozen homeless people when he entered the library. He said he encountered "a couple individuals" outside the building and "six to eight inside" during his visit.
"I over-exaggerated by two or three people," Vancil said. "I will apologize for that."
Vancil said he had never been in the library before July 17, but has driven by many times and has seen what he believes to be unhoused people outside. He said he was surprised by the reaction to the video, which has garnered over 1,000 Facebook comments, many defending the library and its unhoused patrons.
"I guess I didn't realize that it was such a topic in Galesburg," Vancil said.
Vancil said reaction to the video did not change his stance.
"All I am saying is we need to do better and we need to allow our kids a safe place," he said.
Respecting the rules
Library Director Noelle Thompson publicly addressed the video in a Facebook comment, saying library staff determined it contained inaccurate information. She invited Vancil to discuss his concerns directly with her, and the two are scheduled to meet this week.
Thompson told TSPR the library is open to everyone in the community, regardless of housing status, as long as they follow the rules. She said the children's area is buzzing every day with families and kids of all ages, and the library strives to be welcoming to all people.
"We are one of the only spaces where people can exist without having to be consumers, without any sort of requirement for any financial transaction," Thompson said. "So we don't have a target audience. Our audience is our community."
In Galesburg and across the country, public libraries increasingly function as frontline social service hubs in addition to their missions as centers for literacy, information, and community access.
In the library’s new building, which opened in 2024 and takes up an entire block of West Main Street, the number of people needing social services has been more visible.
"We did see these issues at the old library, but not to scale over the past two years," she said. "A lot of people equate that with the building of this new facility. I think it has a little bit less to do with that and more with the number of people that we're seeing in crisis in our community has just grown."
The library employs a full-time safety coordinator and enforces conduct rules. Thompson said severe infractions, such as theft or harassment, are reviewed by the library board in meetings that are open to the public. She said there might be one to three long-term suspensions per month – and that harassment of staff is much more common than patrons being aggressive toward one another.
"If somebody was not safe to be around they would be asked to leave,” Thompson said. "Anybody who is here in the building is because they are respecting our rules.”
It has been a challenge for the library, Thompson said, to see people at the library whose needs staff are not able to meet.
A Bridgeway behavioral health worker holds regular hours in the building and Salvation Army caseworkers come weekly to help unhoused patrons get state IDs.
"There's a huge need and demand for that," Thompson said.
A beautiful building
Vancil's July 17 video was filmed outside the south side of the library, a half-mast flag for U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham visible in the background.
In it, Vancil calls the new library a beautiful building that cost "a ton of money."
"All this taxpayer money for those, you know, I get everybody's going through hard times and some people more than others, but this is not the appropriate place," Vancil says in the video.
The 68,000-square-foot building was funded by a $15 million grant from the Illinois State Library and roughly $4 million raised locally. Library operations are funded by local property taxes, grants, and donations.
Vancil's comment echoes a sentiment that sometimes circulates in the Galesburg community— the idea the library is too nice and it cost too much for unhoused people and their belongings to be seen there, inside or outside.
"I do hear that," Thompson said.
Thompson is adamant that where someone sleeps does not determine whether they can use the space.
“I'm more concerned in, is somebody interfering with your ability to use the space? Is somebody behaving in a way that's destructive or threatening or violent in any way? That will be addressed immediately,” Thompson said. “Your opinions are welcome, but I'm not going to ask anybody to leave because somebody doesn't necessarily want to see them here.”
Face-to-face conversations
In a Facebook comment on his video, Vancil made additional allegations about his experience at the library, saying a man was screaming about a CashApp card when he walked in and that someone else called him an idiot.
He told TSPR those interactions happened as he walked to the reference desk for assistance after entering the building. Security footage shows two patrons working at a table near the reference desk and two working at computer kiosks while Vancil was in that area of the library. Two staff members are seated at the reference desk nearby.
There is no audio in the security footage reviewed by TSPR. Thompson said no incident reports were filed that day regarding patron behavior and the housing status of those patrons is not known.
As for Vancil’s allegations that people in the library were “detoxing," Thompson said the library is not privy to patrons’ medical statuses.
Vancil told TSPR his experience with library staff was “phenomenal.” Security footage shows a library staff member escorting Vancil from the reference desk to his meeting that morning with members of a railroad union.
He exited the library on the south side of the building around 10:30 that morning, talked for several minutes outside with someone who has worked on his campaign, and then began filming a video, according to security footage.
Vancil told TSPR he filmed more than one video that day, and he wishes his team had shared a different one.
Vancil said he has sympathy for the unhoused and for people who are in need of social services. He said his mother worked in a homeless shelter in Iowa and his company supports food pantries and other programs through a church outreach program.
“At the end of the day, we all want to help people but we also want to help people who want to help themselves,” he said.
Thompson said she frequently has conversations with people who are concerned about safety at the library.
"There's a lot of misconceptions among people who don't visit the library. Things they've heard or seen online that are only partially true or not true at all," she said. "I always encourage people to come, and I love when people come and ask the hard questions about what's real and what's not.”
And Thompson would like to have those conversations with people face to face.
"I very much prefer them to happen with me, or with another staff member, or with a board member, versus happening online, where sometimes misinformation can be shared," she said.
Vancil, the owner of a chain of coffee shops in Illinois and Iowa, is looking to unseat Democrat Eric Sorensen in the November general election.
Sorensen posted his own video at the Galesburg Public Library in the days after Vancil posted his.
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