Emilio Estevez spent a lot of time at the central branch of the Los Angeles Public Library while doing research for the script for his 2006 release, “Bobby.” During those months, he never paid a lot of attention to the same group of patrons who spent their days between the stacks. It was only later Estevez realized he was like so many others who didn’t notice the library had become an ad hoc shelter for some of the city’s homeless population.

The realization was one of the sparks for writing “The Public,” the story of a group of homeless men who refuse to leave the Cincinnati Public Library one frigid night. Estevez not only wrote and directed the film, he stars in it alongside Alec Baldwin, Jena Malone, Taylor Schilling, Christian Slater, Jeffrey Wright, Gabrielle Union, Michael K. Williams, Che “Rhymefest” Smith and Jacob Vargas.

“I think a lot of times, projects choose you and you don’t necessarily choose them,” Estevez says. “You get captivated by an idea or inspired by a news article. The spark for this came from an article printed in the L.A. Times by a Salt Lake City librarian named Chip Ward.”

Estevez read with interest how Ward described that libraries had become makeshift shelters and that librarians had become first responders and social workers. The more he read, the more Estevez began to realize he had been surrounded by such a situation in LA.

“The Public” takes the idea of how libraries have changed and focuses on a sit-in as a means of survival. Estevez wanted to show how the local law enforcement, media and politicians would respond to such an event. He was initially concerned it took 10 years to get the movie made but now realizes the topics are more relevant now than they were a decade ago.

“I am really grateful we didn’t shoot my original script and I had more time to marinate in this,” Estevez says. “Being able to tweak the script really helped me get under the skin of these characters. There are things that we are currently dealing with in our culture, in our society, that are addressed in this film. As a researcher and as a person who spends a great deal of time listening, I discovered you can’t learn anything while your mouth is flapping.”

One of the changes was the shifting the location from Los Angeles to Cincinnati. Several factors forced the change, including not being allowed to shoot in the Los Angeles facility because a previous film crew had damaged some books. Estevez also was working under a tight budget and there were financial incentives to shooting in the Ohio city. And Estevez’s mother is from Cincinnati, so he knew the area.

“The Public” was shot on a low budget, but that’s not evident from the cast. He was able to put together such a strong group of actors because so many were attracted to the subject matter.

“A lot of these individuals who came to play in our sandbox are committed socially and in their professions,” Estevez says. “You are only as good as the people you surround yourself with and I was surrounded and supported by such a talent group of people both in front of the camera and behind.

“I think that we shot this in 22 days helped because I could tell the actors I only needed them for a few days. Then it was up to us to make it look like they were all there at the same time because they weren’t.”

Estevez embraced working in Cincinnati to the point that he cast numerous homeless men to be extras. All Estevez asked was that the locals be serious about being part of the project and show up for work each night. He thinks when he told them he needed to count on them that that made the community feel like they were being included.

“The Public” is the latest project for Estevez where he is the writer, director and star. He was only 24 when he earned the triple credits for “Wisdom,” making him the youngest person at the time to accomplish such a feat. As an actor, his credits include “Stakeout,” “Maximum Overdrive,” “The Breakfast Club,” “St. Elmo’s Fire” and “The Mighty Ducks.” Estevez also has directed TV shows and feature films including “Men at Work,” “CSI: NY,” “Cold Case,” “The Guardian” and “The War at Home.”

When it comes to directing himself, Estevez has no problems. He says it is much more difficult to direct his father, Martin Sheen, as in the feature film “The Way.”

“That’s because he’s been doing it a lot longer than me, and as a father, he probably looks at me like I am 6 years old,” Estevez says with a laugh.

The public

PG-13, 122 minutes

Playing at Madison Art Cinemas