One thing that stuck with me during my recent interview with NPR. I asked the prisoners how many of them visited their public libraries when they were outside the fence. Only one person held up his hand. He said, " I only visited the library because I was homeless and I could stay there and no one bothered me. In the day it was like a shelter. I really didn't know about searching for information. Now that I am in prison, I have learned to use the library to look for information to help me when I get out."
What is the difference between working in a prison library and a public library I was asked? I replied that I knew all the visitors in the prison library and security was there to escort them outside if they got out of line.
When I worked in the public library, there was the constant reminder, "My taxes pay your salary." so public librarians had challenges of a different kind.
Prison librarians provide information that meets the information, recreational, lifelong learning, and transitional needs of prisoners, preparing them to be successful ex offenders.
Labels
- Academy of Hope (1)
- ALA/ASCLA (1)
- Annie E. Casey Foundation (1)
- Baltimore Sun (1)
- Barclay Investment Corporation (1)
- BIG READ (1)
- Bob Edwards Show (1)
- Book Donation (1)
- Bookmobile (1)
- Books Behind Bars (1)
- Brottman (2)
- CEPR (1)
- Charles Ogletree (1)
- Children in Prisons (1)
- Children of Incarcerated Parents (2)
- Chris Wilson (1)
- College Education for Prisoners (1)
- Correctional Libraries (1)
- Criminal Justice (1)
- Dan Rodricks (4)
- Death Penalty (1)
- Death Penalty Statistics (1)
- Dept. of Public Safety (1)
- Dictionaries (1)
- DPSCS (1)
- Eastern Correctional Institution (1)
- Elections (1)
- Enoch Pratt Free Library Writers Live (1)
- ex offender (1)
- Ex Offenders (10)
- Ex Offenders and Voting (1)
- Ex-Offenders (1)
- Family Literacy in a Maryland Prison (3)
- Family Literacy in a Prison Library (1)
- Female prisoners (6)
- Foreign Librarian (1)
- Formerly Incarcerated (1)
- Free Minds Book Club (2)
- Glennor Shirley (1)
- Goucher College (1)
- Handel:Messiah (1)
- Homelessness (1)
- Illiteracy (1)
- Incarcerated (12)
- Incarcerated Veterans (2)
- Incarcerated women (1)
- Incarceration (1)
- Inmate Art (1)
- Internet (1)
- Jail Libraries (1)
- James Patterson Award (1)
- Jessup Correctional Institute (1)
- Jessup Correctional Institution (2)
- Juvenile Illiteracy (2)
- Juvenile Incarceration (4)
- Juvenile Prisons (1)
- law libraries (1)
- Legal training (1)
- Librarianship (1)
- Library Outreach Services (1)
- Library Snapshot Day (2)
- Literacy (2)
- Literacy and Incarceration (1)
- Loyola University (1)
- LSSPS (1)
- LSSPS dinner (2)
- Maryland Correctional Libraries (1)
- Maryland Humanities Council (4)
- Maryland Library Association (5)
- Maryland Penitentiary (1)
- Maryland Prison Libraries (11)
- Maryland Prisons (1)
- Maryland Transition Center (1)
- Mass Incarceration (1)
- Mental Illness (1)
- Messiah (1)
- Mikita (2)
- Nebraska Prison Librarians (2)
- Novice Prison Librarian (1)
- NPR (2)
- Parole and Probation (1)
- Past Forward (1)
- Patuxent Institution (1)
- Plessy v. Ferguson (1)
- priison librarians (1)
- Prison Librarian (4)
- Prison Art (1)
- prison bibliography (1)
- Prison Book Club (2)
- Prison Bookmobile (1)
- Prison Census (1)
- Prison Education (1)
- Prison FAQs (1)
- Prison Foundation (1)
- Prison Industry (1)
- Prison Legal Reference (1)
- Prison Librarian (25)
- Prison Librarians (20)
- Prison Librarians- Oklahoma (1)
- Prison libraries (55)
- Prison Libraries. Prison Librarians (1)
- Prison Library (1)
- prison library book discussion (2)
- Prison Library collections (3)
- prison library standards (1)
- Prison Library Visitors (1)
- Prison Library Workshop (1)
- prison literacy (2)
- Prison Literacy Programs (1)
- Prison Phone calls (1)
- Prison Programs (1)
- Prison Reentry (9)
- Prison Reform (1)
- Prison safety (1)
- Prison Stories (2)
- Prison Writings (3)
- Prisoner release (1)
- Prisoners (21)
- Prisoners and Census (1)
- Prisoners and Children (1)
- Prisoners and Education (1)
- Prisoners and Families (1)
- prisoners and transition (2)
- Prisoners Forum (1)
- Prisoners Mental Health (1)
- Prisoners Right To Read (2)
- Prisoners Transition (1)
- Prisons (5)
- Private Prisons (1)
- Public libraries (3)
- Race and Incarceration (1)
- Re-entry (1)
- Read Across Maryland (1)
- Recidivism and Literacy (1)
- Safe Street Arts (1)
- Salim Sadiki (1)
- Second Chance Act (1)
- Walter Lomax (1)
- Washington Post (4)
- Wilbert Rideau (1)
- Women prisoners (3)
- Women's History Month. Incarcerated (1)
- Wrongful Convictions (1)
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I don't know how people could not find value in libraries for inmates -- or for anyone else. That's certainly what we've been hearing from library patrons and staff through LibrariUS, our national project to examine how people are using libraries today. It would be great to hear from prison libraries, to learn more about why people go to the library, and what they value it for.
Would you please consider getting the Maryland correction system libraries to participate in the project so your patrons can? I'm happy to answer your questions. You can reach me at mng@americanpublicmedia.org.
Thank you.
Melody Ng
Would you send me information as to what this entails? Reason I ask is that because it is a prison, I may have to get the permission of the prison administration. Please Send your comments to: gshirley@dllr.state.md.us
Phone 410 767 9761
Great blog thanks for posting this
Post a Comment