New Book by a Formerly Incarcerated Woman

The recently published book, May 2017:

Becoming Ms. Burton

From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight for Incarcerated Women, by   Susan Burton &  Cari Lynn is getting good reviews.  It is on my reading list.

Her Letters From Prison

Heather Heaton has an ebook titled:  Her Letters From Prison.  Check out the information .
Other titles  about women in prison

• Doing Time: 25 Years of Prison Writing (A PEN American Center Prize Anthology) , Bell Gale Chevigny (Author), Sister Helen Prejean

• Inner Lives: Voices of African American Women In Prison.

            Paula Johnson (Author), Joyce A. Logan (Author), Angela J. Davis (Author)

 

LIBRARIES and DPSCS

Recent news from DPSCS is that an author, Gwynne Forster,  visited the women's prison, spoke to, and donated books to the library.  Inmates love to have authors because some of them see this as a way to have questions answered as to how they can write their own story.  Others are reading for the first time, and the presence of an author is an incentive to read.  The news from DPSCS also highlighted many good things the inmates do to give back to society.

CEPR On Incarceration

In 2009, over 7.2 million people were under some form of correctional supervision.  According to  CEPR June 2010    http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/incarceration-2010-06.pdf"The United States currently incarcerates a higher percentage of its population than any other country in the world. In 2008, over 2.3 million Americans were in prison or jail, and one of every 48 working-age men was behind bars. These rates are not just far above those of the rest of the world,they are also substantially higher than our own long-standing historical experience. The financial costs of our corrections policies are staggering. In 2008, federal, state, and local governments spent about $75 billion on corrections, the large majority of which was spent on incarceration".

Programs at MCIW

Herb Malveaux is our new librarian at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women (MCIW). His public library background enables him to introduce a wide variety of programs in the library. His supervisor's comment on his recent program says it all.
" Last week, Herb Malveaux planned a special program in "origami" for the women here at MCI-W (23 participated). It was exciting to watch the women face challenges using their motor skill and thinking through directions. The women loved the experience and, of course, wanted more! Colorful frogs and birds hopped and flew through the library. Also there was lots of chatter and team work. It was a great choice of program for the women."
"Dr. Fran Tracy-Mumford, Acting Principal. MCI-W
The Baltimore Sun also featured a classical performance by a world class pianist http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/music/bal-ae.jessup24oct24,0,7837074.story

She Likes The Rich and Famous

Female prisoners are very concerned about leaving their children and also about losing custody. Their information needs focus on custody issues. Many of them, however, visit the library to socialize, browse the magazines, and to borrow popular reading materials. Unlike male prisoners, they rarely research legal cases. This is because among themselves they will readily discuss and admit to the crimes that placed them in prison, while the men often claim they were incarcerated because their lawyer was ineffective.

The men do extensive legal research in order to go back to the courts hoping for reduced sentences. They women talk about reuniting with their children and gettng jobs.

On a visit to one of the institutions that houses females, I observed a woman looking for books by Ann Rule. There was only one title, so I questioned her about her interests in order to offer some alternatives.

She said she was only interested in books about the rich and famous because she admired them. "I like that lifestyle", she said. Then without missing a beat, she told me she scammed banks in 3 states, and had a lot of money to live the high life. " I will be out soon and plan to start a business in another country. Do you have any information on...? " I can't recall the country.

Did she want the information in preparation for scamming the banks in this country? I am not the library police. As the information professional, I pointed out the only source I saw on the shelf- The World Book, and told her to check with the institution librarian if she needed more information.

At least she was reading.