Public Libraries and Ex Offenders

 Inside the fence,  the Prison Library is often the lifeline for  prisoners who need information   for their cases and for transition back into their communities. Most inmates say they never go to the public libraries when they are in the community.  Yet they have children who attend schools and other  family members who would benefit from the range of services in the libraries.

At the Maryland Library Association Conference in Ocean City in May, I will be one of the presenters for a workshop that will encourage public librarians to promote their services to soon to be released inmates and to ex offenders.

Title of the workshop is:

Returning Residents: Libraries and the Information Needs of Ex-Offenders.

My co presenters will be an employer of ex offenders and an ex offender who has successfully transitioned back to society and is working with at risk youths.  

 

I will be highlighting the great model from Hennepin County Library    FREEDOM TICKET

Some of the sites featured will include:

• ·   http://wdr.doleta.gov/research/FullText_Documents/Preparing_for_Life_Beyond_Prison_Walls_The_Literacy_of_Incarcerated_Adults_Near_Release.p  

•  National Resource Center

http://www.nationalreentryresourcecenter.org/

• Sites for housing, drug addiction, job hunt, family relations, community resources., etc

Prison Librarian Retires

Sounds dramatic to use Shakespeare's  "Parting is such sweet sorrow' but that sort of sums up my sentiments on September 30, when I retired as Coordinator for the Correctional Education Libraries.   I have worked in public, school, special, broadcasting, and prison libraries.  In this long and varied library career, the latter has been the most rewarding.
Why?  I witnessed transformation in majority of the individuals who arrived in prison as bad guys and gals.  Within 2 to 3 years as they began to make use of the educational opportunities in the prisons,  I saw attitudes change and the desire for information increase.  The library was the central source in the quest for knowledge.
As an active member of the Maryland Library Association, I will continue to advocate for library service to prisoners, and am willing to do training with interested groups.  The following is an article that was written by Mike Rosenwald of the Washington Post

My colleagues came me a clock, now that I am no longer doing time

Read Across Maryland

As the  President of the Maryland Library Association, this week I attended and participated  in several events associated with READ ACROSS MARYLAND, a collaborative effort  between librarians and educators.  Watching the faces of the first graders to whom I was reading, reminded me of the Family literacy program I initiated for the children of incarcerated parents in two of Maryland's prisons.  I will be working with public librarians to explore collaborative ways to work together with prison libraries and with children of prisoners.

Library Snapshot Day



JCI inmates use legal and general databases

Photographs are the property of the Division of Correction.

MCTC inmates browse library shelves

Three of the Maryland Correctional Prison Libraries participated in Library Snapshot Day.  Jessup Correctional Institution (JCI), Maryland Correctional Education Training Center (MCTC), and Eastern Correctional Institution-West(ECIW).  Statistics for that day:

MCTC with 1 full time librarian and 8 inmate clerks, had  162 patrons in the library, processed 75 items for inmates on segregation, checked out 83 magazines,  and 86 books,  answered 78 general and 60 legal reference questions.  8 inmates used the career center, 74 used computer databases.  48 students participated in the 2 education classes on library/reference instruction. 35 viewed CNN.(Total population- approx. 2,500)

ECIW-  1 full time librarian and 8 inmate clerks had 108 visitors, checked out 29 magazines and 101 books, answered 55 general and 71 legal reference questions,18 inmates used the career center, 54 used computer databases, 48 books were repaired.  There was1 book discussion with 11 patricipants and 1 facilitator.( Inmate population approx. 1200)


Shirley Smith MCTC Librarian, assists library users



Grace Schroder, Librarian, at JCI library information desk



  
 

Prison Librarian and Outreach

Prison Librarianship can be isolating because most librarians work as one person managers. The librarian who does not get involved in outside professional organizations tend to become institutionalized. What? Hammered daily by the rules, rigidities, and regulations of those intent on public safety, and concerned about job security, some find it easier to conform to the arbitrary censorshop of reading materials, and begin to identify more with security. To keep my focus as a librarian rather than as a prison librarian, I am involved with the larger library community, and this year I will become the President of the Maryland Library Association. This has been a great help in putting the face of prison libraries in front. Read my other blog: Foreign Librarian in Library Land