In A Place of Monotony and Despair

I now have my copy the book,  ADVANCES IN LIBRARIANSHIP, edited by University of Maryland iSchool, that includes a chapter  I wrote about Maryland prison library services.  The Title is from a letter I received from a prison library user, thanking me for information services.  His letter began with the words. In A Place of Monotony and Despair... http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/S0065-283020160000042008

Formerly Incarcerarted Chris Wilson

Great to see how libraries help incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals.  Recently, I attended an event in Baltimore where a panelist of successful individuals shared their stories. One panelists was Chris Wilson who  was incarcerated at age 17, spent 16 years in the Maryland prison system, and shared how he used the prison library constantly.  Now back in the community, he is using the skills learned in prison  to maintain his business, Barclay Investment Corporation.   Second Life details his life story to date.

http://www.baltimoremagazine.net/2015/9/29/chris-wilson-lifts-ex-offenders-into-the-workforce

Books Behind Bars

A few weeks ago, I participated in a forum organized by some community activists in Washington DC.  They were advocating more access to books behind bars- Restorative justice. Chief organizer,  activist Sam Jewler, brought in speakers from different backgrounds, including Free Minds Book Club  to share experiences either as ex offenders, or as advocates for access to education and library services in the DC jails.  Through Sam's advocacy, the DC council recently placed funds in its budget for jail library services.  See report in The Capital Librarian.http://capitallibrarian.tumblr.com/post/87259511331/books-behind-bars-building-a-community-of-action

Adult Literacy, Incarceration and Re-entry

Yesterday, I attended a Forum on Adult Literacy, Incarceration and Re-entry, organized by Academy of Hope  http://www.aohdc.org/
Among the Panelists were two formerly incarcerated individuals.  One is now a director of an organization that helps returning residents, and also helps with providing support for abused,neglected, and homeless youths by assisting them to obtain marketable skills.

The other shared her struggle with surviving on the outside after 15 years  spending time in and out of jail.She spoke about feeling unworthy,  not completing high school,  giving up on the GED several times, drug use.  fear of learning computer when she returned to society.  One thing she said  resonated with the attendees.  When she said she could not do maths,  mentor helped her see the light by using the analogy of her use of crack.  "How much crack do you use... If you get only one piece.. If you get several... how much is that. etc. etc."  She was quick with  computing her responses to the crack math count.

She is still struggling with obtaining the GED at age 40, is also concerned about her children, hoping they are not inhibited by her behaviors.

Everyone complimented her on still trying.

Another speaker was a passionate advocate for incarcerated youth, Director of Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop. 

It was great to see community advocates working to improve the lives of the incarcerated and concerned about the biggest problem- that of support on re-entry.  

 I asked about community collaboration because I think this is what will help improve the efforts.  Too often  I see  each group working in silo, competing for the same source of funds, duplicating efforts.  I am hopeful this group will do some collaborative work towards helping returning residents, to re adjust to society and become productive citizens.

Conversations with a Prisoner

Going through my prison library journal, I came across this entry from the 90s.  One day I will include  it in the book that everyone is encouraging me to write.

 

JT the Prisoner

JeyT had tattoos all over his arms.  He said each one represented some philosophy, theology, or some girl he dated or with whom he was in love.

He said that among the many things he did for a living, he also did tattoos on people for $100 per hour. He cited doctors, lawyers, and other professionals among his customers.  “You just don’t see it because sometimes it’s a small symbol and it’s hidden.  Many people with tattoos wear long sleeves.  The heat from the sun will drain the dye, so it’s better to cover it. “

JT was an avid science fiction reader who declared that most of the books I had in the prison library,  were rereads for him.  He said on this day he would not borrow many books because he felt he was leaving soon.   I thought he was leaving for his freedom, but he said no, he was leaving for a state prison, and a long sentence.

I expressed surprise, when he informed me he had been in prison for 15 years.

‘You must like it, I said why you commit another offense to return.”   “No.” he said, “The prison system does not prepare you to go back into society.  You spend the greater part of your life in prison.  There everything is done for you.  People tell you what to do every step of the way. You don’t have to worry about rent or any other form of expense.  Then you are placed back in society.  You are confronted with the pressures, people’s behavior, expenses, and so many negative forces.  You were never taught or prepared to cope with these.  It is very easy to find the easiest way out.”

“You articulate the problems very well, so having identified them I expect you would have been one of those who could cope.”

He laughed. “The judge said the same thing, but you have to understand it is one thing articulating, it is another thing to actually deal with it.”

He would have continued, but it was time to go.  He had chosen to spend his allocated recreation time in the library, and now he must return to his cell.

Prisoners Forum

The Prisoners Forum  is a section of ALA ASCLA.  It consists of a group of librarians who provide services to prisoners  in adult and juvenile facilities.  The group provides a great network services on line through  the ALA website,   Prison-L
At the summer conference in Anaheim, several librarians presented the program: 
Nuts and bolts of building a public library and jail/prison partnership

For me it is always great to see colleagues from across the country who work in the same environment and have the same passion for special library services.

The photo shows presenters and participants at the ALA program in Anaheim,  2012

Stories from Prison

 I get so many questions about what it is like to work in a prison, that I have decided to  periodically  include in my blog, some of the things I wrote over the years.  The stories are all true. The titles are my own, names have been changed.

Don't Do That Again: The Correctional Educator and the Inmate

A scream resounded from her two hundred plus frame.  Swift as a bullet he catapulted from his desk, headed for the door with his hands up in the air.  He spreadeagled himself against the wall, looking backward towards her with a frightened, puzzled look.
"A roach." she panted, pointing to the ground.
With  a sigh of relief,  the inmate returned to the room, this time his hands at his sides.
"Don't ever scream like that again miss, " he said to his teacher. 
"If you scream like that, the officers will run inside thinking we are doing you some harm."

My inmate worker was still laughing when he told me this story about his cell mate.

***
Don't Do that:  The Inmate and the Librarian

"Don't do that, don't do that," he whispered  with a sort of feigned desperation in his voice.
I looked up and  a half dozen pairs of eyes, wary, hungry, speculating, amused, were focused on me.
"What's the matter? " I asked the inmate workers who were in library waiting for the correction officer to give them permission to leave.
Came the simple  guileless reply, "Trev was getting excited Miss S.  Its been such a long time since any of us see a woman comb her hair."
I had just returned from lunch, and was running a comb through my wind-blown hair.  I was in my office, door closed but they could see  through the glass window.  I never combed my hair when inmates were around again. 

***
A Woman's Laugh
The library was closed the day so the Principals and Instructors from across the state could have their meetings.
Inmate workers were allowed in the library to work, but not the general population.  The entire area is usually cleared of inmates during lunch.  When they returned from lunch, they had to wait outside until the officer gave permission to enter.
Staff used this time to joke around.  One instructor had a very "healthy laugh".
"Miss S. you don't understand how good that sound.' one inmate said.  "Around here we don't generally hear women laughing ."

Children of Incarcerated Parents

We often talk about incarcerated adults, but as one writer said, the children of incarcerated parents get lost in the shuffle.  They suffer tremendous disadvantages.  Many end up in the penal system because of the effects of the parental incarceration, poverty, illiteracy, and lack of available  community resources.

The references below discuss some of the issues. 

      Children of Incarcerated Fact Sheet   http://211.idaho.gov/pdf/COIP_Factsheet.pdf  (Annie E. Casey Foundation)


 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
The Urban Institute
 From Prison to Home:
The Effect of Incarceration and Reentry on
Children, Families and Communities
 http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/prison2home02/parke%26stewart.pdf
 From Prison to Home

A book that deals with some of the issues is:
Prisoners Once Removed:  The Impact of Incarceration and Reentry on Children, Families, and Communities., editors, Jimmy Travis and Michelle Waul

Recently the Baltimore Sun's article said:  If we Build $70 million juvenile jail, We will fill it,http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-10-03/news/bs-md-rodricks-1004-20121003_1_juvenile-jail-parole-commission-parole-system


CBS reported on the high cost of incarceration recently.
/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3445_162-57418495/the-cost-of-a-nation-of-incarceration/

 Inmates participating in games with their children during a Family Literacy
Program in a Maryland Prison

Inmates, family members and children compete in an educational game during a Family Literacy Program.

Inmates selected a theme, did research, posed questions, and children, other inmates or family members can answer questions.  In this photo one of the child participant is wearing a T shirt from the state Summer Reading Program.  "Wild about Reading"

Dan Rodricks and an Ex Offender

In a recent article in The Baltimore Sun, Dan Rodricks featured an ex offender who is back in society after 30 years.   Reentry is often difficult for many inmates.  For those with long sentences as Mr. Grant, in Dan's article, when they return they face changed roads, cities, streets, housing, family changes and  or estrangement.
  Perhaps the only stable for many  is the poverty or run down areas that they left behind.  It is tough to be successful, especially when in prison they little or no access to technology that is so necessary to even apply for a job.
Often their most realistic lifeline to the outside is the information they get from their  Prison Libraries.  My hope is that once they are outside the fence,  they will visit  public libraries to help them in their quest for jobs, housing, and community resources.

Prison Library Consultant

I do workshops for Divisions of Corrections, Public Libraries that oversee jails and detention centers, agencies serving ex-offenders, and library schools to create awareness of this disadvantaged group.
Training identifies, inmate characteristics, sources of new books,  funding sources, web sites, community resources, and programs in preparation for reentry back to the community.

Contact me if you have any questions:  Glennor Shirley, email: glennors66@yahoo.com 

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

Family Literacy In Prison

They invited me to the 10 year celebration of the Family Literacy program I began.  A diligent correctional instructor continued the program as I went to set up a similar one in another prison.  One inmate said his daughter was 7 years old when the program began and he had never read or discussed books before.  Because of the program, he started discussing books during phone calls.  His daughter was now 17 years old and they still discussed books.  Wow.  My feet felt lighter as I walked up to get the award honoring me for being one of the initiators of the program.

What Am I Reading?

Is it I or do others have the same issue of reading less?  Why?  I get on my email, and 3 hours later I am still on the computer as I get on facebook, forward emails,  reply to all the emails, click on email links.  I listen to a book on tape while driving.  Does that count?  It took me a long time, but I have finally finished  reading, Charles OGLETREE, The Presumption of Guilt: The arrest of Henry Louis Gates JR. and Race, Class, and Crime In America.  I really liked his Epilogue.  100 Ways to Look at a Black Man.  This consisted of interviews with prominent African Americans who were subjected to various forms of indignities that were racially based, and grounded in stereotypes.  A must read.

Value of Prison Libraries

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 Libraries on NPR

I was interviewed by Liane Hansen, of NPR.  She and her producer,  visited JCI,  one of the prisons that I supervise, and talked with some prisoners who were having a book discussion in the library. Inmates shared how the library was important in their daily life.   The program was aired on May 29, during the NPR  Weekend Edition 

 GLS in the parking lot of the Jessup Correctional Institution

The Prison Returned the Books I sent to An Inmate

I often get calls from members of the public inquiring why a prison returned books or magazines they sent  to prisoners.

Prison administration  are comfortable when inmates engage in positive activities like reading.  However,security is paramount.  Inmate's outside contacts  have  used books and magazines to conceal contraband in some very innovative ways.  So, as they say: "The good suffers for the bad". In prisons, inmates may get printed materials directly from publishers, but not directly  from members of the public.

When donations come to me at HQ or to  the librarians in the prisons, materials are examined or scanned for  potential problems. For example, an alert librarian in flipping through a magazine, noticed that the cover had been removed and substituted for one of the titles that the library receives.  The content under the substituted title was filled with  gang related information.  Another librarian found a hardback book  had concealed drugs.

 As prison  librarians, many of us constantly  battle with  the philosophy in our belief of prisoners  right to read, and our responsibility to security concerns in the prisons.

Prisoner's Feedback

 The Washington Post article    reminded me of my  archive of stuff(last accessed about 8 years ago when I was getting rid of accumulated papers).   Among them was my occasional  prison  journal, and the appreciative  notes prisoners sent me even after I left the system.  Inmates used scraps of paper or cardboard boxes to write notes or  to make greeting cards.  Two years after I left the state prison libraries to return to public libraries, I received a package at the library address. Contents- a beautiful drawing of the Jamaican flag glued on cardboard.  Attached to the card was a note from another prisoner.   The artist always insisted that I should not call him an inmate.  He was a " prisoner".    The back side of the note  was a typewritten directive from the captain's office.  - December 24, 1993-  PASS LIST FOR VOLLEY BALL GAME.  ... Please allow the below listed men to report to the gym when called for.... I had no idea what the Washington Post Interview would be about, so I went into my prison file, and pulled out this one - from 1994!!!

My Wish List

• The Dedicated Ex-Prisoner's Guide to Life and Success on the Outside: 10 Rules for Making It in Society After Doing Time. Richard Bovan

• Getting Out & Staying Out: A Black Man's Guide to Success After Prison, Demico Boothe

• Wiring a House 4th Edition: Completely Revised and Updated, Rex Cauldwell

• Letters to a Young Brother: MANifest Your Destiny. Hill Harper

• Cooked: From the Streets to the Stove, from Cocaine to Foie Gras. Jeff Henderson

• Eager Street: A Life on the Corner and Behind Bars. Arlando "Tray" Jones

• Best Jobs for Ex-Offenders: 101 Opportunities to Jump-Start Your New Life. Ron Krannich

• Chicken Soup for the Prisoner's Soul: 101 Stories to Open the Heart and Rekindle the Spirit of Hope, Healing and Forgiveness (Chicken Soup for the Soul) [. Tom Lagana

• The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates. Wes Moore

• Beyond Bars: Rejoining Society After Prison. Jeffrey Ian Ross

****

African American topics

• Africa: Mother of Western Civilization (African-American Heritage Series)Yosef ben-Jochannan.  (Any book by this author)

• Selected Writings and Speeches of Marcus Garvey Marcus Garvey

• As Nature Leads: An Informal Discussion of the Reason Why Negro and Caucasian Are Mixing in Spite of Opposition. J. A. Roger

• E. Ethelbert Miller-  Any poetry book by this author

• Rogers, A. J.  Any book by this author 
• They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient Americ. Ivan Van Sertima

• The Mis-Education of the Negro. Carter Godwin Woodson

Self Exploration/psychology

• Beyond Anger: A Guide for Men: How to Free Yourself from the Grip of Anger and Get More Out of Life. Thomas J. Harbin

• Not in My Neighborhood: How Bigotry Shaped a Great American city [. Antero Pietila
• Rage: A Step-by-step Guide to Overcoming Explosive Anger. Ronald T. Potter-Efron
• Angry All the Time: An Emergency Guide to Anger Control. Ronald T. Potter-Efron
• Best Resumes and Letters for Ex-Offenders (Overcoming Barriers to Employment Success. Ronald Krannich

Books from the Jist catalog  http://www.jist.com/shop/web

Prison Library and Donations

It helps when you have a friend in the media.  You get better response from the public.  Dan Rodricks of WYPR 88.1(NPR) through his midday show; http://www.wypr.org/stationprogram/midday-dan-rodricks,  and articles in the Baltimore Sun http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-02-02/news/bs-ed-rodricks-books-20110202_1_nonfiction-books-funds-for-new-books-satellite-libraries   has proved to be a true friend of prison libraries.  I have got lots of donations including many books on reentry because of Dan's support of prison libraries.

Judith Richter and sister Ms Pasternack donated 10,000 books, from her late husband's collection, to prison libraries in Maryland. 

Ex Offender Wilbert Rideau

I have just finished reading "In the Place Of Justice: A Story of Punishment and Deliverance", by Wilbert Rideau who was incarcerated for 44 years and released in 2005.  The book is a great read, evidence of how inmates can be reformed.  Rideau was editor of the Angolite, that received many  national awards for journalism.  One thing that stuck with me in the book was Rideau's description of his adjustment back in the society. 

Last week I participated in NPR 88.1 WYPR's  Midday with Dan Rodricks http://www.ktla.com/sports/football/bs-ed-rodricks-books-20101205,0,4533598.column

Because of the program I have been getting lots of calls with donations from the public.