Maryland Humanities Council's blogs about our participation in the One Maryland One Book on their web site. We had Warren St. John visiting Jessup Correctional Instit. It was a lively discussion.
Prison libraries have been in the news lately. I did an interview with Bob Edwards on the Bob Edwards Show, Serius XM radio earlier this month. The show aired on October 17. Avi Steinberg , was featured on an NPR program. He got rave reviews for his memoir, Running The Books: Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian.
We have our challenges as some states aggressively try to censor what inmates read. US & World News.
The battle continues. Fortunately we have organizations like the American Library Association and ACLU to help fight for prisoners rights to read.
Showing posts with label Prisoners Right To Read. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prisoners Right To Read. Show all posts
Monday, October 25, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
Prisoners Right to Read
The recent buzz among librarians about the article in the New York Times where there were questions and concerns about inmates reading books on crime reminds me of my experience several years ago.
The prison psychologist and social worker wanted me to remove the books on true crime because their presence in the library would cause a negative effect and retard the progress of inmates who she had in therapy.
They were unimpressed when I displayed the Prisoners Right to Read and The ALA Bill of Rights. I said that since crimes were reported in the newspaper, and on radio and television, they would have to ban those as well. We had several meetings and eventually the books remained on the shelves, but I did not make any friends among the prison administration.
In June American Library Association passed an updated version of the Prisoners Right To Read
The prison psychologist and social worker wanted me to remove the books on true crime because their presence in the library would cause a negative effect and retard the progress of inmates who she had in therapy.
They were unimpressed when I displayed the Prisoners Right to Read and The ALA Bill of Rights. I said that since crimes were reported in the newspaper, and on radio and television, they would have to ban those as well. We had several meetings and eventually the books remained on the shelves, but I did not make any friends among the prison administration.
In June American Library Association passed an updated version of the Prisoners Right To Read
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