Ex Offender at MLA Conference

Successful ex offenders make great speakers.  At the Maryland Library Association Conference, Antoine kept the audience riveted as he told them of his crime, his stay in prison and his  successful reentry, made possible due to the help of the other speaker,  Jack, his first employer. 

In the film , Past Forward Jack and Antoine tell part of their stories

http://www.pastforwardmd.org/index.cfm?page=profile_antoine

Inmates and Community Projects

An interesting article in the Urbanite detailing how prisoners are helping to clear a cemetery.

Prison Librarians and The Library Community

Being a prison librarian can be isolating. In most cases there is not much interaction with librarians in other fields. I try to keep the Maryland prison libraries in the picture by encouraging librarians to get involved in the Maryland Library Association (MLA). Each year we participate in at least one program at their annual conference.

This year's program was titled. BOOK 'EM DANO. The presentation discussed programming, book discussions, and applying for grants. Last year our program was titled The Kinks Of Telecommuting Librarians. Our programs are usually well attended and we always leave time for questions. Although many of the questions are usually about the program, we always get and answer the ones that deal with safety.

MCTC prison

Meditation program for prisoners. Several community groups now conduct programs like YOGA or meditation in some of our prisons. Yesterday's newspaper Washington Times had an article of a program with inmates at Maryland Correctional Training Center

Prison Librarianship as a Careeer

Every week I get emails from library school students asking questions about prison librarianship or working in a prison. I usually recommend:

Visit more than one prison because a single visit may be to a poorly run institution. How? Call the librarian at the prisons. My web site has a directory of prison libraries . The visit will also test your comfort level with having the gates clang shut behind you.

While in library school, arrange for an internship or do a project dealing with prison libraries.

Experience working in a public library is very useful for someone who is considering work in a prison Library. Why? As a one person manager in a prison library, you will have to answer a variety of complex questions, just like in a public library. You will be dealing with invididuals from a variety of education and social backgrounds, and you will be responsible for collection development, programs, reports, and all the security rules that go with working in a prison. It can be overwhelming if you have not had previous library experience

Read books on prison librarianship. My web site also has some articles:http://ce.msde.state.md.us/library/libraryarticles07.htm

Prison Librarian?

I am constantly amused at the look on people's face when I say I work with prisoners. Comments usually range from, "It must be quite challenging." to " They have all the time to read." Some people actually comment, "You are so good to be doing this." Grrrr... Smile... Grin...say it. "Oh I'm not good at all. It is my profession and the prisoners are like any other community library users- only they are behind the fence. " Shall I go on? "Well they don't have as much free time as you think. Inside the fence they work, go to school, to the health unit, commissary, social meetings like Veterans Groups, band practice, watch TV, play games in their units, exercise in the yard, go to religious services, and a variety of other activities. Like in the outside community, the library is one of their choices. We try to make our libraries inviting and non threatening, focussing on the benefits of getting the correct information.
In time the inmates trust the librarian, they become regular users. See photos of two of our libraries JCI in Jessup and MCIH in Hagerstown . Check out MD. Correctional Education Libraries web site for more information

Visiting our prison libraries

In October I hosted a librarian from England who was in the US on a traveling scholarship. In England she works in a women's prison. She toured libraries in Washington state, Washington DC and several of our prisons in Maryland. I arranged for her to visit JCI, MCIW, Patuxent, and a juvenile facility. She also spent a day at the Enoch Pratt Free Library and the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.

Visitors to all our institutions must submit one or more of the following, depending on the institution- name, birthdate, social security number, and driver's license at least 2 weeks before date of visit. This allows the institution to do a background check before giving permision to enter the institution. After I get the signed permission granting entry, I inform the visitor of the institution's rules for entry- applicable to everyone- visitors or staff.

Of course rules change each day and sometimes are based on the whims and interpretation of the officer at the security gate, like airport security.

• Photo ID is required at all times
• Prohibited: Cell phones, cameras, food, handbags, anything that can be used as a weapon, money over $20.00, any item that is not preapproved.
• Some institutions do not allow entry to those wearing underwire bras if it sets off the security alarm.

Before I hire librarians, I invite them to visit the prisons since many persons have difficulty hearing the gates clang shut behind them. Once visitors are inside the libraries they often exclaim " It's like a real library." I usally refrain from saying "And I am a real librarian."

Book Discussion in a Prison Library

Last week I visited ECIW , a prison on the Eastern Shore, and sat in on a prisoners' book discussion. I entered the room where the discussion was taking place, and sat quietly in one corner just listening. Of the 6 inmates, 2 European Americans had tatoos on all visible places except their faces. Of the African Americans, one was definitely a candidate who qualified for AARP membership, one was a 23 year old, and the other 2 were somewhere in between.

They were discussing the book "Hole in my Life" one of the titles our system received through the Great Stories Club, a reading program that connect troubled teens and young adults. Our experience has shown that many of the adult prisoners are comfortable reading books that have tough themes for young adults. Last year for example, they discussed the "Watsons go to Birmingham" and loved it. The librarian at ECIW wrote: I have just finished a book discussion group using the book "Hole in My Life. We had a fabulous group of 10. ... We had too much to talk about in one session... We used some of the questions provided on the website and some that we came up with. The group decided it wanted to stay together and discuss the book "Sold".

I have so many requests for participants that I have already begun a second group for Hole in my Life. We have two additonal groups beyond those signed for this book.



"Hole in my Life" is about an individual who wanted to be a writer and who ended up in prison because he particiapted in smuggling in order to get money to pay for college. The inmate facilitated discussion group discussed choices, being caught up in wrong doing, and the chance for redemption.

The older gentleman said he has been in prison since the 70s, and he has seen many changes. "They used to have some good programs for prisoners", he said. "Now maybe they have no money because there is very little that the prison administration offers to help inmates to be rehabilitated". He looked at the 23 year old and said, " Young brother it is easy for this atmosphere to make you get tough and hardened because there are many negatives, but you can also make use of the opportunity to improve yourself since you have a chance of getting out".

The young man acknowledged he made stupid mistakes, did not want that to define him, and thanked the older gentleman for giving him a pamphlet about Nelson Mandela because it helped him realize that he could use his brain to do something positive even while imprisoned.

They discussed the book, citing parellels in their own life. One prisoner said he was within 3 years of leaving the prison, but was worried because the institution still had not done much to ensure that he would be successful when he got out. The talked about race, parenting, loss ( the parent of one died while he was incarcerated and he worried that he would not be around to be a good parent to his 6 year old daughter.

Sitting in the corner, listening to him, made me feel good the library and books were the vehicle for such introspection.

Internet and Prison Libraries

I get about 3 emails per week about various prison library issues. The most frequently asked is about the the Internet and prison libraries. I used the prison library listserv prison-l@ala.org to ask about their specific institution. Below are some responses.


Melisa Gilbert, librarian at Arrowhead Correctional Center in Colorado, did an excellent presentation at July's 63rd Int'l CEA Conference in Denver. She provided an overview of offender internet access from a stakeholder point of view. She also prepared an excellent webliography, which may be accessed at http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdelib/slinstit.htm.

Red Rock Correctional, part of CCA does provide from lexis just what you're alluding to: the computers boot through to a specific 'website' and there aren't any navigational aids and/or links off/from that site. Lexis has provided a custom interface for the inmates.

Female Prisoners

In our women's prison, MCIW. The library has lots of information and directories on family law, custody, visitation, child support. We also have a small collection of children's books so the women can read and share with their children when they visit or during phone calls.

Conversation With A Prisoner

Yesterday I visited one of the prisons. At the magazine section, an inmate clerk sat reading his Bible. Another inmate approached holding out the Jet Magazine. The inmate clerk, took the magazine, placed it back on the shelf, returned the inmate's ID, and placed a check mark on his list to indicate the magazine was returned.

I greeted him, asked him about usage of the magazines and books on tapes, then asked him how much longer before he returned to society. He said 1 year,. I asked what he was doing to prepare himself for a successful reentry.

He listed them - drug treatment, anger management, school, parenting sessions, life skills. Then he said, " I have been in and out of jail, several times, high on cocaine. I hurt my mother, who is a Christian woman, and my little brother, who also did drugs, but imagine now is a store Manager for... and sends me money. My baby brother! I am 55 years old, and I know that I am no longer willing to live the life that kept me high on cocaine. Sometimes I made my mother promises, but I was too high to even remember. Now I read my Bible, and I know when I get out there, I will be a changed man."

"You better keep that promise. If you leave here I dont want to see you back." I said. He laughed. "You don't have to worry about that."

I went to another prison. As the inmate saw me, he went for an extremely thick file. telling me he had appealed every condition of his sentence. He says he has been wrongly incarcerated. He showed me news clippings about a policeman who lied saying he plans to use this to bolster his defense. He is convinced he will leave prison in a few months. I asked him what he is doing to prepare himself for a successful reentry. He said he had a corportation. I remembered him from another prison 18 years ago. His story has not changed.

legal training up snow mountain

Majority of our inmates do not know how to use our legal databases, therefore I arrange legal database training programs. Yesterday's training was for a site 70 miles away. The weather forecast predicted up to 3 inches of snow, so this tropical bird, who 3 days ago was basking in the Jamaican sunshine, flirted with cancelling the program.

I remembered, however, a past comment from a prisoner , "We ain't going nowwhere when it snows, Ms Shirley, we still here", so I drove slowly up the mountains. In the library, 58 inmates sat patiently awaiting our arrival.

While the trainer conducted the program an inmate approached me smiling. " I remember you from way back", he said. "When you were at the Pen (the penitentiary) you used to talk to me and give me advise. I really appreciate that because now I have my GED."

Another inmate asked who I was and my contact information. I referred him to the on site librarian because I am now wise to the list of instant solutions they expect from headquarters. I listened to and noted some of their suggestions.

I kept an eye on the trainer to intervene since inmates often ask for answers to their personal situation. We constantly have to remind inmates that we are trainers, not lawyers, referring them to the appropriate staff.

By the time the session ended the snow had covered the ground. Inmates gathered around the trainer for more questions. Laughing, they said goodbye when I warned that if they wanted a future session, they had better allow me to drive down snow mountain.
Check our web site for a list of our required reference