prison libraries Archives | American Libraries Magazine

From left: Beth Staley, Katy Ryan, and Gabriella Pishotti of the Appalachian Prison Book Project in Morgantown, West Virginia. Photo: Raymond Thompson

Prisoners Pay to Read

By Eldon Ray James | May 22, 2020

Of concern to Ryan and others was the fine print: Tablet users would be charged up to five cents per minute to access most of the tablet content. This included otherwise free public-domain materials, such as books from Project Gutenberg. APBP facilitates prison book clubs, provides tuition for college classes in prison, and sends free books … Continue reading Prisoners Pay to Read →

Packages of donated books from the NYC Books Through Bars collective are ready to be mailed to prisons. Photo: NYC Books Through Bars collective

Restricting Books behind Bars

By Timothy Inklebarger | June 1, 2018

While the package contents were not limited to books, the proposed change hampered books-to-prisoners organizations in their mission to provide reading material to the incarcerated. A large part of the controversy stemmed from the initial five vendors’ limited selection of fewer than 100 books, many of which were coloring or puzzle books. Stories in The … Continue reading Restricting Books behind Bars →

Librarians Go to Juvie

By Amy Carlton | June 27, 2017

In Monday’s session “Librarians Go to Juvie,” Susan Warner, head of youth services at Kalamazoo Public Library (KPL), explained that 85% of juveniles involved with the court system are functionally low-literate, and involvement with the court system dramatically increases the high school dropout rate. In addition, 70% of all incarcerated adults cannot read at a … Continue reading Librarians Go to Juvie →

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

By Karen Muller | May 1, 2017

Creating Inclusive Library Environments: A Planning Guide for Serving Patrons with Disabilities, by Michelle Kowalsky and John Woodruff, begins with an overview of changes initiated because of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 and the follow-up ADA Amendments Act of 2008—changes designed to ensure a barrier-free environment. From there, the book covers policy … Continue reading Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion →

Brooklyn (N.Y.) Public Library’s TeleStory program provides space to videochat at the library, letting families connect with their incarcerated loved ones, reading books and singing songs together.

Keeping Inmates on the Outside

By Megan Cottrell | January 3, 2017

Marcou is a corrections librarian with Hennepin County (Minn.) Library, and his patrons are the residents of Hennepin County Jail. He remembers the first time he saw one of his favorite patrons back in jail after being released just a few weeks earlier. “It was this very eyeopening moment,” says Marcou. “I thought, ‘I enjoy … Continue reading Keeping Inmates on the Outside →

A volunteer with Books to Prisons Seattle searches the donated books to fulfill prisoner requests.

The Freedom of Reading

By Kaitlin Throgmorton | October 31, 2016

Books-to-prisoners programs across the country are doing their best to address this need by taking book requests from prisoners by mail, then having volunteers match those requests to books that have been donated by the public or purchased with monetary donations. Volunteers also prep books for shipment, assess and sort donations, keep track of the … Continue reading The Freedom of Reading →

Jacquie Welsh, Leo Hayden, and Susan Woodwick

Preparing Inmates for Life After Prison

By Terra Dankowski | June 27, 2016

Jacquie Welsh was looking to undertake a project during her two-year residency at Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL), so she asked herself the question: “How can we innovate to make our libraries more accessible and more just?” What resulted was Pathways, a program designed to provide resources to those reentering the community after prison.

Reading on the Inside

By Megan Cottrell | December 8, 2014

The question startled librarian Dan Marcou. He had been sitting quietly at a small town library outside of the system where he works, waiting for his wife to finish some grad school research. When he looked up, he didn’t recognize the face immediately, a man holding the hand of a young boy. “Do you remember … Continue reading Reading on the Inside →

Latest Library Links

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ALA Executive Director Tracie D. Hall writes: “After an earth-shifting week that has brought into stark relief the experiences of racism and racial violence that many of us and our communities navigate every day as people of color, it is even more clear that the work of dismantling racism is overdue. It is overdue in our society, in library and information services, and at ALA, which exists to ensure that libraries, learning, and information access are available to all. To that end, I invited several ALA staffers and member leaders to reflect on this moment.”
AL: The Scoop, June 5
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The staff at Booklist have compiled a list of antiracist books and other resources for librarians and readers of all ages, noting, “We cannot rely on the books to do the work for us, but in the hopes they might serve as catalysts for the self-reflection and group discussion that often preface effective antiracist action, we have developed a list of our own. For those committed to this journey—the reading and the subsequent action—the list below is a start.”
Booklist Reader, June 5
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Cass Balzer writes: “As the US unemployment rate spikes to historic highs, many librarians and other library workers are being furloughed from their positions and navigating the personal and professional challenges that result. One of the biggest challenges—the effect on morale—is heightened when furloughs arrive with little warning, little support, or both.”
AL: The Scoop, June 5
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Dandy roll, dentelles, thumb-soiled. What do these words mean? In a short film called “A Body of Language” posted at The New Yorker, D. W. Young interviews two dozen or so rare book dealers about the “obscure and fanciful language of the book world—particularly the bodily lingo.”
The New Yorker, May 21
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Janko Roettgers writes: “Summer typically marks some of the busiest times for local libraries. But with COVID-19, libraries have had to rethink their summer programs and the way they can serve local communities. Many libraries have turned to ebook-lending programs like Hoopla and Overdrive, which have seen usage surge since March. That increased usage has also put a spotlight on the costs associated with these services, and the role that book publishers play in the digital transformation of libraries, as well as conflicts between business models and policies designed to serve the public good.”
Protocol, June 5
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Peter Derk writes: “This year I’ll be involved in my 16th summer reading at the library. There’s your bona fides. The library and summer reading go together like John Carpenter and synthesizers. Wait, that’s too cool. Not that I think summer reading is uncool, but c’mon, there’s a limit. The library and summer reading go together like glasses and retainers. There, that feels about right. From time to time, a library loses its way. Does some weird things with summer reading that don’t quite add up. I’m here to tell you about a couple.”
Lit Reactor, June 1
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A camel library is giving children out of school in some of Ethiopia’s remote villages a unique opportunity to continue reading and learning, despite COVID-19 school closures. Save the Children first began the camel library in 2010. The service includes 21 camels, which are traditionally used by communities in the Somali region of Ethiopia to transport goods across the hot lowland areas. Camels can carry up to 200 storybooks at a time in wooden boxes strapped to their backs. The project currently reaches more than 22,000 children in 33 villages. Across Ethiopia, some 26 million children are out of school due to COVID-19 lockdowns.
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: ReliefWeb, June 5

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