LIT has supported the school libraries at Belmont Academy, Passages Academy, and the school library collections at New York City’s juvenile justice centers and works with the Office of Children and Family Services at Brookwood residential facility in upstate New York. More recently, LIT helped fund magazine subscriptions for the School Program for Incarcerated Youth at the Nassau County Correctional Center on Long Island.

LIT gives these teens what they need and want—real and relevant programs and resources. What might have been boring becomes interesting and the teens become engaged in both learning and self-improvement.

LIT has funded two youth programs at Rikers Island—Drama Club and writing workshops facilitated by author, Robert Galinsky. In addition, recognizing the shift in alternatives to incarceration, LIT most recently supported Prison Writes, a writing program which supports literacy efforts working in the Closer to Home programs in New York City.

Many young adult authors have visited LIT sponsored programs over the years: Walter Dean Meyers, Tonya Bolden, Coe Booth, Matt De La Peña, Greg Neri, Lauren Oliver, Clay McLeod Chapman, and Torrey Maldonado. There is no substitute for meeting an author in person! So it was no surprise when the Empire Book Center and New York State Library Association presented the Empire State Book Award to LIT at its New York State Writers Hall of Fame Gala on June 7, 2016, in New York City.^[2] At the Award presentation, LIT was praised in its efforts “to improve the ability and desire of incarcerated youth to read, to offer encouragement, and motivation to seek a better future.”

Literacy for Incarcerated Teens continues to expand its efforts in providing much needed supplementary services and resources in the face of shrinking budgets and resources. LIT board members, former teachers, librarians, authors, social workers, and juvenile justice advocates all agree that literacy can lift incarcerated teens from their present lives to changed lives, and LIT wants to support that transformation. LIT knows change is possible and literacy can make it happen.

For more information, contact LIT4teens@gmail.com

References

[1] Neelum Arya, “State Trends: Legislative Victories from 2005 to 2010 Removing Youth from the Adult Criminal Justice System” (report, Washington, DC: Campaign for Youth Justice, 2011), 7.

[2] “Literacy for Incarcerated Teens to be Recognized,” Empire State Center for the Book, News, 2016.

The post Literacy For Incarcerated Teens first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Nick Higgins, director of Outreach Services at Brooklyn Public Library, started this “TeleStory” program in 2014. He had previous experience working as a librarian at Rikers Island for a few years and proceeded to work closely with the Department of Corrections to turn visitation rooms, used primarily for video chats with attorneys, into a warm and welcoming environment for prisoners to video chat with their families. The process to schedule a “visit” is fairly simple: The family of the incarcerated gives the BPL forty-eight hours’ notice before a desired visit so that the appropriate paperwork can be filled out and the visit can be arranged and scheduled. The demand, however, has gone up so much that some families have had to be turned away, so the additional TeleStory stations will alleviate the lack of resources and bring more families together.^[4]

What BPL is doing is not just innovative but also incredibly necessary. As more and more prisons are doing away with in-person visits and favoring video visitation instead, they are also charging family members of the incarcerated about a dollar per minute for the privilege to communicate with each other. For low-income communities with high incarceration rates, the cost of communication/contact with imprisoned family members can leave a family deeply in debt, furthering the incarceration cycle; “Poverty, in particular, perpetuates the cycle of incarceration, while incarceration itself leads to greater poverty.”^[5]

Although it has been statistically shown that the more in-person prison visits an individual receives, the less likely they are to return to prison by violating their parole or re-offending after release, prisons continue to remove in-person visits in order to save money.^[6] Texas has been a prime example of this phenomenon: Texas legislators passed bill HB 549 in May of 2015,^[7] which stated that prisons must “provide each prisoner at a county jail with a minimum of two in-person, noncontact visitation periods per week of at least 20 minutes duration each.”^[8] At least twenty-two counties in Texas have since won an exemption to the bill, thereby confining visits to video chats only.^[9] And they are continuing to charge exorbitant prices, sometimes as much as thirty dollars for twenty minutes of communication.^[10]

The battle for in-person visitation is beginning to move towards other states.^[11] It’s clear that the tele-visit is not only staying but is the only option for some families. The fact that the BPL is creating a safe and affordable space for families takes away some of the toll, both financial and emotional, that incarceration puts on the incarcerated and their families, hopefully abating the damage of the poverty-prison cycle.

References

[1] Stephen M. Lilienthal, “Prison and Libraries: Public Service Inside and Out,” Library Journal, February 4, 2013.

[2] Jack Smith IV, “Prisons Want to Use Tech to End In-Person Visits — These Librarians Have a Different Plan,” Mic, June 23, 2016.

[3] Chris Weller, “This library’s heartwarming program lets inmates read stories to their kids on video chat,” Tech Insider, June 30, 2016.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Saneta deVuono-powell et al, “Who Pays? The True Cost of Incarceration on Families,” Executive Summary (Oakland, CA: Ella Baker Center, Forward Together, Research Action Design, 2015), 11.

[6] “Prison Visits Make Inmates Less Likely To Commit Crimes After Release, Study Finds,” RJNews 13, no. 1, March 2012, reprinted with permission by Corrections.com.

[7] Jack Smith IV, “The End of Prison Visitation,” Mic, May 5, 2016.

[8] An act relating to certain duties of the Commission on Jail Standards regarding visitation periods for county jail prisoners, House Bill 549, Texas Government Code 20 (2015): 4.

[9] Jack Smith IV, “The End of Prison Visitation.”

[10] Jack Smith IV, “Prisons Want to Use Tech to End In-Person Visits — These Librarians Have a Different Plan.”

[11] Jack Smith IV, “The End of Prison Visitation.”

The post TeleStory Connects Familes at Brooklyn Public Library first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Parsons Dean Brian McGrath connected her to faculty member, Joel Stoehr, Assistant Professor of Modeling Technology, and thirteen architecture, product design, interior design, and lighting design students went to work. Vision and function soon merged into design. The students were challenged to improve the accessibility of NYPL’s converted kitchen-library carts, transforming them into something that would increase interest and also maximize book displays. “In thinking about this object, we tried to strike a balance between utility and aesthetics,” Parsons student Mikhail Volf said. “On the one hand, it’s a highly functional rolling case for books; on the other, it’s an approachable and aesthetically pleasing piece of furniture that fits seamlessly into its environment.”[1] Quite a lofty goal for a prison.

NYPL’s staff clearly inspired the Parsons students by sharing their own experiences working within the two correctional facilities and then inviting Professor Stoehr and his students to join them in delivering services. In shared discussions, staff and students moved from ideology to logistics—about how something as simple as a usable book cart could provide a more humanizing experience for the incarcerated. “The carts needed to be durable, easily movable and easily maintained,” said Stoer, “and the new carts attempted creative ways of holding [reading material], eliminating the need for boxes.”[2]

Sarah Ball had already briefed them on avoiding removable parts or exposed hardware, and since most correctional facilities limit the use of hardcover books, the students designed carts for paperbacks. The students created a tapered steel-framed cart supporting a cascading system of natural maple wood plywood shelves. Eight-inch casters helped the cart roll effortlessly across awkward prison thresholds.

Volf explains the key to the structural balance that the students achieved: creating a dynamic and active, not rigid, cart that uses steel tubing in combination with natural wood. The students powder-coated the cart (one hot pink) to temper the steel and to leverage its strength, and they tapered the angles of its sides. Volf notes, “Folks who’ll be using this cart see enough steel in grid formation, and we thought that we could say something different, even if we’re using similar materials.”[3] The design students clearly gained new insights about the incarcerated but never lost sight of their original purpose: user accessibility.

Professor Stoehr added that the tapered profile has an added advantage: Users can see what’s on the bottom shelf without kneeling (a request by the NYPL staff). In addition, the shelves are now tipped back, allowing book spines to face up. And the students designed one added feature, a special section reserved for periodical materials like newspapers, magazines, and comic books.[4]  Evident in their desire to please were Professor Stoehr’s and his students’ admiration and appreciation of the NYPL staff and volunteers. They weren’t overlooked. “The handles might seem like a minor detail, but they are actually the touchpoint the librarian will interface with most frequently. We wrapped steel in maple to provide staff something that will feel good in the hand and will last a good time.”[5]

“Put two librarians’ heads together, and mountains move.”[6] Author Richard Peck’s sentiment underscores the power of a librarian’s influence on the world. The Parsons students captured the NYPL Correctional Services’ energy in the spaces and furniture where these dedicated librarians work. “Through this collaborative project with NYPL, our students are using design thinking to address a social need,” Stoehr said. “A book cart doesn’t just hold books: it provides an entry point to a piece of literature—a means through which incarcerated individuals can travel, if only in the mind’s eye, beyond their present situation.”[7]

What happens when you combine books, accessibility and invention? Thinking. Anywhere. Even in jail.

References:

[1] Mikhail Volf, “Parsons Students Design Book Carts for New York City correctional Facilities,” New School press release, February 9, 2016.

[2] Joel Stoehr, assistant professor of modeling technology at Parsons, in e-mail interview with author, March 23, 2016.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Richard Peck, Here Lies the Librarian (New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 2006) do you know what page this quote is on?.

[7] Joel Stoehr, “Parsons Students Design Book Carts for New York City correctional Facilities,” New School press release, February 9, 2016.

The post Collaboration Changes the Lives of the Incarcerated first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Dustin Fife (DF): Kim Fong, you’ve changed my life! Some time ago we talked about your experiences as the librarian for Salt Lake County (Utah) Jail and I was inspired. It took some time to digest, but two months ago my library, the San Juan County (Utah) Library (SJCL) began providing library services for our small county jail, which houses about 100 inmates. It is one of the most fulfilling and gratifying things I have ever done. Everyone needs a self-esteem boost from time to time, and I’ll tell you this, every time I work at the jail it is a huge boost. I have never been showered with so much gratitude in my life.

Before we began our library services, the jail had only a few thousand old and threadbare titles. There were no Spanish-language materials, though several inmates speak almost no English, and no new titles were being purchased. With that in mind, our new patrons are ecstatic to have access to the public library’s collection and services.

I thought it would be hard to get this program approved, but both the county sheriff and jail commander were immensely helpful. They both love programming and hope that the new library will help lower recidivism and increase quality of life. The
program has rolled out smoothly and has felt like an important success for SJCL.

My question to you is where do I go from here? What else should I try at the jail? What worked and didn’t work for you? Is it strange to feel so inspired by inmates?

Kim Fong (KF): I know that library service at the jail is very fulfilling, because the patrons are so grateful and appreciative of the service. I’ve never been in a library job where I got standing ovations for bringing books into the unit—until I started working in the jail. It is very rewarding, but it is also very easy to pat yourself on the back and think that everything is great because you have such an appreciative audience. It’s easy to look great when you consider the conditions of the library before you started providing service.

So now the really interesting part begins! What kind of materials are you providing to the prisoners? Are you buying materials
that will really appeal to them or are you using “leftovers” from your regular collection? When I first started at the jail, I was surprised by the patron’s interest in a wide variety of topics and genres. There really is no “stereotypical” prisoner when it comes to reading tastes. I also think it is important to get a feel for what they are really interested in reading, instead of what would be “good for them” to read. Put preconceived notions out the window and really take a look at what your patrons want. You’ll notice that I use the word want and not the word need. If you get too caught up in need, you will fall into the trap of deciding what is best for your patron.

When you start providing materials that your patrons really want, you may run into resistance from jail staff. Many are of the
mindset that prisoners should not have access to certain types of books. You want to have a very clear selection policy in place, so that you can back yourself up when materials are challenged. The selection policy that I used at the Salt Lake County Jail Library specifically addressed certain issues that came up fairly often. We tried to limit the amount of items that couldn’t be in the library.

Here are the questions I asked myself as I considered books to buy: Will this book compromise the security of the jail? Will this book teach skills that could make the reader a threat to officers, other prisoners, or himself? With those questions in mind, there were some nonfiction topics that were not in the library, including martial arts, bomb making, drug making, boxing techniques, etc. However (and this is important), just because a book mentions some of these topics, it doesn’t automatically exclude it from the collection. A fictional depiction of a ninja fight does not rise to the level of compromising security.

I had many challenges to books, but I rarely removed them from the collection. What were some of the things that were challenged? Books on Asatru (which is a popular religion with white supremacists), urban literature, mysteries with descriptions of violence, books with sex scenes, graphic novels, and the list goes on, but I think you get the picture. Plan ahead, so when you experience challenges, you will know what to do. You have a great opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of the patrons you serve.

DF: I’m still in the honeymoon phase, but you are right, it is probably time for me to stop patting myself on the back. You have given me some important things to consider. In regards to collection development, our system is quite simple; I treat them like I do every other patron in San Juan County. Our jail is small and maxes out at 110 inmates, so we don’t actually keep any of the books at the jail. We bring the books from our library branches. That wouldn’t have worked for you since you were working with thousands of people at Salt Lake County Jail, but it is a fluid process for us. What that really means though is that I spend most of my time at the jail doing reference and readers’ advisory. We talk about what they want and I see what we have. Just like with any other patron, if we do not have what they want or something that will suffice, I consider their requests and either purchase something for the county collection or interlibrary loan a book for them.

My jail’s population is unique, and that leads me to some tough professional decisions. I really love the questions you asked yourself when working on collection development. Eighty percent of the jail population here are state inmates who are sex offenders. They are here to be part of a special program to work with therapists before they are released from jail. It is safe to say that every single inmate at the San Juan County Jail will someday reenter society. The therapists have asked that we restrict materials that might exacerbate their addictions. This is a difficult thing for me because censorship is such a battle, but I have to respect the therapists’ wishes in this situation or there will be no library services at all. It is an important service that will hopefully help inmates transition smoothly back into our world. The therapists know that we do not read everything and that we withhold our personal judgments as much as possible, however, they have asked if I have any questions that I consult with them. I do not have to tell the therapists the titles or names, they are just available for discussion. This has come up once so far. I purchased a drawing book that I didn’t hesitate to put in the county’s collection, but felt unsure about for the jail. I told the inmate about my concerns and he quickly assured me that he did not want it if I felt at all unsure. It was a positive experience for both me and the inmate, but I am trying to limit subjective judgments as much as possible. However, I still feel on shaky ground with such vague guidelines. Have I compromised myself professionally?

What about programming? How do I move beyond just circulating materials? They have a great education center and many of them are finishing degrees and certificates, but what should I attempt to add to this environment? What worked best for you, what were some of your successes?

KF: Programming in a jail setting can be very challenging, especially if the prisoners are already in educational programs that take a lot of their time. One program that I found very successful was an introduction to the library. This presentation was given in conjunction with the life skills class that the jail conducted. In this class, I would show students the library website, teach them how to do catalog searches, demonstrate some key databases and have them fill out a library card application. I made sure that each person had a library card in their property, so when they were released, they could visit the library and put their card to work. I think that this program was especially useful, because many of the prisoners were only familiar with the jail library and hadn’t been in a library on the outside in years. Even those that were generally familiar with libraries had no idea that so much online information was available through the library website. Keeping in mind their interests and needs, I would generally share a database that helps with test prep, since so many are working on GEDs or other certifications. I showed them a reliable job search site and they were always very excited about the car repair database.

Another successful program was a book club. This was conducted in a traditional way—although many of the discussions were far from traditional! I also stuck to the traditional demographic for book clubs—women. I used a compressed timeline because women seem to be out of jail faster than men. I would go out to a unit and sign people up for the club. Then I would return the same day with the book. Inside the book, I would have a reminder of when we would meet—usually the following week. When the time came for the meeting, they had usually finished the book and were ready to discuss. I was amazed by their openness about their situations and lives in general. We talked about prostitution, drug addiction, losing their children to foster care, rape, and child abuse. This was certainly not for the faint of heart! I think that they appreciated an open forum to talk about the books and also about the things in their own lives that they thought about while reading the books. It certainly opened my eyes to the very difficult circumstances of some women’s lives.

We also had a summer reading program at the jail. There were small incentives for reading a certain number of books and the prisoners were very excited about participating. The prizes had to be approved by jail administration, so that no security risks were involved. The prizes were small—bookmarks, golf pencils, and erasers—but very appreciated. We had large numbers of participants and finishers. It was extremely successful!

I think the best way to have successful programs is to get jail administration behind you. Their willingness will make or break your programs. The other thing to remember is to be flexible. Lockdowns will sometimes mess up your schedule. Or lunch being late. Or a security incident. Or any number of other things for which you have no control. Take it in stride and work out ways to reschedule. Programming is challenging, but worth it! You will look at the world in a different way after interacting with prisoners this way.

DF: I love that you put a library card in their possession. Hopefully they were able to seamlessly reintegrate into the Salt Lake County Library. It is a perfect continuation of services, “come to the library at the jail and keeping going to the library when you get out of jail!” I think it will be a major resource for the inmates as they use the libraries and the skills you taught them. Your thoughts on flexibility are also appreciated. I am coming to understand that you cannot avoid counts, lunch, inmate breakdowns, and general interruptions. But, when you think about it, how different is that from every other library? I spent two hours last week getting a bird out of a sewer grate, and I promise, I had not scheduled time for that.

I’m excited to get started with programming. I have been including the inmates in our One County One Book program, but I hope to start a jail-specific book club in the near future. I have circulated a large amount of drawing books, so I was also considering a library drawing contest. I will definitely seek the support of jail administration before moving ahead with any program. It is a different dynamic than I am used to, asking permission and such, but the jail administration seems to genuinely care about the rehabilitation of the inmates and the success of the library.

I wanted to get your thoughts on outreach and service diversification because I really feel like we are doing both. The new jail program in San Juan County feels sustainable and expandable. After just a few months it is clear that the program is a great boon to the library system. We have garnered positive attention from local officials and residents alike and our circulation has risen from the new patrons. It is a new visible way that we are serving San Juan County residents and it is also a group that was not being reached before (often from minority or poorer socioeconomic backgrounds).

Resources for inmates not only improve the quality of their lives, but drastically help curb recidivism. It feels like a win-win-win. We have diversified our service and created outreach with a new program and partners. The most interesting part of it is that this is your grandmother’s librarianship. I spend most of my time doing reference and readers’ advisory!

KF: I’m really glad that you are enjoying your jail experience! Jail libraries may be the last bastion of old-fashioned librarianship. It is all about the books. Reference and readers’ advisory skills get honed in a completely different way when your patrons don’t have access to the Internet.

I want to broach the subject of recidivism. I don’t want to burst your bubble, but I also don’t want you to have an unrealistic expectation of what happens when people get out of jail. I think that your situation with prisoners that are getting specific therapy and programs to help them be more successful may make the outcome different, but you need to know that recidivism is a real problem for incarcerated individuals. You will face disappointment as you see people coming back again and again—despite your best efforts to give them the resources and skills that could change their lives. I employed many female prisoners in my library. They were smart and capable. They were learning a marketable skill—shelving books. They were often avid readers. They were getting off the drugs and alcohol. I had high hopes for many of them. And the vast majority (around 75 percent) came back to jail.¹

When I say that I found fulfillment in changing people’s lives, I didn’t mean that I was helping to make a permanent change. Given the circumstances that many prisoners face when they are released, a permanent change is not very likely. BUT, I did change their lives while they were in jail. As you know, jail is a dismal, mind-numbing place. People could spend hours staring at the walls or they could find a way to escape those walls by reading. I can’t count the number of times someone told me that they had never read a book all the way through until they started reading in jail. Those stories warm my heart and I believe many of those people will become lifelong readers. But they may do most of their reading during their frequent visits to jail! I hope this is not too depressing, but I think the reality of the situation should be addressed.

DF: Not depressing at all, a realistic view is important. An inmate requested a book the other day that he first read in juvenile detention. He told me that he stays out of jail longer when he reads this particular book. Let me be optimistic about your pessimism though; changing their lives in jail is changing their lives. For more than two million people in the United States at a time, incarceration is life. Maybe they will come back two or three more times, or maybe they won’t, but we are still creating opportunities for individuals and the community. That is what it is all about. You cannot make someone come to the library, you cannot make them use your digital media lab, you cannot create a book club without them, but we can continue to try and create opportunities. You created opportunities for people to become lifelong readers. You created opportunities for inmates to connect through book clubs. You helped people learn skills and you gave them a pass to libraries with a full gamut of services for when they got out. I have loved working with the inmates, but it is about so much more than one under-served population. Who else are we missing? Who else can we easily help? I keep thinking about how easy it was to start this program. I just had to ASK! People have gone out of their way to help establish the jail library because they know it benefits our community. I know we have limited resources, but maybe we aren’t asking enough for those either. Are we asking for help from everyone who is willing to help? I’ll give you the final thought on this Kim; any last words of advice?

KF: There is one final caution that I would like to give you. You may not have experienced it yet, but you will have jail officers ask you for information about what individual prisoners are checking out. Officers are often of the opinion that prisoners don’t have any privacy rights, but they do!

In Utah, any library that is funded by public funds must adhere to Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA) rules.² If an officer wants information about a prisoner’s loan history, they have to go through the same legal process as they would at any other library. I experienced incidences of anger and retaliation from officers when I wouldn’t give them the information they wanted. They didn’t really understand that I would be breaking the law to give them that information. A talk with jail administration or superior officers usually remedied the situation, but it was never a pleasant experience.

But, on to more philosophical musings. I think that public libraries spend a lot of time talking about serving under-represented populations, but they don’t always know how to do it. I think your willingness to ask is something that all of us need to emulate. Maybe we don’t have a jail in our area, but there are other people that we aren’t reaching. How do we find them? What will entice them to try the library? What barriers have we set up to library use? All of those questions are ones that we should be constantly asking ourselves and we should experiment with ways to reach people that would truly benefit from what we have to offer.

I have talked to many librarians over the years about my work at the jail library. One of the most common responses was “I would never do that!” That makes me sad, because I think that they are really missing out on a wonderful opportunity. I’m glad that you took the plunge and are enjoying one of the most rewarding library experiences ever. I do believe that we should all go to jail and if most librarians gave it a try, they would never want to leave.

References

1. Salt Lake County (Utah) Sheriff’s Office, Jail Programs Division, 2010 Annual Report, “Comparative Recidivism Rates of Prisoners Released in 2007,” p. 18, accessed May 13, 2015.
2. “GRAMA Rules,” Utah’s Right to Know, accessed May 13, 2015.

The post Comparing Notes A Conversation about Library Service to County Jails first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Former executive-director of LIT and a former school librarian in a juvenile detention center, Jessica Fenster-Sparber, observes that “jails, detention centers, and prisons provide a unique opportunity to address young people’s literacy gaps…excellent school libraries are in dire need at these sites.”[2]

The Challenges

There is a lot more to consider than just encouraging reluctant readers to read. Challenges include:

1. Collection development.
2. Institutional compliance and cooperation.
3. Inclusion of incarcerated teens as part of the public library’s young adult/outreach services.
4. Collaboration with school, correctional facilities and public libraries.

Books for Incarcerated Youth

Public libraries need to recognize literacy’s role in empowering incarcerated teens. Dr. Ernest Morrell, Director of the Institute for Urban and Minority Education (IUME) at Teachers College, Columbia University, explains it best: “Literacy is not just about decoding text. It’s about becoming a superior human being that can act powerfully upon the world.”[3]

Public librarians can access many specialized lists such as The New York Public Library’s Incarcerated Teens: A Booklist and School Library Journal’s From the Underground column.

The good news, however, is that young adult librarians already have the tools to work with this population. Dr. Alfred Tatum, current Director of the University of Illinois Chicago Reading Clinic, calls for the use of enabling text, ”texts that [minority students], (60% of incarcerated teens), find meaningful and that will help them…move beyond some of the tur­moil-related experiences they encounter outside school.” Dr. Tatum stresses that enabling text can “serve as a road map for being, doing, thinking, and acting.” [4]

Incarcerated teens do not want a “one size fits all” collection. Yes, they want urban fiction, but fantasy and other young adult genres appeal to them also. It is up to the librarian to get to know each individual audience.

School Libraries/Public Libraries Partnerships

Collaborative efforts between school districts and public library systems increase programming efforts, too.

In St. Paul, Minnesota, Boys Totem Town, a juvenile detention center, was able to host Young Adult author, Francisco X. Stork, through a partnership with the Ramsey County Library, which helped fund the project. Stork spoke to students about his novel Behind the Eyes (Dutton, 2006), which deals with reform school. The Ramsey County Library’s outreach regularly visits the facility with both books and programs.[5]

Sabrina Carnesi is school librarian at a STEM magnet school in Newport News, Virginia. She promotes literacy services to many formerly detained youth. Her school library’s “Young Gents and Young Ladies” book discussion group addresses tough topics that these kids confront outside of their academic day. [6]

Young adult librarians and school librarians need to be attuned to teens inside facilities and those recently released. They share the same literacy concerns.

Innovation Gained Through Cooperation

Correctional facilities and public libraries are teaming up for pilot programs as new technologies emerge in library services. The correctional facility is a very important stakeholder in planning and is vital to program success.

Presently, Passages Academy has become the first school library to get iPads into the hands of its incarcerated students with, of course, the cooperation of the New York City Department of Corrections.[7]

Through the Urbana Free Library, the University of Illinois School of LIS and IMLS Mix IT Up, Joe Coyle offers a Teen Open Lab, a weekly digital music production program at the Champaign County JDC . The library and JDC hope that these pre-adjudicated teens will continue their library association through this program.

Promoting a Life-long Activity

In many states, teens as young as sixteen, are incarcerated in adult jails. Reading and literacy skills can be the one positive thing they leave jail with.

Barbara Roos, coordinator of teen services for the East Baton Rouge Parish Library in Louisiana and outreach coordinator to the local juvenile detention, gives them another—a Library Exit Packet. It includes an information packet about her library and its services, bookmarks for Text-a-Librarian and online databases, a coupon worth $5 at the library book store, a Fresh Start coupon to erase any fines they had, a previously approved library card, and a free book.[8]

Ms. Roos’ philosophy: We want to keep them reading.

Literacy and Education—The Better Alternatives

Whatever the reasons why they became incarcerated, promoting literacy and education are far better solutions than incarceration. One million dollars invested in incarceration reduces 300 crimes; one million dollars invested in education reduces 600 crimes.[9]  Literacy works.

[1] Chung, S. (2014). Literacy for Incarcerated Teens. School Library Journal, Fall (September). Retrieved October 13, 2014, from http://www.slj.com/2014/09/literacy/literacy-for-incarcerated-teens/#_

[2] Ibid

[3] Morrell, E. (Keynote Speaker) (2014, June 3). Cultivating Youth Voices: Literacy and Agency for African American Males. Building a Bridge to Literacy. Lecture conducted from School of Information and Library Science at UNC, Chapel Hill.

[4] Tatum, A. (Keynote Speaker) (2014, June 3). Bridge to Literacy. Building a Bridge to Literacy. Lecture conducted from School of Information and Library Science at UNC, Chapel Hill.

[5] Marta, M. (2013). Partners In Success. School Library Journal, 11(1) (January 2013), 23-28.

[6] (E-mail interview, 10/09/14).

[7] Fenster-Sparber, J. A.Kennedy, C.Leon, & Schwartz. (2012). E-reading Across the Digital Divide. Young Adult Library Services, 10(4) (2013, Summer), 38-41.

[8] Roos, B. (2012, Spring). Beyond the Bars Serving Teens In Lockdown. Young Adult Library Services, 10(2), 12-14.

[9] Knewton, Breaking the Prison Cycle through Education. Infographic. Houghton Mifflin Company, Inc. 2013. http://www.knewton.com/prison-education/.

The post When the Prison Doors Slam Shut On a Teen: Hope in Literacy first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Library outreach services to the incarcerated aren’t just about the people inside the jail. Their children and families benefit from library outreach services as well. Long before our nation’s current shift of attention toward its broken prisons and jails, our leading library systems were focused on serving those in jail and their families within the communities.

Children of the Incarcerated

The National Family Resource Network estimates that there are at least 2 million children with an incarcerated parent. Yet that figure doesn’t count the close to 10 million children who have a parent who is under some form of criminal supervision such as probation or parole. [1]

Nicholas Higgins, Director of Outreach Services at Brooklyn Public Library, was well aware of those figures when he started the “Daddy and Me” program while serving as the “jail” librarian on Rikers Island. That program, which fostered family literacy, included children’s visits with incarcerated fathers at Rikers and DVDs of fathers’ reading aloud books sent home to their children. Suddenly, an incarcerated father didn’t seem so far away, thanks to library outreach services.

Televisit

Now, thanks to Nick’s vision, the BPL, a lot of shared collaboration, and an innovative CISCO telecommunications system called Televisit, those “Daddies” are even closer to home.

Televisit, located at the BPL Central Library branch, is a shared video feed between Rikers Island and BPL where inmates and families participate in a shared family literacy program. It is meant to supplement, not replace, in-person visits.

Having Someone In Jail Is Not Something To Be Ashamed Of

Children, from birth 10 years-old, can participate in “televisits” in one of seven semi-private rooms in the Shelby White and Leon Levy Information Commons at the Central branch of the library. The rooms, filled with Muppets, stuffed animals, books, crayons, and giveaways, are inviting and welcoming. Sesame Street characters from the Little Children, Big Challenges: Incarceration video series have been donated by Lynn Chwatsky along with support material from the program.[2] The Televisit rooms, off to one side, offer privacy, but in no way are hidden—BPL wants to reinforce the message that having a loved one in jail is not something to be ashamed of.

Offering Children of the Incarcerated Support

According to Families Left Behind: The Hidden Costs of Incarceration and Reentry, children of the incarcerated experience PTSD symptoms and experience the same grief as a child who has lost a parent—with good reason, too.[3] The 2013 Sentencing Project Annual Report found that 59% of parents in state prisons and 45% in federal prisons had not had any personal visits with their children while in prison.[4]

And children of the incarcerated receive very little support—often they receive just the opposite—teasing, bullying, shame. Through the Televisit program and BPL’s Children’s Services, the children of the incarcerated are being offered that support.

Televisit Overcomes The Obstacles of Time And Distance

Televisit offers the child and the parent help in overcoming the obstacles that the Women’s Prison Association counts as ways to discourage children from visiting a parent in jail[5]:

• Inadequate information about visiting procedures.
• Difficulty scheduling visits.
• Geographic location of prison facilities.
• Family’s inability to afford transportation.
• Visiting procedures that are uncomfortable or humiliating.
• Visiting rooms that are inhospitable to children.
• Foster parents or caregivers who are unwilling to facilitate visits.

Instead of a “drug dog” sniffing a baby stroller in the visitor’s room, Televisit offers the child both a comfortable, safe, and welcoming environment as well as a shared literacy experience with a parent.

Nick Higgins understands that shared moments between a child, a parent, and a book are ones that a child never forgets and he wants to create those moments despite a parent’s incarceration. He wants to expose both parent and child to the library services available to them at the public library. For both parent and child, this shared moment can be a lifelong learning opportunity.

Library Outreach Services Is Where It All Begins

The touchpoint to the parents and the children is at New York Public Library’s and now Brooklyn Public Library’s collaborative jail book services at Riker’s Island. Outreach library services to the incarcerated, book services, literacy programs, and re-entry information services provide the connection to their families.

The services to the incarcerated at Riker’s along with services to their children and families converge at the intersection of what we call “outreach services.” Televisit is a perfect example of services interfacing with each other in order to fulfill the needs of more than one part of the library community.

No One Forgets Being Read To

Nicholas Franklin, Coordinator of Transitional Services at BPL, recently sat in at Rikers with one of the inmates while the inmate visited via Televisit with his one and a half year old at BPL. She excitedly ran around the Televisit room picking up toys to show her father as he responded: he read her a book, he sang a song, he played peek-a-boo. All the while, other inmates passed by; some correctional officers peeked in. The inmate was as engaged as his daughter, oblivious to his surroundings or any interruptions. Finally, his daughter ran up to the large screen and began to blow kisses at the screen. He blew kisses back.

The inmate’s lack of inhibition and his engagement manifested his concern for his daughter and Franklin observed, “I think this experience helped him realize what a positive effect he could have on her life.”

Televisit and Jail Library Outreach Services

BPL’s Televisit embraces the family’s role in early literacy and embraces the library’s role in re-entry and outreach services to the incarcerated.

Televisit recognizes the stark reality that you don’t have to be arrested to be caught in the cycle of incarceration.

The post Library Outreach Services Helps Families of the Incarcerated Stay Connected first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

An Overview of the Problem

Nearly two million is the number we hear most frequently, though we cannot be sure exactly how many children currently have a parent in prison. In 2008, The U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that nearly 3 million minors have a parent in prison.¹ We also know that between 1991 and 2007, in part due to mandatory sentencing requirements, the total number of children of incarcerated parents increased 80 percent.² The majority of men in prison say their child’s other parent is the current caregiver (88 percent), while 37 percent of women report the other parent is a caregiver while she is in prison.³ Approximately 11 percent of incarcerated women and 2 percent of incarcerated men state that their child is in a foster home or a facility.⁴ According to a recent Anne E. Casey Foundation Report,⁵ since 1990, the number of female prisoners has grown by 50 percent, and three quarters of incarcerated women are mothers. This same report noted the disproportionate effect on minorities: African American children are nine times more likely than white children to have a parent in prison; Latino children are three times more likely than white children.

Yet, for various reasons, the statistics cannot be adequately verified. The United States criminal justice system is not required to inquire whether an inmate is a parent; many children and families fear self-reporting because of custodial agreements; some prisoners’ families feel stigmatized; and there is inadequate communication among prisons, child welfare agencies, and other social services.⁶ Furthermore, any statistical information we do have does not account for the nearly five million children who have a parent under criminal justice supervision.⁷ If we factor in those children whose parents are currently under criminal justice supervision, such as parole, then we have a far larger pool of children whose needs may well be compromised.

There are other things we do not know for sure. For example, although we have evidence of the problems children face after a parent is incarcerated, we cannot assume all children of incarcerated parents will fare poorly.⁸ For public libraries this is important; it means we should not assume that because a parent is incarcerated, a child is necessarily doomed to failure. We should instead take the opportunity to reach out to children and to provide adequate resources.

How Libraries Can Help

While children and families affected by incarceration do have some specific needs, they also have the same interests and concerns that their peers do. Therefore, the task of the library is twofold: (1) it should continue to offer programming and resources applicable to all children and families, and (2) it can be prepared to amend this programming as necessary to offer additional resources.

Recommend Appropriate Books and Resources

All children and families will be interested in some of the same books and materials the library offers. Yet libraries can also make available books for children, youth, and teens that address the issue of families and incarceration; in particular, libraries should make available books written specifically for children and youth who have incarcerated parents. Suzanne Bergen and Kathleen Hodgkin’s My Mom Went to Jail (Rainbow Project, 1997) would appeal to a student whose mother is incarcerated, as would Pat Brisson’s Mama Loves Me from Away (Boyds Mills Pr., 2004). Martha Hickman’s When Andy’s Father Went to Prison (Abingdon Pr., 1990) might appeal particularly to boys. Nonfiction texts such as Stephanie St. Pierre’s Everything You Need to Know When a Parent is in Jail (Rosen Publishing, 1994), provide a more nuts-and-bolts approach to the topic. There are workbooks for whole class or small group discussions, and there are books to inform teachers and administrators. For a full listing of possible selections, see Venezia Michalsen’s “Recommended Reading” in Barnard College’s Scholar and Feminist online.⁹

Provide Conscientious Activities and Programs

Libraries can amend regular programming to address the specific needs of children and families affected by incarceration, and they can offer separate programming. The most efficient way to make your programs more appealing to and relevant for children whose parents are incarcerated is to simply tailor your current program to their needs. Even if patrons do not realize prior to their participation in a program that you will be sensitive to their needs, and even if they never identify themselves as a child of an incarcerated parent, they will remember that you accommodated their needs, and they may be more inclined to attend future library events. Here are some examples of how you can simply tailor your current programs.

If your library offers a youth activity where patrons write letters about what they have read, you can encourage patrons to send their letters to whomever they wish: a caregiver, a parent who is home or away, or someone else. Simply acknowledging the possibility that some parents do not live home will help. If your teen program asks patrons to extend the story they are reading by creating a video about it, you can suggest that anyone who may have a special request of where their clip could be sent can ask you to help him/her look up information. (Some prisons and jails will not allow inmates to receive videos, but you can go online to find out specific rules of specific facilities.) If you offer knitting classes for teens, suggest patrons knit something for someone who does not live with them but for whom they would like to make a gift. If you offer a papermaking class, suggest the same. (The patron may know what can be sent to the prison or jail, but you can also locate this information online if requested.) If you offer a summer reading program for children, offer to print out the results, so children can send a list of what they’ve read to parents.

Offer Programs Likely to Attract Children and Families of the Incarcerated

Offer book clubs or author readings that focus on the topic of incarceration. For children and teens you could read books geared toward children of the incarcerated; for adults you could read memoirs by people incarcerated, recent books on families and incarceration, and so forth. Instead of a typical computer literacy class, offer a computer course for families. The Federal Bureau of Prisons offers a program called TRULINCS that allows some inmates to use email to connect with loved ones.¹⁰ Most inmates are not given Internet access, but some do have email access. Check to see what is available in your area, or offer a Q & A program for families. You can engage a special guest speaker with expertise in the area or offer a program where a librarian is available to help families research the rules of the facility where their loved one resides. The patron would need to know what state the inmate resides in, and you can search by that state’s Department of Corrections.

Several state and nonprofit organizations have experimented with non-traditional ways of connecting K-12 students with imprisoned parents. Inmates have recorded video diaries for their children and created audio storybooks. You could apply for a grant or connect with local prisons or jails to facilitate literacy programs between parents and children. Also, find the local resources in your area that are available to families and offer a brown bag dinner or meet-and-greet between agencies and families. At the same time, provide a display of relevant books and titles.

Provide an afternoon of books and resources that would be helpful to caregivers. Most children live with the other parent when a parent is in prison and one-fifth live with grandparents or other relatives.¹¹ According to a 2008 Bureau of Justice Statistics report, 67 percent of incarcerated mothers say their children are living with relatives.¹² Yet we often forget the needs of extended family and others who are caring for children. The most comprehensive information on families and caregiving can be found at the Family and Corrections Network (FCN) website.¹³ FCN is the publisher of the excellent “Children of Prisoners Library” pamphlet series, written by Ann Adalist-Estrin.

How Libraries Can Reach and Educate All People

Public libraries have a unique opportunity to provide access to information applicable to all families and children. One way to do this is to broaden what we know about children’s rights. Many libraries provide special displays for International Children’s Day and the Fourth of July. Broaden the discussion by creating a display geared toward families dealing with an incarcerated parent. The San Francisco Partnership for Incarcerated Parents has created the excellent “Children of Incarcerated Parents: A Bill of Rights.”¹⁴ This resource can be accessed from the group’s website, and provides an excellent analysis of why children need and deserve particular rights. An expanded discussion of children’s rights can be helpful for all patrons, not only those who have a parent in prison.

In order to “advertise” how approachable your library is on the topic, take a month to highlight incarceration and communities. The focus will underscore how all people and communities are affected by incarceration. A patron doesn’t need to have an incarcerated relative to be concerned about this topic; he or she just has to be a community member. For one month, have a shelf dedicated to books about incarceration.

Plan to participate in a “books for prisoners” program sponsored by organizations such as PEN AMERICA, Amnesty International, American Civil Liberties Union, or Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE). Collect and donate books to prison libraries. By their nature, libraries are egalitarian institutions: they do not judge people and their needs; they merely provide access.  Therefore, libraries can be neutral places where families of the incarcerated can find information they need, and discover books and other resources to help them survive and thrive when a loved one is incarcerated. Public libraries can also provide information to all patrons on the way incarceration impacts all communities.

REFERENCES

1. The Pew Charitable Trusts, Collateral Costs: Incarceration’s Effect on Estimated Mobility (Washington, D.C.: Pew Charitable Trusts, 2010), accessed July 21, 2013.
2. Jessica Nickel, Crystal Garland, and Leah Kane, Children of Incarcerated Parents: An Action Plan for Federal Policy Makers (New York: Council of State Governments Justice Center, 2009).
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Stacey Bouchet, Children and Families with Incarcerated Parents: Exploring Development in the Field and Opportunities for Growth (Baltimore: Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2008).
6. Ibid.
7. Nickel, Garland, and Kane, Children of Incarcerated Parents.
8. Megan Sullivan, Tanya Krupat, and Venezia Michalsen, eds. “Children of Incarcerated Parents,” S&F Online 8 no. 2 (spring 2010), Barnard Center for Research on Women, accessed July 21, 2013.
9. Michalsen, “Recommended Reading,” S&F Online 8 no. 2 (spring 2010), Barnard Center for Research on Women, accessed July 21, 2013, http://sfonline.barnard.edu/children/reading.htm.
10. Federal Bureau of Prisons, TRULINCS FAQs, accessed Feb. 20, 2013.
11. Lauren Glaze and Laura Maruschak, “Parents in Prison and Their Minor Children,” US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs (Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Aug. 2008), accessed July 31, 2013.
12. Ibid.
13. Family and Corrections Network, the National Resource Center on Children and Families of the Incarcerated, accessed July 21, 2013.
14. San Francisco Children of Incarcerated Parents Partnerships, “A Bill of Rights,” accessed July 21, 2013.

The post Welcoming Children and Families Affected by Incarceration into Public Libraries first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Freedom Ticket
Hennepin County Library in Minnesota has a program called “Freedom Ticket” that offers a wide variety of events and classes that are intended to help incarcerated persons successfully reenter into their community. Library workers go to the prison to offer assistance with job resumes, housing facilities, and education. By teaching the inmates how to reenter society after being locked up for an extended period of time, they are giving them a chance at staying out of prison. Librarian Daniel Marcou also keeps up a blog called Freedom Ticket, which offers links to information, updates on past attendees, book reviews, and other things that are relevant to Freedom Ticket’s cause[1].

Reading Is A Great Escape
The Jessup Correctional Facility (Jessup, MD) offers literacy programs, instructional videos, book clubs, and access to law and medical books and records. Some inmates read for the sake of reading: it otherwise keeps them out of trouble. While many people find reading to be an escape from the drone of everyday life, inmates find it keeps them sane while they’re incarcerated. Others seek to expand their knowledge of the law as to assist in their own court hearings. In Jessup Correctional, some inmates use the medical books to ensure that “when the clinic prescribes something, they want to make sure they’re not part of some medical experiment[2].” Many inmates have never stepped foot in a library prior to incarceration so offering this kind of access to information can greatly increase their chance of adapting back to normal societal behavior.

Reading with Children
Both Hennepin County and Jessup Correctional offer programs in which inmates are offered a chance to read to their children. During visiting hours, inmates are encouraged to read to their kids, which allow them to spend time together, to bond, and to improve literacy for both parties. Eddie Connally, an inmate at Jessup, said, “You know, and it actually changed a lot of prisoners’ lives because the one thing that happens in all too many cases is that we only get to see our children in the visiting room[3].”

Welcome to the Internet
I think it’s safe to say that if a person has been in prison since the mid- to late-80s, or even the early 90s, they might not know much about technology. With the rapidly changing technology these days, it’s hard for even a tech-savvy person to keep up. Since many documents and applications are digital these days, it’s understandable that people who leave the prison system have a hard time adjusting. Some public and prison libraries, such as Bonita-Sunnyside Public Library in San Diego, CA, and the Colorado State Library program offer classes in technology to inmates and formerly incarcerated persons. They don’t just want to teach them how to use the Internet but they’re giving them potential job skills, boosting their knowledge and their resumes, ensuring they can be financially independent, assisting them with housing, and making them comfortable in their local library. In Denver, MLIS student Melanie Colletti helped implement Free to Learn, a program to assist the recently released with their re-entry into society by helping them with technological skills. She collaborates with prison libraries and halfway houses to, “provide free space for former inmates who are often residents in transitional houses and helps them to learn computer and Internet skills[4],” so that they can function successfully and retain their freedom.

While this is just a small sample of what public and prison libraries have to offer to incarcerate persons, I encourage you to see if your library offers any similar services. If so, what can you do to improve them? If not, is there a way you can encourage your branch/system to create one? Since the library inside a prison may not be all it can be, the opportunity is present to help change a person’s life for the better. Do you know of any innovative public library/prison programming? Share the details in the comments below.

The post Libraries in Lock-Up first appeared on Public Libraries Online.