Library Services to the Incarcerated: Applying the Public Library Model in Correctional Facility Libraries - Softcover

Clark, Sheila

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1591582903 ISBN 13: 9781591582908

Publisher: Libraries Unlimited, 2006

Synopsis

Learn how to provide exemplary library service to individuals in prison or jail, by applying the public library model when working with inmate populations. These authors, a jail librarian and an outreach librarian, offer a wealth of insights and ideas, answering questions about facilities and equipment, collection development, services and programming; computers and the Internet; managing human resources, including volunteers and inmate workers; budgeting and funding; and advocacy within the facility and in the community. The approach is practical and down-to-earth, with numerous examples and anecdotes to illustrate concepts.

More than 2 million adults are serving time in correctional facilities, and hundreds of thousands of youth are in juvenile detention centers. There are more than 1,300 prisons and jails in the United States, and about a third as many juvenile detention centers. Inmates, as much or more than the general population, need information and library services. They represent one of the most challenging and most grateful populations you, as a librarian, can work with. This book is intended to aid librarians whose responsibilities include serving the incarcerated, either as full-time jail or prison librarians, or as public librarians who provide outreach services to correctional facilities. It is also of interest to library school students considering careers in prison librarianship. The authors, a jail librarian and an outreach librarian, show how you can apply the public library model to inmate populations, and provide exemplary library service.

About this title

About the Author

Sheila Clark is Library Supervisor, Arapahoe Library District, Detention Facility Library in Centennial, Colorado and has also worked in public and public school libraries, and a synagogue library. Sheila also is involved in the Begin With Books in Jail and Choose Freedom ― READ! programs.

Erica MacCreaigh served four years as a senior library consultant to the Colorado Department of Corrections. She is now back in jail doing what she loves best ― working directly with inmate library patrons.

Edition details

• Publisher: Libraries Unlimited
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1591582903
• ISBN 13: 9781591582908
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 262