Let's face it: many of our patrons are incarcerated, and we're not reaching them when we're not meeting them right where they are. In 2008, 1 in 100 adults in the U.S. were behind bars (Pew Public Safety Performance Project). Were they incarcerated because they didn't go to the library? Of course not. But this figure represents all those potential library patrons we weren't reaching. When we walk into a library, we have certain expectations that will be met. It will be a quiet, safe, comfortable, and private place for us to read, do research, improve our skill sets, apply for jobs, and generally improve our quality of life. In a correctional setting, our expectations of library service may not be met. This is not due to limitations or privilege. This is a result of our current standards for correctional facility libraries failing. Interpretations of what a library or library service looks like and how it functions in a jail or prison setting are lacking definition and meaning. Not only are the inmates suffering because of this discrepancy, so are we as librarians, and so are we as a society.
My Personal Connection
My life has been personally touched and affected by the treatment of and resources provided for our incarcerated members of society. From strangers to friends, the cycle of violence--and the struggle for power and control--permeates many facets of my life and well-being. Investing in a system that works is more than an interest: it is the only way I know how to bring reason to what is unreasonable in this world. I can't be or do everything, but I believe in the extreme potential that a library can aid in reducing recidivism and empowering one another to be better people.
The Personal Connection
One interpretation of providing library resources to inmates I've discovered was a crate of books that had been placed in a pod. The books were purposefully broken down the middle so that they could be more widely distributed. This constituted a "library." Not so, I say! Providing resources to inmates is not enough, there needs to be a human connection. Many folks who are incarcerated have never been to a library, and the rate of illiteracy in jails and prisons is high. Is this really how we want to represent library service: a crate of cracked books? I think we can do better. I think we can do that through innovative jail and library partnerships, and I think we need to personally check the books out to our patrons. We wouldn't consider doing anything less in our own libraries. What's more vital about providing in-person, face-to-face library service behind bars is showing and representing what appropriate human behavior and contact looks like in a professional setting. We don't need to hear each others' stories in a library for there to be empathy. We just need to care. We just need to be there. Whether we like it or not, most inmates will be released back into society. I want good neighbors.
Photos from Alcatraz of how inmates received visitors. Window of opportunity, anybody?! Included is a close-up of how visitors and inmates could literally reach through the wall to hold onto one another and touch each other's lives. We are never alone.