WebJunction

Hello! I'm Emily and I'm the Community and Curriculum Developer for the WebJunction Spanish Language Outreach program. I've recently become interested in prison libraries, particularly those serving Spanish speakers. However, I want to learn more about prison library services in general, and look forward to hearing from folks out there working "inside". The longer I work here, the more I discover the amazing resource an "online community" can be for people working in libraries.

On a personal note, I have a black cat named Moses, I love strawberries, and I'm getting married Labor Day weekend. I might even be tempted to post a picture of me and the hubby-to-be (in a kilt!). Don't be shy now ... tell us about you!

Welcome to the discussion Dan! I'm curious to know also who else has blogs out there?

Welcome Devo! It's great to see so many new names to WJ. I recall a conversation I had with someone who worked in a juvenile detention center in Arizona who said that some of the kids were there because their families had been picked up in immigration raids, and there was nowhere else to put them. This was challenging for the staff because few of the staff spoke Spanish, and the kids didn't speak English. Has anyone else out there had this experience?

My name is Ed Van Winkle and I have recently begun working as a Library Manager for an Inmate Library in Phoenix, Arizona. We serve an inmate population of 12,000 in seven different facilities. We have about 50,000 volumes in our collection and process approximately 10,000 book and magazine donations each month.

I have a staff of three and we process or 'fill' 25,000 inmate requests a year.

I would be interested in hearing from other librarians working in prisons.

We're also always looking for donations of books and magazines (especially Westerns) and will travel in the greater Phoenix area to do pickups.

Thanks,

Ed Van Winkle

hey everyone - and thanks for introducing yourselves. it's nice not only to see new names, but new types of library staff joining the WJ community. i look forward to learning from you all!

Hello my name is John Paul and I have just completed my first semester at University of Pittsburgh in their MLIS program. I have already identified that I want to work in Prison Library. My hope is that this will help me towards that goal. I am excited to see others already in the field or interested in it. I can't wait to get to know all of you.

Thus far the course work I've done were a Reference Course, Intro to Tech, Retrieving Info, and Understanding Information. The good news is all of my instructors allowed me to take on several projects that I geared towards Prison Librarianship.
I was able to create an annotated bib on what I would shelf as reference material in a prison setting, I learned how to construct a web page for prison librarianship reaching out to colleagues etc, and geared some of my reading in Understanding towards the field.

Thus far nothing has been mentioned specifically with the exception of me taking a Health Consumer Resources and Services Course, and doing field work with our Law Library. I am also reaching out to the prison librarians in the area in hopes of field work.

If there is a prison librarianship course offered anywhere, Pitt does have a way for me to take it and count it towards my degree so we are investigating that also....

That was the long answer the short one is I'm going to add medical and law courses and look to do fieldwork

Hi Everyone -

My name is Anne and I work at the Chicopee Public Library in MA. I am currently enrolled at Simmons College for an MLS!

I am preparing a collaboration with the women's jail that recently opened in our city. My plan is to offer a 4-6 week (once per week) computer class at our library geared toward resume writing and online job seeking - with the end result hopefully being a resume and some searching skills.

I am wondering if anyone knows of any sources or research I can turn to for guidance - I am winging it! My plan is to become part of the After Incarceration Services System and be part of the bigger plan for the women.

Any comments/advice/guidance will be much appreciated!

Thanks -
Anne

My name is Kate Fry and I am a Correctional Librarian at Arizona State Prison Complex in Douglas. I have charge of three of the six "Resource Centers" and have worked here for five years. I love my job. I have approximately 1400 inmates to find reading materials for, from level 5 inmates all the way down to level 1.

The work I do is very challenging and fulfilling. I have worked in business, college, university and military library settings and find the correctional library environment to be unique.

Some days I suit up in protective equipment to serve library needs in lock down, and some days I run a small library which resembles in many ways a small rural town facility, the only difference being this facility is inside the razor wire and has a very limited collection and no internet.

Due to immense budget constraints, almost all of our materials are donated.

I am very happy to have found WebJunction and look forward to reading more about prison librarianship and the experiences of other library workers in this field.

Hi Kate ;)
My name is Bessie....I am a WebJunction Spanish Language Outreach trainer and serve as Reference Librarian at the Payson Public Library in Payson, AZ! I am so very excited about this message board for Prison Libraries, for a very personal reason. The love of my life is a former inmate of the Douglas, Az complex....( I can hear the gasps, even now!).
Long story, short....Benjamin is convinced that the few books that were available to him while incarcerated played a key part in changing the course and direction of his life.
His passion for reading and the life-changing effect it can have in the life of any idividual can be seen today in his service with the ReadOut program as a mentor in Gila County's Juvenile Court system. Young offenders are paired with mentors who meet with them here at the library on a weekly basis to discuss books they read together. This is in substitute of juvenile detention or community service!
Ben's involvement in the program is one of many ways he seeks to give back to society and have a positive impact on troubled youth in our community.
Now, I want to give back! I want to know how I can contribute to the collection at the Douglas prison complex in Benjamin's name for the Christmas season. Can you help me? How do we as librarians in public libraries contribute to facility collections?
Thank you, Thank you for all of your input!

I would LOVE to get a list of the "most wanted" books for your incarcerated patrons! Our head librarian is concerned that certain books might not be accepted by the prison system, so a list would give us a good guideline of acceptable literature to look for and send on to you.
Would you please email me at btucker@gila.lib.az.us with this list and instructions on shipping some boxes to you? That would be a great project for the Payson Public Library!

Cheers!

Hello Murali,
Welcome to WebJunction! I have moved your post to the [url http://webjunction.org/forums/thread.jspa?messageID=49114]general introduction forum[/url], so you can introduce yourself to a broader community of library staff.

I look forward to reading more about your experiences working in a college library in India. I hope you will also explore the [url http://webjunction.org/do/Navigation?category=14860]Resources[/url] and [url http://webjunction.org/do/Navigation?category=372]Courses[/url] area of WebJunction as there are many useful resources there about current trends in the profession.

Emily

Welcome, Sue -
It's great to see someone familiar with the work the [url http://www.webjunction.org/do/Navigation?category=498]Rural Library Program[/url] in this forum. For those of you new to this discussion, you might find some useful resources in that area of the site.

I look forward to reading people's responses to your question -- "how to find the 'library' amidst all the custody issues".

Emily

Welcome Jason. I look forward to reading more about your ideas for a books to prisoners project.

You might try connecting with your state library to see if they can help coordinate something for you.

Emily

Welcome Desiree! Your research seems very interesting. I hope you will share back with the community your findings from your research. And as someone who also wrote a thesis during her library school years, good luck and stay sane!

I also want to take this opportunity to tell everyone in this forum about the changes that are coming to WebJunction's site. In about a month, we will be launching on a new, more robust platform that will give you, the members, more power to contribute resources, find others who share your interests, participate in discussions, and take advantage of online learning. There will be a Corrections topic page which I hope all of you will stop by and contribute.

I'll post more information about coming changes soon. For now, if you want to get a sneak peek as to what's coming, check out the [url http://blog.webjunctionworks.org/index.php/category/next-wj/]next WJ category on BlogJunction[/url].

Emily

Melisa, thanks for your offer to interview. I've just recently changed my mind about doing a thesis, though. Just last week I interviewed for, was offered, and accepted a librarian position at Montana State Prison! I figure I'll be able to learn much more about prison librarianship by actually doing it than I ever could by writing about it.

Hi, I'm also a library school student (at UCLA) & doing a thesis on library services to incarcerated youth in California. I've also been a library assistant here at UCLA for many years -- it took awhile before it sank in that I should go to library school & get the degree! I'm part of a student group here that takes books and does book talking at one of the LA County juvenile facilities (Nidorf).

-SLM-