Public libraries are often on the frontlines of serving communities impacted by incarceration, with many patrons facing the challenges of trauma, stigma, and reintegration. This webinar will explore how libraries can effectively support individuals and families affected by incarceration—whether through outreach to local jails or providing services to those re-entering society. Learn about successful initiatives, funding opportunities, and service models that address the lasting impacts of incarceration. Gain strategies and resources to enhance your library’s role in creating supportive, inclusive services and spaces to help build stronger, safer communities for all.

Presented by:

• Chelsea Jordan-Makely, Library Director and Consultant, Griswold Memorial Library and Renewed Libraries, LLC
• Sarah Hertel-Fernandez, Library Director, Belding Memorial Library
• Aaron Blumberg, Librarian and Justice-Impacted Advocate and Consultant
  

Tweet: #wjwebinar

Access recording

•  View webinar recording (You will be prompted to login to the free Course Catalog)

Webinar attachments

• View slides (pdf)
  
• View chat (xls)

Related resources and links

• Libraries and Incarceration: Resources for Librarians (ALA LibGuide)
• ALA's new new Standards for Library Services for the Incarcerated or Detained
• ALA group: Library Services to the Justice-Involved (LSJI)
• Expanding Information Access for Incarcerated People grant project, a collaboration between San Francisco Public Library and the American Library Association.
• IFLA Guidelines for Library Services to Prisoners
• Library services and incarceration: Recognizing barriers, strengthening access by Jeanie Austin, foreword by Kathleen de la Peña McCook
• The Marshall Project, "People-first Language"
• Prison Policy Initiative, "Both sides of the bars: How mass incarceration punishes families"
• United Nations, "The Nelson Mandela Rules"
• Example Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
• Books
• Are Prisons Obsolete? Angela Davis    
• The Whole Book Approach, Megan Dowd Lambert
• Hidden libraries, Lonely Planet
• Resources shared in chat during the session
• Library Services to the Incarcerated and Detained, includes a link to the prison-l listserv
• Prison Libraries Act of 2023
• Reading Legacies, Book Bridges program
• Prison Book Program
• Prisoner Activist Resource Center's National Resource Directory which also lists Free Book Project among many other resources
• San Francisco Public Library and hoopla Bring Free e-Resources to County Jails
• Question from chat "I'm part of a working group of Ohio librarians working in jails and prisons. One of the questions we're working through is the question of our roll in reducing the rates of incarceration. What can we do to help keep people from being connected to the justice system?

  Aaron's answer: We often hear about the school-to-prison pipeline, and I talk about the need for the prison-to-library pipeline, but we need to address the school-to-library pipeline that can often not be addressed. Are libraries doing enough to connect with those in our community? It really comes down to whether we are truly aware of and addressing the needs of our community. Are we connecting with our members? Do we have the resources to bring our services to those who need it most, whether through outreach or ensuring equitable access through a branch library. Do those embedded libraries have collections and services that mirror (even in a scaled-down sense) the main/flagship libraries. Are we advocating enough to bring the resources we need to bolster our communities, to provide them the support to give them a fighting chance to succeed, an option that will keep them from connecting with the justice system in the first place. This is also something that can be explored by understanding the demographics of your community and whether your library staff reflect your community, your WHOLE community. When your youth population leave school, are you creating spaces welcoming to them, providing opportunities that will inspire them to want to succeed, to learn, to grow? This is true of your adult populations, especially when we are seeing an increase in low literacy in our adult populations. What goes along with this is making volunteer programs available to your patrons, giving them access and allowing them to be part of making your library (system) indispensable to the community.