Jail Library Group:

1000 inmates at 2 jails

• Public Safety Building, 115 W. Doty St.
• City County Building, 210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

Take the tour on the Sheriff’s web site

Sex

About 4 out of 5 inmates are men.

Age

About one-third each are under 25, 26 to 35, or over 36.

Race

About 64% are white, 34% are black, and 2% "other."

• Mental health


• Substance abuse


• Lower literacy rates


• Many speak limited English

• Reference books: dictionaries, almanacs, atlases, thesauri
• Poetry, especially love poems
• Large print (many lack needed glasses)
• Self-help and recovery, especially alcohol or drug addiction
• Hobbies and games: chess, card games, Scrabble, drawing
• Favorite authors
• Donald Goines
• James Patterson
• Mary Higgins Clark
• Dean Koontz
• Eric Jerome Dickey
• Louis L’Amour
• Catherine Coulter
• J.K. Rowling
• Isaac Asimov

An interested crowd at 2005 SLIS Orientation.

• Grant support from Dane County Library Service essential
  


• Screening of inmates by jail staff ensures safety



• Similar projects elsewhere:
  
  
• Oakhill Correctional Facility, Oregon, WI: MotherRead/FatherRead
  
  
• Arlington County, VA: Read me a Story
  
  
• San Francisco, CA: Stories from Mom/Dad

From our annual reports:

2003

• 40 volunteers
• 65 Kids’ Connection participants
• 975 filled requests for materials

2004

• 20+ volunteers
• 41 Kids’ Connection participants
• 1493 filled requests for materials

1. Acquisition
   
   
• donations
• requests
  
  
2. Processing
   
   
3. Circulation
   
   
4. Withdrawal

Donation sources

 

1. 4 donation bins around campus area
   
   
2. Library Friends groups
   
   
3. Used bookstores (Half Price, Frugal Muse)
   
   
4. Individuals

Special requests

Can I get a couple of LARGE Print Readers Digest’s? I don’t have my bifocals - Thanks

Help! I’ve run out of books to read! Some I’d like: J. Steinbeck, Travels with Charley, Cannery Row. J. Sandford, early “Prey” books. J. Kerouac, On the Road. J. London, White Fang or your pick. I read a book about every 2 days. Need to keep my mind sharp. Thank you.

Wood like to see a cook book please, contry kitchen cook book

I would like to request an A.A. book from the library it's an all blue book that says alcoholics anonymous on it. I would appreciate this please.

I would like a websters Collage Edition dictionary Please. I am writing my appeal and I need help spelling certain words, thank you.

"To Library" I would like to know if I can get a spanish book or two from you? Thanks!

May we please get more Donald Goines books? And Sistah Souljah?

Attn: Library-Ann
Max Farrand - Framing of the Constitution
Irving Brant - James Madison the Nationalist

I'd like to know if you have any books on the following topics; Network Marketing, Commodities, or the stock market. If so I'd like to read some.

Library - I would like any kind of factual ancient history type books please

Donations awaiting processing.

Sorting

Scanning

Stamping

Circulation in crates at the CCB

Circulation via rotating carts in PSB

Our goal achieved: every reader his book.

 

When the time comes...

 

...we weed freely to keep the material fresh.

 

Recognition is important...

 

 

 

 

 

...and might come from unexpected places.

JLG, Inc. once donated t-shirts to the group.

 

 

 

1. Keep it doable!
   
   
   
2. Use what you have.
   
   
   
3. Do what makes sense.
   
   
   
4. Never doubt the power
   of a small group of thoughtful people.
   
   

It's worth it!

Gilbert, Katie. (Oct. 21, 2003). Jail Library Group wins service award for nifty project. Retrieved Sept. 26, 2005 from http://www.library.wisc.edu/libraries/News/newsletter/27/jailgroup.shtml

Mark, Amy E. (2005). Libraries without walls: An internship at Oshkosh Correctional Institution Library. Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian, 23(2), 97-111.

McCook, Kathleen de la Peña. (2004) Public libraries and people in jail. Reference & User Services Quarterly 44(1).

Allen, Bud and Diana Bosta (1981). Games criminals play: how you can profit by knowing them. Rae John Publishers.

Elsner, Alan (2004). Gates of injustice: the crisis in America's prisons. Financial Times Prentice Hall.

Hamon, Ann and Peter Hamon (1975). Public library service to jails: guidelines for action. University of Wisconsin-Extension.

Libraries inside: a practical guide for prison librarians (1995). Rhea Joyce Rubin and Daniel Suvak, editors. McFarland.

Library standards for jails and detention facilities (1981). American Library Association.

Starting a Program (2003). Instructions for a Kids' Connection-style program, retrieved Sept. 26, 2005 from http://sfjailministry.org/StartingProgram.html

Vogel, Brenda (1995). Down for the count: a prison library handbook. Scarecrow Press.

Thanks

Lt. Jeff Hook for photography clearance
Jessamyn West for the html slideshow template & stylesheets
JLG volunteers through the years

slides version | printable version