Jeanie Austin, PhD

Book

Austin, J. (2022). Library services and incarceration: Recognizing barriers, strengthening access. Chicago: ALA Neal-Schuman. 

Journal Issue

Journal of Intellectual Freedom & Privacy, Summer 2023, 8(2): Access to Information in Carceral Institutions. (Guest editor.)

White Papers

Through the Expanding Information Access for Incarcerated People grant project:

Trends and Concerns in Library Services for Incarcerated People and People in the Process of Reentry: Publication Review (2020-2022).

Technology in Carceral Facilities: Trends, Limitations, and Opportunities for Libraries (2020-2022).

Peer-Reviewed

Austin, J. (in press). (invited contribution). Access. In n. cline & J.R. López-McKnight (eds.), Keywords in (critical) library information science/studies. MIT Press.

Jordan-Makely, C., Austin, J., Brammer, C., & Ness, N. (2025). “A collection of obstacles”: Qualitative findings from the 2020 Library Services and Incarceration survey. Library Quarterly, 95(3), 265-285.

Austin, J. and Jacobson, E. (2024). The incarcerated and formerly incarcerated. In C. Bomhold (ed.), Serving the underserved: Strategies for inclusive community engagement (pp. 177-196). ALA Neal-Schuman.

Keyes, O., & Austin, J. (2022). Feeling fixes: Mess and emotion in algorithmic audits. Big Data & Society, 9(2).

Austin, J. and Jacobson, E. (2021). Patron-centered services: Disrupting the narrative of reformation and reading in American jails and prisons. Exploring the roles and practices of libraries in prisons: International perspectives [special issue, J. Garner ed.]. Advances in Librarianship, 50, 291-309.

Austin, J., Charenko, M, Dillon, M. and Lincoln, J. (2020). Systemic oppression and the contested ground of information access for incarcerated people. Open Information Science, 4(1), 169-185.

Other Publications

Austin, J. (2024). Preface. In E. Boyington, R. Horton, E.R. James, S. Olmeda, and V. van Hyning (eds.), Standards for library services for the incarcerated and detained (pp. ix-x). American Library Association.

Jordan-Makely, C., Austin, J., & Brammer, C. (2022). Growing services: How libraries outside of prison create access for incarcerated people. Library Journal, 147(8), 24-29.

Jordan-Makely, C. & Austin, J. (2021). Outside and in: Services for people impacted by incarceration. Library Journal, 146(9), 21-25.

Austin, J. (2020). Information access within carceral institutions. Feminist Media Studies, 20(8), 1293–1297.

Meeting information needs in sites of removal: A historical look at carceral library services and standards. Libraries in unexpected places: Library History Round Table research forum. 2025. With E. Jacobson.

T.E.C.H. for reentry: Digital literacy and public library programming for formerly incarcerated community members. American Library Association Annual Conference. 2025. Moderator, with N. Adams, A. Villalta, E. Yim.

Seeing beyond bars. Cleveland Public Library. 2025. With K. Budd & L. Fields.

Supporting formerly incarcerated learners: Building from restriction to meaningful access. Association of College and Research Libraries Conference. 2025.

Information access for all incarcerated learners: Contextualizing information access and prison education programs. Montreal International Conference on Education in Prison. 2024. With E. Pokornowski.

How your library can support users impacted by incarceration: Standards launch. American Library Association Annual Conference. 2024. With E. Boyington, E. R. James, R. Kinnon, B. Okelo, & V. van Hyning.

Creating and sustaining meaningful library services for incarcerated people and people in reentry. Preconference session. Maryland & Delaware Library Association Conference. 2024.

Incarcerated people are patrons too! Improving legal information services for incarcerated people. American Association of Law Libraries Annual Meeting and Conference. 2023. With K. Tanaka & L. Reppe, moderated by D. Rodriguez.

Expanding information access for people who are incarcerated: Service Standards and mapping. American Library Association Annual Conference. 2023. With E. Boyington, E. R. James, N. Ness, & B. Okelo.

Research with people who are currently or have been incarcerated in the United States. American Library Association Annual Conference. 2023. With E. Boyington, C. Brammer, C. Jordan-Makely, A. Nash, N. Ness, T.. Ortiz, & L. C. Richardson.

Library and information access in prison. Cornell Prison Education Program Alumni Reunion and Symposium. 2023. With R. Bott, S. Burnett, & M. Reynolds.

Serving 500,000 new students: Planning for Pell restoration for incarcerated college students. Association of College & Research Libraries. 2023. With R. Bott, J. Honn, & K. Tanaka.

Inspiration, knowledge and curiosity while incarcerated. Jean E. Coleman Lecture, American Library Association Annual Conference. 2022. Moderator, with E. Boyington, C. Meissner, N. Shawan Junior & K. Tanaka.

Defending the fifth freedom: Protecting the Right to Read for incarcerated individuals. ALA Annual Conference. 2022. With D. Betts, R. Horton, & E. Rivera, moderated by T. D. Hall.

Library services and incarceration. University of South Carolina College of Information and Communications. Augusta Baker Annual Lecture. 2022.

Philosophy, purpose, and actuality: The history of library services and incarceration in the United States. UCLA Information Studies Colloquium. 2022.

Countering ‘conditions which demand a perseverance verging on the superhuman’: Teaching and learning anti-carceral librarianship through Reference by Mail. Critical Pedagogy Symposium. 2021. With J. Abbott & L. Maminta.

Reference by Mail services to people who are incarcerated: Overcoming barriers to information access while reimagining the public. ALA Annual Conference. 2021. With S. Ball, E. Jacobson, & R. Kinnon.

Information access, systemic oppression, and incarceration. Graduate School of Library and Information Studies. University of Rhode Island, Voices for Information Equity. 2021.

Incarceration and information surveillance. S.T.O.P. x RadTech. 2021. With S. Ball & K. Owens.

‘Unaware of when and how covert enrollment occurs’: Voice biometric surveillance in prisons and beyond. American Library Association Midwinter. 2021. 

Autobiography of an audit: Tracing the roots and repercussions of the HRT-Transgender database. AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research. 2020. With O. Keyes.

The image on this page is from Inside Outside, a 1970s newsletter for librarians and people who were incarcerated.