I am pleased and excited to be a recipient of the 2017 Baker & Taylor Collection Development Grant. Funding from this grant will go toward collection development for the existing library collection at Queer and Trans Youth Treehouse, an LGBTQ youth center that prioritizes youth of color.
More information about the award is available in this announcement from ALA.
The state-enforced detention of immigrant youth (and adults) has been one of the most difficult to numerically track. Ranging from black-site prisons, such as Homan Square in Chicago, to indefinite immigration detention around the world, and peppered through-out by tails of three-strike laws forcing individuals to be placed in countries they have never personally known, imprisonment is the tool the state utilizes to shape experiences of immigration, belonging, and power. For those looking to be better informed about standing with immigrants in the face of U.S. state violence the University of Minnesota has created an Immigration Syllabus.
The syllabus covers migration, colonization, and more up to the present United States enactments of deportations, islamophobia, and analyses of walled separatism.
I was recently asked about resources around archives, images, and prisons. Here are three resources that address these topics.
Indiana University Women’s Prison History
A college-course for incarcerated women led to an unveiling of the history of an Indiana prison. Women read historical texts through their own experience as a way of growing the archive and disturbing the history on the prison. More on the course is available at Prison history assignment yields surprise, passion for research and a student publication is available at Women’s Prison History: The Undiscovered Country.
The Prison Public Memory Project works to unearth histories and relate them to contemporary issues around incarceration and penal systems. It includes archival photographs and records alongside new media and oral histories.
Prison Photography is a collaborative effort to include recent and archival images of prisoners (I believe it is primarily focused on the United States). Here is a highlighted project that disrupts the boundaries of time by including the notes of present-day prisoners on historical images – Vast Archive of 10,000 Negatives Unearthed at San Quentin
As mentioned in this post, here is a revised version of Section 6 of the Standards.
6. Library Collection
6.1 The materials in the juvenile correctional library shall be selected to meet the educational, informational, recreational, career/vocational, entertainment, legal, technological and personal needs of its users.
6.1.1 To ensure that the materials meet these needs, the library shall have a printed collection development policy that defines the principles, purposes, and criteria to be considered in the selection and maintenance of library materials. These criteria should clearly advocate for youth access to library materials, including technology;
6.1.1.1 In recognition of the statistics of populations held in juvenile detention centers, collection development policies should include representation of racial diversity and LGBTQ identities.
6.1.1.2 The Library Bill of Rights, “Free Access to Libraries for Minors” shall be incorporated into this policy.
6.1.1.3 This policy shall apply to gifts as well as to purchased items.
6.1.1.4 The collection development policy statement shall include a clear procedure that details the process of objection to materials. This procedure will include information on issuing formal (written) objections, where materials under review will be held, and a timeline for meeting with a named committee to review materials as needed.
6.1.1.5 The policy shall also include guidelines for the regular discarding and replacement of outdated, unused, and worn materials.
6.1.1.6 The policy concerning items not allowed in the library will be outlined by a combination of library and juvenile correctional staff.
6.1.2 An array of materials selections publications (including standard library materials selection publications, awards, blogs, on-line communities, and publisher and self-publishing websites) shall be used to ensure that the collection meets the needs and desires of youth held in the center. Award-winning and otherwise notable materials will be included in the collection.
6.1.3 The library collection shall reflect and expand upon the needs, abilities, experiences, and current interests of youth held in the center.
6.1.3.1 The library collection will contain information relevant to social and political occurrences, especially as they pertain to youth.
6.1.3.2 Print materials will reflect the broad range of reading levels of youth held in the center.
6.1.3.3 Technologies will be made available to youth.
6.1.3.4 Technologies will be equipped with assistive hardware in order to meet the needs of youth who have reading, hearing, or other assistive needs.
6.1.3.5 Collections will include materials that reflect the cultural, racial, and other identities of youth held in the center (including sexuality).
6.1.3.6 Collections will include non-English materials to reflect the languages spoken and read by youth in the center.
6.1.3.7 Librarians will have access to youth input regarding the library collection. This input may be provided through face-to-face interactions, requests for materials or types of materials, or surveys of the youth regarding their interests.
6.1.3.8 Items in heavy demand shall be provided in multiple copies.
6.1.4 The library collection shall include but not be limited to materials that support school curriculum.
6.1.4.1 Faculty and staff recommendations shall be considered when selecting library materials that support the curriculum.
6.1.5 The collection shall include legal reference materials which satisfy user needs and court mandates.
6.1.6 The collection shall include materials that address issues related to transition from the juvenile correctional facility to the larger community.
6.1.7 The collection shall include titles popular among youth, including high-interest low-vocabulary materials.
6.2 The library will include a variety of technologies, ephemera, and media related equipment in the library.
6.2.1 The library collection will, in negotiation with the juvenile correctional staff, reflect current developments in technologies (e.g. audiobooks and players, access to computers, a variety of software etc.).
6.2.2 Ephemera includes games, puzzles, kits, art objects, realia, comic books, magazines, etc.
6.2.3 Equipment: The library will have sufficient equipment to meet the needs of its users to utilize the media collection.
6.3 Reference collection: Each library shall have a reference collection of sufficient size and scope to meet the reference needs and desires of residents and staff and to support curriculum-related research.
6.3.1 The minimum reference collection shall include materials published within the last five years in the following categories:
As mentioned in this post, here is a revised version of Section 3 of the Standards.
3. LIBRARY ADMINISTRATION
3.1 The responsibility for the administration of the library shall be determined in cooperation with the governing agency or agencies.
3.1.1 Library administration that involves partnerships with public and/or community libraries will utilize the standards of access in place through the partnering library;
3.2 The librarian is responsible for managing the facility’s library, library staff, collection, and services.
3.2.1 The librarian shall operate the library as an integral element in meeting the vision of the OJJDP (stated in 2.1) to reduce the time of encounter between youth and juvenile facilities.
3.2.1.1 The librarian shall work closely with teachers to ensure that the library provides resources that support the curriculum.
3.2.1.2 The librarian will actively seek out and support programming that reflects the purpose of library services in the facility, including writing workshops, educational advancement, visiting authors, etc.
3.2.2 The librarian shall regularly participate and interact with all facility components in planning and developing the facility’s programs, including programs provided by outside parties.
3.2.3 The library shall actively support the vision of the OJJDP (stated in 2.1) and the facility’s own efforts to support this vision through the library’s materials, services, and philosophy; and shall provide research and reference assistance to the youth and young adults held in the facility and, in program-related matters, to the staff.
3.2.4 The librarian shall ensure that the library is responsive to the needs of the detained or incarcerated or incarcerated youth as ascertained by and including, but not limited to: person-to-person discussions; group discussions; analysis of user data, output measures, surveys, needs assessments, advisory committees, available data on youth incarceration, available data on the technological needs of young adults and participation in workshops and conferences.
3.3 In the case that the library administrator (librarian) is employed by an outside agency and is not a staff member of the residential facility, the librarian should report to his or her immediate supervisor at the outside agency (e.g. public library, state library system, academic administration, public school system, etc.).
3.4 In the case that the library administrator (librarian) is employed by the residential facility, the library shall be on the same administrative level as other program services departments within that facility.
3.4.1 The librarian shall, when applicable, report to a program manager.
3.4.2 When it is not possible for the library to be its own department, the librarian shall report to the facility’s education administrator.
Jeanie Austin, PhD 