Jeanie Austin, PhD

Dream Revisions – Section 2

As mentioned in the last post, here is a dream revision of Section 2 of the Library Standards for Juvenile Correctional Facilities.

2. THE ROLE OF THE LIBRARY IN A CORRECTIONAL SETTING

2.1 The library in the juvenile correctional facility shall support, broaden and strengthen the stated goals of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) for youth and young adults. This shall be done in accord with the stated vision of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), which states “The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) envisions a nation where our children are healthy, educated, and free from violence. If they come into contact with the juvenile justice system, the contact should be rare, fair, and beneficial to them.” The library in the juvenile detention center shall offer a variety of services, materials, and programs similar to libraries serving the general public, as well as curricula support materials, services specifically related to the experiences and desires of youth and young adults held in detention, and legal resources. The library shall:

2.1.1 Serve all youth and young adults within the juvenile detention center or other residential center;

2.1.1.2 Provide services to youth and young adult residents who are restricted to their living units (e.g. infirmary, lock-up, maximum security units), including access to technology;

2.1.2 Provide to facility staff program-related services which contribute to their professional development (e.g. reference and research assistance, professional collections, etc. These may include newsletters, journals, books, manuals, curriculum frameworks, and DVDs as well as other applicable technologies);

2.1.2.1 The library will provide materials and services that supplement and support other programs held at the juvenile detention center, including college preparation and GED programs, and programs administered by outside organizations (writing programs, drawing programs, etc.);

2.1.3 Cooperate with other libraries and community organizations to supplement local collections and services.

2.1.3.1 Cooperation may include interlibrary loan, membership in a regional cooperative, sharing of staff experience, connecting youth with community organizations and public libraries to support youth as they are released from the juvenile detention center, participation in organizations specifically focused on youth, juvenile detention, or adult incarceration, and youth access to technology.

2.1.4 Create collection development policies that actively advocate for the representation of incarcerated youth and their experiences and interests

2.1.5 Endorse and uphold the principles espoused by the following American Library Association documents (which may be obtained from the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom):

2.1.5.1 Library Bill of Rights (1939; amended 1944, 1948,1961, 1967, 1980; inclusion of “age” reaffirmed January 23, 1996);

2.1.5.2 Free Access to Libraries for Minors: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (1972,; amended 1981; 1991, 2004);

2.1.5.3 Resolution on Prisoners’ Right to Read (1982)

2.1.5.4 Policy on Confidentiality of Library Records (1971; revised 1975, 1986)

2.1.5.5 Freedom to Read Statement (1953; amended 1972, 1991, 2000, 2004)

Standards

Dream Revisions -Library Standards for Juvenile Correctional Facilities

The Library Standards for Juvenile Correctional Facilities were last published by the Association of Specialized & Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA) in 1999. Inspired by advances made in other library standards for incarcerated adults (such as the 2010 statement on Prisoners’ Right to Read), I reworked a few sections of the existing Library Standards to better reflect the current moment in librarianship. As librarians respond to and engage with shifts in personal technologies, calls for social change within and outside of the field, and the reality of institutionalized oppression within libraries, libraries working with youth who are held in juvenile detention will need standards that give them firm ground and backing in their myriad efforts.

I borrow much of the language from the 1999 Library Standards for Juvenile Correctional Facilities in these dream revisions in order to recognize the work of librarians before me. I also draw from campaigns such as #WeNeedDiverseBooks and Libraries 4 Black Lives as current, inspirational sources of information and support.

In my next few posts you will find a dream revision of three sections of the existing Standards –

Section 2. The Role of the Library in A Correctional Setting

Section 3. Library Administration

Section 6. Library Collection

I post these for educational purposes only – not as a necessarily possible revision or as an answer to the many joys and frustrations that arise while providing library services to incarcerated youth.

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If you are interested, the 1999 Standards are available through the ALA store at http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=2273

Access, Incarcerated Adults, Reading

Access and Making Meaning

John Oliver, on Last Week Tonight, recently highlighted an often unaddressed aspect of library services to incarcerated people. In an example that pales many mentions of what access to materials can mean for people who are imprisoned or maintained, Oliver highlights an individual formerly detained in Guantánamo discussing his experiences there.

Oliver is correct in mentioning that libraries in prison and detainment centers are considered ‘luxuries’ by many people (hinting that they are often used as a gesture toward reform), the words of this former detainee reflect the true value of library services to incarcerated and detained people. He describes Guantánamo as equivalent to Azkaban, the prison in Harry Potter – a place where there is no possibility of feeling.

Watching this clip, I was struck by how access to materials can potentially assist people in understanding the worlds they inhabit (or have been forced to inhabit). The full clip is available on-line at