Expanding Information Access for Incarcerated People Initiative
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Expanding Information Access for Incarcerated People is an initiative based in San Francisco Public Library’s (SFPL) Jail and Reentry Services program, in coordination with the ¹ú²úÊÓƵÍø (ALA). This project exists to locate library services to incarcerated people and to support the development of new services. It is made possible by a generous grant from the Mellon Foundation.
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More information about the grant is available in an ¹ú²úÊÓƵÍøpress release, from the , and on .
PROJECT OUTCOMES
Revisioning Standards for Library Services for the Incarcerated or Detained
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In 2021, a task force of correctional library workers and other institutional stakeholders headed by ODLOS began work on a massive reimagining of the ¹ú²úÊÓƵÍø’s 1992 Library Standards for Adult Correctional Institutions.
The new Standards will heed the current phenomenon of mass incarceration, the inequitable incarceration rates of BIPOC individuals, and the rising rates of incarceration of women (especially women of color). It will pay special attention to the incarceration of LGBTQIA+ individuals, undocumented individuals, and youth, as well as to the information needs of returning individuals.
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Where are library services for incarcerated people located, and where are they needed?
(NOTE: This map may not load in Firefox. Please click through to the larger map or use another browser if you are experiencing issues viewing the map.)
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If your library provides library services to incarcerated people that aren’t represented on the map, .
Library Services and Incarceration Video Series
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This series features information from formerly incarcerated people alongside professionals providing library services for incarcerated people. It covers a range of topics relevant to the field.
¹ú²úÊÓƵÍøprovides free-of-charge professional development credit for viewing the videos in this series.
Recent ¹ú²úÊÓƵÍøResolutions and Publications
Prisoners’ Right to Read
Libraries & Reentry
Library Services for the Justice Involved
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Library Services for the Justice Involved (LSJI) is an interest group for library professionals, students, correctional staff, volunteers, or anyone who serves the underserved in correctional settings (prison, jail, detention centers, state mental health institutes, juvenile facilities) or justice-involved individuals (those in halfway houses, community corrections, sober living, transitional housing, on parole, or the formerly incarcerated).
These efforts build on ALA's historical efforts related to library services for people who are incarcerated.
