Session recap written by Nzinga Temu, MA Librarianship student at The University of Sheffield and intern with PLC
I was able to sit in on the hour-long Community of Practice virtual meeting where several prison and public library practitioners shared some of the programs and activities that they have been able to create in their workplaces. It was exciting to see all of the things that have been accomplished, and how much enthusiasm the community had for taking new ideas on board.
Having dipped my toes into what prison library service looks like in the couple of modules on the MA Librarianship course at Sheffield, my impression is that librarians’ capabilities in implementing activities in prisons can be quite limited because of the strictly controlled environment of a prison. However, the speakers over the course of the event shed a light on how much can actually be done in practice.
The event started out with the sharing of general recent accomplishments. The most interesting one I noted was the prisoner led emergent reader group. A participant talked about how an orderly in this prison had become interested in creating a reader group, and designed his own reading program. Volunteers from the library supported him by offering training to run the group, and now the group is extending to other wings of the prison.
It’s fantastic to see the way one individual’s interest can spread to capture the participation of so many more users! There is certainly something to be said for leaving space and resources for individuals to explore what speaks to them. It is an example of the effectiveness of one of the most salient principles that public library professionals follow in the design of programs and spaces: making resources available as widely and flexibly as possible to inspire a diverse range of individuals in a community. Facilitating access this way can allow so much to bloom.
“What’s one recent activity or initiative from your work that you’d like to celebrate or share with others today?” (Summary of answers)
Reader development at HMP Barlinnie – Ruth Hunter
The first guest speaker was from HMP Barlinnie prison in Scotland. Ruth Hunter is working on strengthening links with public libraries, and providing book stock for reader development activities for the prison. Ruth talked about the different event series, their success, and the overall effects that they have had on the prisons. Participants found the adult reading challenges and the creative writing events to be engaging, and there were even some emotional responses which expressed how engaging creatively had made participants think of their families.
There was also mention of having a creative writer in residence at the prison who could run these kinds of events, and another speaker commented about how it used to be standard to have a writer in residence about ten years ago before the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) got rid of it. This was not something that I’d heard of, so I did some googling around, and found this organization that was established back in the 90s called Writers Behind Bars, which explains a bit of the history behind how this practice began in English prisons. Most of the information I could find about this was indeed quite old. It made me curious about how such a seemingly unique and brilliant idea could become so standard in the prison system, and then be done away with– especially seeing as it seems to have been an enriching factor in the prison system. I hope that this national year of reading can be something that starts to revive the practice.
HMP Bullingdon Library and GLAM – Alexander Pass and Sarah Levete
Alexander Pass and Sarah Levete spoke about broadening the library’s reach using resources other than books with the idea that getting users into the library was the first step to encouraging a love of reading. They talked about having included games, puzzles, and other fun elements to attract users into the library.
This includes the innovative ‘In the Frame’ program, run in collaboration with the library and the University of Oxford’s Gardens, Libraries and Museums (GLAM). This involves bringing museum objects into the prison and combining this with creative activities. There is more information about this exciting initiative here.
In discussing the practicalities of this program, they mentioned that evaluating the success of the activity was a balance between gleaning sufficient information from participants about their experience and not overburdening them with questions, which is a familiar conundrum for anyone who’s ever been asked to fill out a user satisfaction survey. They shared an example of the evaluation they used, which consisted of two questions that asked for a one to ten rating, and space for additional comments.
Prison Library Connect – Jayne Finlay
Last but not least, Jayne spoke briefly about the Prison Library Connect site, and the work we’re doing now to update and optimize it to best serve as an information hub for practitioners. We got some good feedback about information that would be helpful to have on the site, and information that the community would be able to contribute, and we’re looking forward to using this to improve the site!
