Prison Libraries: Resources for the Librarian

WorldCat list of books tagged by ALA Library staff as key references for prison library management.

Corrections-related resources including training plans, research reports, program evaluations and more. Not all items are online. Access to the full collection and onsite Information Experts, through online Information Help Desk. Catalog searchable and browsable.

This directory of prison libraries is maintained by the Washington State Library Institutional Library Staff

Maps and lists of the institutions, regional offices, a headquarters, staff training centers, and residential reentry management offices administered by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The Bureau also administers contracts with private corporations to operate additional correctional institutions.

Law Libraries Serving Prisoners is an online version of the print "Directory: Law Libraries Offering Services to Prisoners." The American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), Social Responsibilities Special Interest Section, Standing Committee on Law Library Services to Prisoners compiles the data.

Gilman, Isaac. "Beyond Books: Restorative Librarianship in Juvenile Detention Centers." Public Libraries, v. 47, no. 1 (January/February 2008), p. 59-66. (Scroll to p. 59 of PDF)

Austin, Jeanie. "Critical Issues in Juvenile Detention Center Libraries." The Journal of Research on Libraries and Young Adults, posted July 25, 2012.

Conrad, Suzanna. Collection Development and Circulation Policies in Prison Libraries: An Exploratory Survey of Librarians in US Correctional Institutions. The Library Quarterly , Vol. 82, No. 4 (October 2012), pp. 407-427

Ten columns written between 2004 and 2008 by Glennor Shirley and Joseph Bouchard, Jeannette Larson, and Barbara Lipsley, including:

--Shirley, Glennor. Censorship and Prison Libraries. February 2007.
--Shirley, Glennor. Prison Libraries and Cultural Diversity. December 2004
--Shirley, Glennor. Prison Libraries and the Internet. June 2004

Etheredge, Stacy for Standing Committee on Law Library Service to Institution Residents, Social Responsibilities Special Interest Section, American Association of Law Libraries. Law Library Services to Prisoners: A Bibliography. July 2008.

Marshall, Aileen M.J. 2011. "Library Services in Correctional Settings". Information Outlook. 15, no. 1: 24-26.

Description of the NYPL program, with links to published resources.

Lehmann, Vibeke. Planning and Implementing Prison Libraries: Strategies and Resources. Paper presented at the 2003 IFLA Conference in Berlin.

Lilienthal, Stephen M. "Prison and Libraries: Public Service Inside and Out." Library Journal, posted February 4, 2013.

Dowling, Brendan. "Public Libraries and the Ex-Offender." Public Libraries, v. 46, no. 6 (Nov/Dec 2007): 44-48. (Scroll to p. 44 of PDF)

Drabinski, Emily, and Debbie Rabina. "Reference Services to Incarcerated Drabinski, Emily, and Debbie Rabina. "Reference services to incarcerated people, Part I: themes emerging from answering reference questions from prisons and jails." Reference & User Services Quarterly 55, no. 1 (2015): 42-48

Drabinski, Emily, and Debbie Rabina. "Reference services to incarcerated people, Part II: Sources and Learning Outcomes" Reference & User Services Quarterly 55.2 (2015): 123-131.

Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki. Services for the Imprisoned. Note: Last updated 2012.

Dalton, Michelle. "There is a Lack of Standardization in the Collection Development and Circulation Policies of Prison Library Services" Evidence Based Library and Information Practice [Online], Volume 8 Number 2 (10 June 2013)

Library Services for Youth in Custody (LSYC) is an organization serving the needs of and advocating for those who provide library services for youth in custody, which would include, at the least, incarcerated/detained/committed youth in both juvenile & adult settings in municipal, county, local, state, or federal facilities, including ICE detention centers and youth in secure mental health or rehab settings, and might also include at-risk youth in other forms of group housing or government custody. Includes lists of books for incarcerated youth.

The Correctional Education Association professional association in juvenile justice and adult correctional education, both nationally and internationally, providing leadership, direction, and services to correctional educators and programs, and representing juvenile justice and adult correctional education to broader educational, political, and social agencies.