Start with a story provides books, story times, and outreach to the hundreds of children who visit their parents at two Alameda County Jails. Write to Read operates a well-stocked main library in Juvenile Hall as well as small libraries in each of the Hall’s 12 living units. Write to Read provides youth with opportunities to transform themselves through the power of books, reading, writing and literacy.

In the 2019-2020 fiscal year, library literacy programs partnered with 701 community agencies to deliver literacy services. Partnering agencies included adult schools and community colleges, Head Starts and other early learning organizations, homeless shelters and housing authorities, jails and juvenile justice departments, faith-based organizations, local businesses, and non-profit organizations. Library literacy programs and their partners shared space, provided resources and instruction to one another’s communities, and provided supportive referrals to one another’s services.

Connections: A Free Guide for Formerly Incarcerated People; Family video visitation https://www.nypl.org/sites/default/files/video_visitation_brochure.pdf

A collaboration between employees of the Marin County Sheriff’s Office and the Marin County Free Library to increase access to books via an ILS system.

Families Read Together is a program funded by a 2021 ALA grant to help our library keep inmates of the county jail connected with their children by reading to them over recorded video. Each family will receive five chosen books and a video of the guardian reading to their child. 

San Francisco Sheriff's Office; Prisoner Reentry Network; Reentry Council; 5 Keyys Charter School; Community Works West; Adult Probation; Code Tenderloin; SJSU School of Information

Since 2018, SFPL's Jail and Reentry Services program has been providing dedicated library service to incarcerated adults. Through a partnership with the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office, JARS offers in-jail library service. JARS librarians also provide reference by mail and reentry support, and have been serving youth at the Juvenile Justice Center for almost 20 years.

Fact Sheet, media toolkit, and more. Constellation

Santa Cruz Sheriff's Department and Probation Department

Santa Cruz Public Libraries (SCPL), in partnership with the Sheriff’s Department and the Probation Department, are committed to delivering opportunities for education and personal development, to promote reentry success as well to ease stress caused by incarceration, leading to an enriched and safer environment for incarcerated people, jail staff, and all Santa Cruz County residents.

SCPL provides access to information, education, and relevant resources through library programs and services to youth and adults incarcerated in Santa Cruz County. We provide library account registration, library book lending, and refer reference requests to San Francisco Public Library's jail services team. We also offer People & Stories via Zoom, with support from SCPL Volunteers. People & Stories invites participants to learn more about themselves, others, and the world through discussion of short stories & the issues they raise. CCF programs and services are supported by SCPL volunteers and staff.

The Adult Literacy Program works with Families (Family Literacy) and has an Inmate Tutoring program for the two detention facilities in Sonoma County.

Inmate Tutoring Programs at Monroe Detention Facility and Juvenile Hall

Arapahoe Libraries is proud to operate a modified branch inside of the Arapahoe County Detention Facility. Patrons in jail can talk to staff about legal reference materials, as is their right. We also offer recreational reading materials. 

https://multcolib.org/sites/default/files/MCL-2018-Equity-and-Inclusion-Report-JAN20.pdf

Colorado Library Consortium and Colorado State Library

An IMLS-funded, statewide, outcome-assessment of prison libraries. The planning project will determine how best to assess prison library contributions to offenders' development of pro-social behaviors that help them stay occupied productively and out of trouble while incarcerated and maximize their chances of successful re? entry into the community. This project will fill a gap in research on evidence-based practices for correctional libraries and accommodate the complexities of the secure corrections environment.

A collaboration between the Colorado State Library and the Colorado Department of Corrections that provided a book to young family members of people in prisons, along with a recording of their parent reading it.

Weekly, staffed, two-hour computer lab specifically for women who have been incarcerated. Participants use computers for whatever they need, but can also receive individualized instruction from the staff on topics ranging from basic computer use to online job seeking and resume writing. (Inactive.)

Dade County Public Library, Sheriff’s Office, and Bank of Dade

A collaboration among the public library, Sheriff’s Office, and Bank of Dade seeks to reduce the county’s 70 percent recidivism rate through an enrichment program called Next Chapter, which promotes digital literacy, economic self-sufficiency, and stable living for inmates of the Dade County Jail. Developed “in part by asking repeat offenders what resources they thought were needed to keep them out of jail for good.” A grant from the Institute for Library and Museum Services (IMLS) funded a videographer for one year to film and edit coursework. Local organizations and residents can participate by teaching videos sharing their own skills.

https://georgialibraries.org/next-chapter-provides-life-skills-training-and-a-second-chance-for-county-jail-inmates/

A Way In and Ex-Cons for Community and Social Change

Chicago State University and partners will use this grant from the IMLS to establish an institute with public library staff and community partners to foster innovative programs and services that support community members who are facing onerous and complex challenges such as poverty, violence, and incarceration; identify target users and their needs; develop promising initial solutions; and share details of initial insights and approaches with other libraries and communities.

See the Freedom ticket video and going home guide.

Northwestern University Libraries NPEP Library Support Program

The NPEP Library Program supports the educational mission and activities of the Northwestern Prison Education Project by enabling access to research materials and consultations with librarians, strengthening our collections in social justice, creating open access print and web publications, extending our suite of services to incarcerated students, and applying the ethics of librarianship to advocate for alternatives to policing, surveillance, and incarceration.

In existence since 1986, Jail Library Service is a cooperative agreement between the Monroe County Correctional Center (MCCC) and the Library. The Jail Library circulates over 1,000 books a month. MCCC provides space for the Library within the jail, as well as funds for books and other Library materials. We provides staff members to operate the Jail Library and to maintain the collection three afternoons a week.

With an aim to reduce the probability of women returning to prison, 2nd Chance Living PMI will present information about the workforce development and mental health resources that they offer.

Arms Library in Shelburne Falls; Belding Memorial Library in Ashfield; Cushman Library in Bernardston; Erving Public Library in Erving; Griswold Memorial Library in Colrain

The Libraries in the Woods provide paperback discards to the Jail's Education Coordinator on a weekly basis. In-jail programs are planned for the winter of 2021.

 the juvenile justice agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Boston Public Library teen librarians regularly visit DYS schools bringing in book deposits, talking about the books, and promoting Boston Public Library services and programs. Occasionally we bring special guest speakers.  For the past three years the library has run a summer reading program for the youth in DYS. Book deposits are small collections of library books left at a facility for a short period of time, then exchanged for new books.  Librarians will bring in popular books and books that are requested by the teens.

Mentioned on page 19 of the Massachusett Department of Correction Program Description Booklet. People incarcerated at the Northeast Correctional Center are able to check books out of the Concord Free Public Library. 

Frederick County Public Libraries staffs the librarian for the Frederick County Adult Detention Center. No collection sharing is allowed, but all materials are acquired through donations, discards, and orders placed through the library materials collection (reimbursed through the jail’s inmate canteen funds.) The detention center library is also the only fully staffed law library in the county.

The Harford County Public Library donated copies of Charlie Mackesy’s book, “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse,” to the graduates of the Circuit Court’s Adult Drug Court at a graduation ceremony

Montgomery County Public Libraries Correctional Facility (MCCF) Library

Mongtomery County Public Libraries Correctional Facility (MCCF) Library provides inmates access to recreational, educational, and legal materials in order to improve and enrich their lives as well as to facilitate successful community reentry. The library holds approximately 15,000 books, including materials in several languages. As mandated by Maryland and Federal law, the MCCF Library provides select legal resources in print for inmates researching their active cases or matters of incarceration. A librarian conducts online searches of statutes and case law per inmate request. Inmates visit the library on a rotating schedule to borrow books and to do legal research. Word-processing computers are available to inmates; however, Internet access is not available.

Weekly library service and onsite libraries at the Hennepin County Adult Corrections Facility (ACF), monthly service at the Public Safety Facility (PSF), and visits to MN DOC state prisons to promote public libraries as reentry resources. Programs include Read to Me: a family literacy program to connect people in facilities with the children in their lives; job resource workshops; Writing through Loss; One Reads; Author Visits and storytellers. Reentry resources developed include Freedom Ticket video and the Going Home guide.
Weekly library service at the Juvenile Detention Center (JDC). Onsite library support at the the County Home School (CHS).

Connects visitors with legal advice and support services. The partnership brings together the St. Louis County Library, the Missouri State Public Defender’s Office, The Bail Project, MacArthur Foundation Safety & Justice Challenge, University of Missouri-St. Louis, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and the St. Louis County Department of Justice Services.

Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Department

Outreach Services meets the Library needs of residents of correctional facilities in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, in collaboration with Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Department.

Union County Public Library was awarded a Library Services and Technology Act grant to build a technology center consisting of computers and Internet access at the Union Country Jail & Pre-Release Detention Center near the public library. Public librarians will train the incarcerated men and facility staff on computer skills. Some of the incarcerated men are involved with a work release program and they use the main public library to check out books and to access the internet to complete certification programs for jobs. They see the library as a place to find assistance from librarians on community resources, jobs, housing, education.

The School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is home to WiderNet@UNC

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

WiderNet@UNC will build a coalition of correctional institutions to increase the use of off-line digital education resources in the innovative Corrections Off-Line Education Platform, creating opportunities to improve rehabilitation and reduce recidivism for millions in the U.S. prison system. Outcomes will include a prototype collection and a blueprint for a long-term, sustained effort to improve information access for librarians, educators, and students in correctional institutions. This project will serve as resource for prison educators and librarians to develop an off-line alternative to the internet that delivers abundant resources for teaching English as a Second Language, GED preparation, high school completion, post-secondary courses, life skills, and vocational training.

Note that it is difficult to find current information on this program; here is a 2010 annual report.

Patterson Free Public Library; Trenton Free Public Library; Newark Public Library; Long Branch Free Public Library; Atlantic City Free Public Library; Cumberland County Library

Fresh Start enables participating libraries to provide reentry support and services to citizens returning to their home communities after being paroled or after completing their prison terms.

Reconnecting Returning Citizens with their Communities at Public Libraries

Thomas Edison State University and Free Library of Philadelphia

Library services to citizens returning to their communities after being paroled or after completing their prison terms. The project will develop a process model and a toolkit of best practices for libraries to collaboratively assist local communities and their returning citizens with the reentry process. An Advisory Committee, including public library staff with experience helping returning citizens in San Francisco, Denver, and Washington, D.C., will inform and monitor the project.

See the Community Court brochure here. 

Part of the Outreach Services department, Justice Initiatives works to support incarcerated and formerly incarcerated patrons and their families and to raise public awareness of issues of racial, social, and economic justice.  

Chautauqua-Cattaragus Library System

The purpose of the program is to supplement library services and resources for inmates in State correctional institutions by providing inmates with broader access to library materials, services, and the statewide library network. CCLS supports one prison and two county jail libraries. Through NY state funding, CCLS is able to offer ILL services to all three correctional libraries.

Sesame Street partners on Little Children, Big Challenges: Incarceration

NYPL runs circulating book services in NYC DOC facilities, and other library programs and services for people in jails and prisons across NY, including: Reference by Mail service for incarcerated people, family literacy programs for incarcerated parents/caregivers, book discussions groups in prison, and more. NYPL publishes Connections, an annual reentry resource guide, available to help currently and formerly incarcerated people and their families and friends. The Connections book is free to everyone and is distributed to people in jail and prison, to community organizations, or any community member, online or in our neighborhood branches. The New York Public Library's Correctional Services team delivers a range of library programs at jails and prisons in NYC, including:
Circulating book service at DOC city jails. Daddy & Me / Mommy & Me, a book-recording project with incarcerated parents. Parents participate in early literacy workshops to explore the lifelong benefits of reading. Parents record a favorite picture book for their children to enjoy at home and culminate the program with a special family visit.
Weekly book discussion groups where incarcerated readers discuss a range of literature and non-fiction.

The Queens Public Library will partner with Queens Defenders, a public defender organization, to recruit parolee participants and provide them with the information, skills, technology, and connections to resources needed to reintegrate successfully and avoid recidivism. The Immediate Access Technology Reentry Program will address parolees' unique transition from correctional facility to society during a pandemic. This program will assist 75 formerly incarcerated individuals over a two-year period. Participants will receive a smart phone, gain the experience and skills to use their phones to connect, and acquire digital skills, knowledge, and resources.

Queens Public Library is an official member of the Queens County Reentry Task Force.

Correctional Outreach offers various programs and services for people who are incarcerated, formerly incarcerated individuals, and their loved ones.

library service to county jails, through a cooperative arrangement with the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office. We select books for each of the living units in the county jails. Recreational reading is geared to inmate literacy, language and reading interests. Informational reading includes recovery, jobs, life skills, domestic violence and other practical subjects. Inmates participate in book discussion groups led by library staff and volunteers. These literacy development groups acquaint inmates with new ideas and library services.

Multnomah County Library location at Donald E. Long Juvenile Detention Center

Staffed librarian at the detention center, plus the following from a MCL report: As part of a broader set of programs for youth in custody, a library outreach specialist visits each unit
and connects with the youth through books. The library outreach
specialist listens to what they’re interested in, purchases materials that both meet those interests and introduces new topics, and gives brief but high interest booktalks.In 2018, the library provided youth at the Donald E. Long facility with over 2,300 new books and 200 hours of direct service staff time.

Each month, librarians bring book clubs, financial education, resume building, parenting classes and more to the inmates at the ACJ.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Multnomah%E2%80%99s+Library+Juvenile+Justice+Outreach+Program&oq=Multnomah%E2%80%99s+Library+Juvenile+Justice+Outreach+Program&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i10i160j33i299.1122j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Note the language they use on their website: Why provide Library service to jails?
Library service helps ease some of the stress caused by incarceration and overcrowding, leading to a safer environment for staff and inmates.

Prison Services: Expanding Opportunities for Incarcerated Parents and Their Families at Neighborhood Libraries

The Free Library of Philadelphia will develop Prison Services: Expanding Opportunities for Incarcerated Parents and Their Families at Neighborhood Libraries. Prison Services focuses on meeting the immediate needs of incarcerated parents, returning citizens, and their children and families by connecting them to critical resources, literacy and workforce development programs, and supporting family connectedness. The goal is to forge long-term relationships between inmates and libraries

One staff member provides programs for incarcerated teenagers: poetry slams, scrabble game tournaments, creative writing groups, and author speaker series. She collaborates with the annual Charleston Book Festival to have the authors also speak in the detention center during the festival.

Jail Library Service is part of SLC's Community Engagement Department and has provided services for over 25 years. To operationalize this we have a long standing, but pretty simple agreement with the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Department to provide library services inside two jail facilities located in the county - the Metro and Oxbow Jails.  Essentially the Sheriff provides a small space inside the jail and pays the library a small stipend out of their commissary fund to help support the operations.  We budget and pay for about 80% - 90% of the costs and are responsible for all jail library operations, subject to safety and security protocols developed in concert with the sheriff. Physically located inside the jail facilities, the libraries are small spaces, staffed by library employees. We manage and provide the collection for both libraries, but again are subject to a few “rules” imposed by the Sheriff - materials can only be paperback, no stapled materials are allowed, only 6 items per prisoner (6 books can only make a “small” fire), no books on bomb making, and a few other restrictions.  All materials that are returned are searched by our staff for contraband.The collections are available to the prisoners by request, and only library staff or Trustees are allowed to physically pull the materials - the actual libraries and the collections are not access or browsable by prisoners. 

https://library.ca.gov/Content/pdf/pressreleases/2021-05-25-CA_Library_Literacy_Services.pdf

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, CPL has stocked on-location carts with free materials that had been donated to branch libraries or taken out of circulation, with no requirement to return them.

The Spokane Municipal Community Court takes place at the Downtown branch of the Spokane Library, and seeks to reduce and properly address quality of life offenses in the downtown area by utilizing a collaborative, problem-solving approach to crime.

The University of Washington Information School

Washington State Library, King County Library System, and Echo Glen Children's Center for Juvenile Rehabilitation in Snoqualmie

A three-part digital arts education program for youth in juvenile rehabilitation. The project aims to provide leadership opportunities to incarcerated youth by providing them access to the digital arts and virtual reality industry.

https://www.mass.gov/doc/program-description-booklet-2/download?_ga=2.132102855.955604256.1549903914-1459834499.1543502241