Words Per Mile

Happy Library Lovers’ Day!

Happy #LibraryLoversDay everyone!

First, a confession: I am a writer who is terrible at maintaining a library card. I’m one of those people who can’t say no to a used bookstore or a free book, so my at-home reading list tends to keep me pretty occupied.

That being said, lately I’ve been trying to be better about keeping an active card, and using my local library. Why? Because libraries are amazing resources that are free. Look around you, look at everything that’s a subscription model or an NFT or whatever. Libraries provide (of course) books, but also ebooks, magazines, CDs, DVDs, internet access, study spaces, research help, summer reading programs, foreign language classes, ESL classes, museum passes, resumé help, gardening tools, sports equipment, sewing machines, and just a quiet, air conditioned place to be where you’re not expected to buy anything. They’re an amazing resource that’s open to everyone!

Well, almost.

Over two million people are currently incarcerated in the U.S., and they don’t have access to our public libraries. And, according to one study, “the illiteracy for adult inmates is estimated at 75 percent” (emphasis mine). Now, this study is from 1991, but based on everything else I’ve seen I don’t imagine life for the incarcerated in the U.S. has improved greatly since the 90’s.

While prisons often do have libraries, the quality of them is up for debate. The Department of Justice states that there is no single list of books banned in prisons, which in practice often leaves the decision to individuals. As a result, the list of books banned in a given correctional system is large, secretive, and amorphous, with frequent case-by-case decisions and unclear standards for what constitutes inappropriate material — a Malcolm X biography, a biology textbook, Game of Thrones, books critical of mass incarceration, anything fiction at all?

In some states, people on the outside aren’t even allowed to mail books directly to their loved ones, on the off-chance that a copy of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings contains razor blades or cocaine, I guess.

“The right to read is one that implicates our fundamental human and constitutional right. Research clearly indicates that access to literature reduces recidivism and better prepares individuals to thrive when they return to free society. Meaningful access to literature is essential for incarcerated people, where the written word is a rare source of information, education, and recreation, and a window to the wider world.”

PEN America: Literature Locked Up: How Prison Book Restriction Policies Constitute the Nation’s Largest Book Ban (2019)

“Even those individuals who are incarcerated for life require access to information, to literature, and to a window on the world.”

American Library Association, Prisoners’ Right to Read: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (2010)

So for this year’s Library Lovers’ Day, consider donating what you can to those who don’t have access to our wonderful national public library system. There may be local organizations in your area, but here I’m going to provide a few national ones:

And as always, make sure you thank your local librarian.

Sources:

American Library Association. (2010, August). Prisoners’ right to read: An interpretation of the library bill of rights. Document ID: ff63aa4a-c3b8-6a84-5d1d-50a798384ebb. American Library Association. Retrieved December 2022 from https://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/prisonersrightoread

Bala, Nila. (2018, February). Opinion | There’s a war on books in prisons. It needs to end. The Washington Post. Retrieved December 2022 from https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/theres-a-war-on-books-in-prisons-it-needs-to-end/2018/02/08/c31cd122-02b3-11e8-8acf-ad2991367d9d_story.html

Books to Prisoners. (n.d.). Banned book lists. Books to Prisoners. Retrieved December 2022 from https://www.bookstoprisoners.net/banned-book-lists/

Boston Public Library. (2022, December). Museum passes. Boston Public Library. Retrieved December 2022 from https://www.bpl.org/museum-passes/

Dholakia, Nazish. (2022, April). The cruel practice of banning books behind bars. Vera. Retrieved December 2022 from https://www.vera.org/news/the-cruel-practice-of-banning-books-behind-bars

Hartford Public Library. (n.d.). Library of things. Hartford Public Library. Retrieved December 2022 from https://www.hplct.org/books-media-more/library-things

Herrick, E. (1991, December). Prison literacy connection. Prison Literacy Connection | Office of Justice Programs. Retrieved December 2022, from https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/prison-literacy-connection

Losowsky, Andrew. (2011, October). Prison book bans: The censorship scandal inside America’s jails. HuffPost. Retrieved December 2022 from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/prison-books-ban_n_991494

Mango Languages. (2022). Mango for libraries. Mango Languages. Retrieved December 2022 from https://mangolanguages.com/libraries/

National Institute of Corrections. (2022, February). Censorship and banned book lists in correctional facilities. National Institute of Corrections | United States Department of Justice. Retrieved December 2022 from https://nicic.gov/censorship-and-banned-book-lists-correctional-facilities

Pelzer, Jeremy. (2019, May). Ohio’s prisons agency vows to lift restrictions on book donations to inmates. Cleveland.com. Retrieved December 2022 from https://www.cleveland.com/politics/2019/05/ohios-prisons-agency-vows-to-lift-restrictions-on-book-donations-to-inmates.html

PEN America. (2019, September). Literature locked up: How prison book restriction policies constitute the nation’s largest book ban. PEN America. Retrieved December 2022 from https://pen.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/literature-locked-up-report-9.24.19.pdf

Poole, Julie. (2021, September). Contraband books: What Texas prisons have against Michelle Alexander, Frederick Douglass, and Alice Walker. Scalawag Magazine. Retrieved December 2022 from https://scalawagmagazine.org/2021/09/banned-books-texas-prisons/

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