Reimagining the Public: Library Services to People in Jails and Prisons

On any given day in America, more than 2 million people are detained in jails and prisons. This number does not include the many people who are on restrictive movement (through GPS monitoring), nor does in represent the impact of incarceration on the loved ones and communities of people who are incarcerated. Despite this, the impact of incarceration and the importance of library services to people who are incarcerated is often viewed as a form of specialized librarianship rather than an aspect of public library services.

This webinar equips public librarians and library and information science instructors with the information they need to reimagine the publics they serve as including people in local jails and prisons. The webinar will cover a variety of service models and best practices that can be modified to fit the library contexts of webinar participants, and participants will leave with the tools needed to advocate for library services to people in jails and prisons as an aspect of increasing equity, diversity, and creating more inclusive library practices.