Expanding Information Access for Incarcerated People Initiative
Expanding Information Access for Incarcerated People is an initiative based in San Francisco Public Library’s (SFPL) Jail and Reentry Services program, in coordination with the American Library Association (ALA). This project exists to locate library services to incarcerated people and to support the development of new services. It is made possible by a generous grant from the Mellon Foundation.
More information about the grant is available in an ALA press release, from the Mellon Foundation, and on SPFL's website.
PROJECT OUTCOMES
New Standards for Library Services for the Incarcerated or Detained
Interactive digital map of library services for incarcerated people
Publicly available professional development video series
White paper on digital literacy
Revisioning Standards for Library Services for the Incarcerated or Detained
In 2021, a task force of correctional library workers and other institutional stakeholders headed by ODLOS began work on a massive reimagining of the American Library Association’s 1992 Library Standards for Adult Correctional Institutions.
The new Standards will heed the current phenomenon of mass incarceration, the inequitable incarceration rates of BIPOC individuals, and the rising rates of incarceration of women (especially women of color). It will pay special attention to the incarceration of LGBTQIA+ individuals, undocumented individuals, and youth, as well as to the information needs of returning individuals.
Where are library services for incarcerated people located, and where are they needed?
(NOTE: This map may not load in Firefox. Please click through to the larger map or use another browser if you are experiencing issues viewing the map.)
If your library provides library services to incarcerated people that aren’t represented on the map, let us know.
Library Services and Incarceration Video Series
This series features information from formerly incarcerated people alongside professionals providing library services for incarcerated people. It covers a range of topics relevant to the field.
ALA provides free-of-charge professional development credit for viewing the videos in this series. ALA eLearning (ala.org user account required).
Recent ALA Resolutions and Publications
Prisoners’ Right to Read
Libraries & Reentry
Library Services for the Justice Involved
Library Services for the Justice Involved (LSJI) is an interest group for library professionals, students, correctional staff, volunteers, or anyone who serves the underserved in correctional settings (prison, jail, detention centers, state mental health institutes, juvenile facilities) or justice-involved individuals (those in halfway houses, community corrections, sober living, transitional housing, on parole, or the formerly incarcerated).
These efforts build on ALA's historical efforts related to library services for people who are incarcerated.
