Hi everyone and thank you for joining us again for our training series on Library services for people who are incarcerated I’m Jeanie Austin and I’m a Jen reentry Services librarian at San Francisco Public Library and I’m also one of the pis on our expanding information access for incarcerated people melon Foundation
Funded Grant work other topics in this training series include Public Library services for people who are incarcerated some examples of prison Library services and we’ll have upcoming training on a variety of topics including some trainings on legal services for people who are negatively impacted by incarceration and a training on bringing
Information about Library services for incarcerated people into libraryi and information Sciences classrooms each of our trainings will be available through San Francisco Public Libraries jail andry reentry Services YouTube channel as well as through the American Library association’s learning management system if you’d like to receive a certificate for viewing this
Training please register through ala’s learning management system and there will be a link for that in the description for this video on YouTube after you’ve watched the video you can receive your certif your certificate for free we’ll begin today by hearing from Enrique Riva one of our colleagues in
This in providing Library services for incarcerated people about his own lived experiences as well as some of the services that he’s provided that have been informed by his experiences of the process of re-entry and value of Library Services Enrique I’m so excited to hear from you hello everybody my name is enri Riva
My pronouns are he and him I’m a Mexican-American I’m a loving father and a husband and I currently work as a library Outreach specialist here in Portland Oregon and I experience incarceration um a little bit of context to that you know I had a tumultuous childhood a lot of movement um I’d
Suffered some severe uh physical abuse as a young child grew up in poverty all the things you know I uh was affected by gang violence and all this you know led me down the school to prison pipeline uh by the age of 17 I was facing charges
For my involvement in a shooting and I was ultimately sentenced to 70 months now I would say I was fortunate enough to be hous in a facility for young offenders that had a lot of educational opportunities um High School completion was mandatory uh and they had a distance education program uh through cha
Community College and a big shout out to them because uh this was you know around the year 2001 is that I was taking online courses like that was when the internet was barely a thing so that was great um anyhow I served my sentence I
Was released and then I moved up here to Portland Oregon now I was also fortunate enough to have an uncle who worked in uh the C counseling um he was part of the Department of Community justice so he knew all the resources in the city and one of the first resources that he
Pointed to me was the public library and at this point in my life I had never stepped foot in the public library I wasn’t much of a book guy per se in the institution I was more into art and music but once I started going to
College I did develop a a love for for literature um but my purpose to go to that library that day was actually to sign up for classes I had to transfer my credits to the Portland Community College here in Oregon uh and I needed to use a computer and I needed to write
A resume now these were skills that I didn’t really have per se I mean I had a lot of help doing my stuff when I was in the institution but when I was released it was like you’re on your own so I went to this Library uh the only
Identification I had because I needed to have an ID to create a library card was my DOC inmate identification and I would say that the experience was very positive um I didn’t feel judged or anything when I presented this ID in fact they said it was a valid ID and
They signed me up for a card and then they uh helped me with my resume they helped me sign up for computer classes and then you know I handed out that resume um and within a couple of weeks I had a job after that you know since it was such a positive
Experience I just kept going back to the library um you know to study uh to do my homework all those things so when I graduated college um you know I worked a lot of odd jobs uh warehouses uh you know a lot of call center stuff because
I’m bilingual but I saw a position in the library or a page and I applied for it and I was lucky enough to get the job um I worked that job for many years I finally worked up to a clerk and then I was uh recruited as a library assistant
Um during that time I saw that there were opportunities in the library system to work uh inside Correctional settings now I will say that when I was first released I didn’t want to step foot near an institution you know I just wanted to do my thing but the experience of
Incarceration is also sets you up for a kind of like lonely feeling when you get out because you know even though my experience in incarceration was generally a good one I mean I there was a lot of stuff the went on um just the fact that when you get out you know
Society has moved on without you you’ve been left behind um it it’s it’s you know it’s it’s a difficult and lonely feeling so I decided that I wanted to use my experience to help folks out who are you know currently incarcerated and uh basically pay it forward so I started
Providing a library information class at the Columbia River correctional institute I assisted with another Library information class in the Ines County jail and uh that’s what I do currently I mean that’s not all of my work but it’s a big part of my work I also uh help people with resumés and job
Applications and and things of that nature and just recently we uh set up a legal clinic for folks so they can get their records expunged and that’s kind of a big uh part of the whole process is like once you’ve been incarcerated you get out now you have this record what do
I do well you know luckily I was able to connect with some institutions that provide free legal services to help um folks get their records removed and in fact one of these uh Services even helped me with my own record so I’m very grateful for that thank you so much for
That Enrique and for sharing your own experiences and also you know just the real emotional lift of what it is to go back inside and to do this work one of the things that we’ve realized from our experiences here in San Francisco is and I hope is encouraging to anyone who’s watching
This training is that so much of what the library provides is already relevant for people who have recently been released from incarceration so things you mentioned you know developing a resume even just having access to Reliable technology having access to people who can provide digital literacy instruction we are certain that there
Are patrons who are coming into public libraries and other types of libraries all across the United States who have been deeply and negatively impacted by incarceration and people who are in the process of re-entry who are already benefiting from the kinds of services that libraries provide and we’re also aware that there
Are ways to tailor existing programs or to create new programs like the legal clinics you described that can really support people who have recently been released from incarceration and I’m really excited to hear more from Jill Anderson about re-entry programs and how to Think Through effectively providing them then
I’ll return to offer an overview of some of the re-entry services and programs that we know are being provided by libraries all across the country thanks so much for being with us today and Jill I’m excited to hear more Hello thank you very much um what I wanted I’m
Jill I’m from Queens public library and I wanted to talk a little bit today about some re-entry programs some things that we’ve been doing for people who are recently released but I really wanted to Grapple with some feedback that I’ve been getting which is that re-entry programs should not be separate in a
Library or a nonprofit instead recently released people should be kind of incorporated into just general programs that we are providing um I’ve been getting that feedback and that push back from some people and I really uh want to do best practices so I’ve done some research on
That and I’ve looked into that and here in this presentation I’m hoping to start a conversation about what is best practice or what does make sense as far as providing programs for people who re-entry programs for people who are recently released so again I just want to be
Clear that I’m talking about at nonprofits and libraries you might already be offering programs that are help people who are recently released as jeie mentioned uh as they said we already do a lot of things that um help people who are recently released but maybe you’re also thinking about and us
At Queens Library we were thinking about and have been doing separate programs that specifically focus on people who are recently released we call these programs re-entry programs and I’ve been does it make sense to keep those programs separate or to just roll all those programs up in our general population programs
I’ll talk a little bit about me um I am the jail prison re-entry and youth Justice Services assistant director at Queens Public Library that is in the our Outreach Department um I started off as a parttime Outreach assistant where I would go into the local prison and jail
And uh do some work with our local parole office which is called Community Supervision in Queens um I then moved to up to a data an information coordinator where I stepped back a little bit from the day-to-day work and started to look at like what our data was telling us and
Started thinking about strategy as far as what we call our Correctional team which encompasses jail prison and re-entry work um and then uh I moved up to the re-entry manager the jail prison re-entry youth Justice Services assistant director I should say but I say manager because what I do is a lot
Of management so now I manage my team um I manage the people who are going in and doing that on the ground work I still do a little bit of the on the ground work a um couple times a year I’m able to go in into Rikers or Queensboro that’s our
Local jail and prison to provide the actual services and um I still work with like answer phone calls for people who are recently released and are seeking our services a little bit also about me and my background I have also worked for Omaha Public Library and I worked for
Kansas City Public Library I’ve been a librarian off and on since I was oh it’s about 16 years and um not all public library work uh I also worked for a academic library and for Hallmark cards for their corporate library but I love public librarianship um and I did do some
Re-entry work for Omaha Public Library so I have a little bit of experience or opinions from doing work for Omaha Public Library as well um I’ve been working in Outreach and in Correctional Outreach specifically for about five years so I’ll talk some about some of the programs that uh we do here at
Queens public library and uh and these are all programs that I’ve been pretty involved with um we have our ID assist program that is where we help people who are recent recently released or otherwise impacted by the criminal justice system maybe they had a family member or a loved one who uh was
Incarcerated we help those people um get an an ID ideally they end up with a state ID but sometimes maybe they’re just not able to get that ID New York City has a municipal ID system that we can use as well um and sometimes we have to help them get birth certificate or
Social security cards in that process sometimes it turns into more of an immigration issue and we do uh refer them out to immigration nonprofits um that program doesn’t take a lot of funds but it does take a fair amount of staff time because you are literally dealing with government
Bureaucracy um DMVs Vital Records offices that type of thing we have our re-entry tech programs uh right now one of those programs are running is called digital connect where we Pro provide uh phones and five months of data along with techology workshops and uh staff help to people on
Parole uh this program is about providing access to technology and providing assistance with technology and providing the context so that they’re able to use that technology fully it’s difficult to um care about what you know how to format your resume on your phone if you don’t know where you’re going to
Sleep that night and so remembering meeting our participants where they’re at and remembering the context around their whole life instead of just thinking that they’ll be able to show up for our technology classes brigh eyed and bushy tailed and ready to go um we also my team also provides Library
Services inside our local jail those look like um just we have a rolling car and we check out books and magazines um and we do that twice a week in one large facility a couple different buildings a couple different housing units within that facility um within that we also will
Provide reference assistance and sometimes we’re able to provide programs um in the facility uh providing one-off programs can be a little more complicated than just our scheduled routine Library service but we do try to provide that when we can um some examples of programs we’ve provided in the past uh improv programs
We did a stepping program that was cool stepping is that um dance that a lot of black sororities and fraternities do for people who don’t know or maybe from people who aren’t from American culture um another thing that we provided inside the jail was we would use their tablets
To provide what we called Library Hub and this was a service where we could check out we could mail books to people and we could answer reference questions via the tablet and we use that especially during covid um that was actually put together by a former colleague of mine who worked really hard
To get some sort of service to people in jail when we couldn’t uh go in there physically we don’t really do that anymore for two reasons one it’s just too much work um when we can be going in person two we don’t want to have all of
Our programs just be via a tablet having inperson programs is important and three uh they’ve moved to having tablets that are for profit and we have a lot of concerns we want to make sure no one’s making any money off of our programming and so we have concerns around that as
Well um another program that we provide is at our local prison and that we call Se on the outside the idea of that is we work with people while they’re inside the prison and then once they get out of the prison and are released back into the
Neighborhood uh we’re able to have a relationship with them and continue with that relationship right now our programs our services in that program really um focus on resume workshops and vocational training especially construction training um OSHA 30 OSHA 30 hours is is a training a construction training um we have our Justice without
Barriers re-entry series and this is something we put on once or twice a year where we invite people or sometimes if we have the funding we uh are able to pay presenters to talk about things that might be of interest to someone who’s recently released so um public housing
Is a big one that we bring back um uh working within certain Fields um like security guard working within the security guard field um another big one is entrepreneurship um starting your own business maintaining your own business making money off of your own work or products um we also provide one-on-one
Help we are actually our main branch is located near the community supervision office and so we get a lot of people a lot of PE officers will just send their people to us and if we’re available we sit down with them answer questions questions the questions are all over the
Map um housing assistance food assistance ID is a big one that’s why we started IDE assist um technology assistance is a big one children’s programs which you know the library probably already already offers but you know how what things can I do with my family that’s a big one and then we do
Work directly with our local parole office our local community supervision office we go there about once a week and just sit at a t and if people are there they can come in and talk at the table and ask us questions while they’re actually at parole and don’t even have to come all
The way down to the library uh we also provide different one-off programs um like when parole holds their family day we’ll attend the family day we’re hosting a job and resource fair that parole wanted that’s parole is bringing like tabling Partners in and we’re hosting it and helping with the Flyers
And having it in our space so those are the some of the current programs that we currently provide that are focused on the re-entry population and in fact like with idea assyst even limited to people who’ve been impacted by the criminal legal system so um I have recently been
Getting in the past couple months been getting some push back about providing programs like the ones I just mentioned specifically to formerly incarcerated or recently released people now in general funders Library employees re-entering patrons other stakeholders community members all have differing views on how best to provide Library services and
Other Supportive Services to recently released people now that’s of course true in any organization and that makes sense and in fact that’s a good thing to have that kind of diversity of thought recently the past couple months I’ve been hearing a theme especially from some funders and from people who work
Within the libraries uh Foundation which is the libraries fundraising arm and that pushback is why are we focusing why are we doing programs that are open only to people who are re-entering and why do we need to have separate programs for recently released people who are re-entering why can’t we just roll those
Programs up into our general programs that we provide so as an example I mentioned before that we provide tech classes specifically for people who are recently released and I’m getting questions why don’t we have those tech class why don’t we have those people just attend our general tech
Classes um another question that comes up is this question of well all right so fine we need separate re-entry programs when does does re-entry end when can they be transitioned into our general programs that’s another question that I’ve been getting you know does it end after two months does it end after six
Months does it end five years down the line does it never end um there’s also been some related discussion about like when I get this push back from these groups sometimes a theme that will come up is well we don’t want people to reenter we want them to
Reintegrate and so how can we have them reintegrate if we’re keeping them separate in separate programs and in separate services and having separate staff to work with them that’s not reintegration um also just this is kind of a tangential aside but I do also just get some push back about the very term
Re-entry um you know what what are they re-entering to did they ever leave something you you know it’s not like we can say they’re re-entering to the community because in some senses they’ve always been in the community so I just wanted to flag that as well for people
That I do get some push back on that very term so when I was approached by this and especially when it kept coming up I thought well maybe there’s something to that maybe I’m just holding on to having separate re-entry programs because that’s what I do and that’s what I’ve
Done for the last five years but maybe we should be reintegrating everyone into just our general programs and services and not even bringing up re-entry focuses or anything like that so I thought well I’ll go to what the research says I want to do the best
Practices I’ll go out there and look and see what the research says unfortunately I have not been able to find any research on this exact topic this topic of separating re-entry programs from General programs there’s a lot of research on providing re-entry programs and what makes a good re-entry program
But there’s nothing that looks specifically at is it better to just incorporate people who are reentering into any general program Services nonprofit resources that you’re already providing so one thing if anyone does know of any research out there uh I have asked around to at different conferences
And professional events but if you know of any please let me know know send me some stuff maybe you’ve been doing that research yourself please let me let me know so I can make sure I’m incorporating it into my decision-making and strategies I wasn’t really able as I
Mentioned not able to find much research or any I was able to find one study that I thought was somewhat relevant um and it said that the most successful re-entry programs that th were those that provided at least one year of intensive support that’s not quite relevant but I
Did think it provided some context or provided some insight as to what kind of programs we should be providing and if it needs to be intensive and if it needs to be for a year that can at least be a starting point for what programs would really be helpful for re-entry
People um as I me mentioned there is quite a bit of research out there about providing re-entry programs in general so I thought I would just go through some of the things that might be relevant in your own discussion about well should we have reentry programs separate or
Incorporated um I thought I’d just go through some of that research uh research repeats against and again and again to place people in a social in their social context in my library we use the term meeting people where they are uh so thinking about what their current reality looks
Like what their background was and taking that into account and not forcing rigid rules or rigid program requirements um incarcerated people are different demographically that’s reality um that’s because of systemic issues um and that’s a broader context than this webinar but the reality is that people who are incarcerated are different
Demographically an example I have here on the screen is the incarceration rate is less than 1% of the general population but 50 times higher for 20 to 40 year old African-American men who have no education Beyond High School uh so incarcerated people as kind of summed up by this um this one
Statistic more likely to be black more likely to have not have a education Beyond High School um but that’s something to think about when you’re crafting your programs and when you’re thinking about having focusing on re-entry is that uh just because of how the demographics of incarcerated people are different then
That means of course the demographics of people who are recently released or recently incarcerated will be different uh another thing the research says is incarcerated people are much more likely than general population to experience violence both as victim and as a perpetrator um that is again kind of putting people in the social
Context uh research also says that drug use mental illness and Trauma are all higher for people who have been incarcerated uh you might use this information again to craft specific when you’re thinking of programs and services for people who are re-entering you you might want to craft the programs around
This research and knowing these things if it’s if that’s helpful for you in your situation and what you’re trying to provide um as an example one study found that two-thirds of the individuals with a felony who were returning from State Prison had history of drug addiction and mental illness so 2third in this
Particular study of the people with felonies they were looking at had a history of drug addiction and a history of mental illness um I did really like this research quote we don’t want to just think about demographics um this quote says there’s a problem with demographic studies of the re-entering
Population and I’ll read the quote the characteristics of the prison population were largely reduced to markers of age race and education the use of these easily measured variables unwittingly sanitizes the disadvantages of those who were sent to prison I think this again speaks to looking to social context meeting people
Where they are and not just looking at the numbers not just looking at the demographics and not just looking at the easy data that’s out there but really looking at the people you’re working with or the people you’re trying to create a program or service for as individual people with lots of different
Things going on they might have one thing in common and that’s have been going to prison and that thing in common might create a lot of similarities in certain things but in general they have a lot of differences and they’re not just their demographics um another thing that the
Research says and that I have personally found in my work uh and my personal life actually is that re-entering patrons are probably heavily focused on employment there’s a lot of pressure to be employed as a society there’s a lot of pressure to be employed people’s families put a
Lot of pressure their parole officers put a lot of pressure they put a lot of pressure and people want to be employed most of the time people want to be employed they feel like it gives them purpose and so that’s again something to keep in mind the Research indicates that
There’s a heavy focus on employment um however there might be a heavy focus on being employed but the employment prospects can be Bleak there’s this 2015 study down here the median annual income for the first year after release was $642 with half of the participants who were previously incarcerated unemployed
After one year of looking for employment uh of course as you can imagine a lack of employment spills over into housing instability it can be difficult to have stable housing when you don’t have employment so that’s some of the research that might to me that gives me context and
Tells me well if this uh population is different enough if the research is saying this population does have some differences then that makes sense to have those differences reflected in what we’re offering to the population um I do have then my own opinions and I have some other people’s
Opinions or takes and that’s here on this line um in my work in my work uh I have seen programs and services that are intended only for re-entering people and that focus on re-entering people I have seen those programs to be very successful um it seems to me that when
We’re working with people who are recently released they have more needs and it takes more staff time and as I was saying it does make sense to me for re-entry programs uh that are focused specifically on re-entering people to that it’s successful when they’re separate one of those things is it’s in
My experience uh people who are re-entering the recently released and they’re using our programs and services they seem to need more staff time per participant there might be a lot of reasons for that that uh but my experience has been simply it’s more intensive staff time um and so when I’m
Crafting programs for people who are re-entering I keep that in mind and I stack them differently um this does make sense to me because re-entry uh especially the first weeks and months is very intense and it’s very volatile you’ve got parole officers telling you what to do you’ve got your family that
You’re trying to make new or the S old connection with you’re looking for employment you’re looking for housing I mean you know it’s everything that could be upended in your life has been and and trying to deal with all that um also people who have been incarcerated by definition we’re used to
Living in a more regimented environment a more regimented than what the general environment is and so it makes sense that they might have some differences they might need to use staff time a little differently because just by definition their their recent past has been different than a lot of the other
People we work with um I did also take uh an informal informal poll uh of anyone who works within Queen Library Correctional Outreach or also when I was just U meeting with people who do this work outside of Queen’s Library uh everyone that I spoke with said they all universally supported separate
Meaning not Incorporated re-entry programs and services um that could be because that’s what we’ve been doing but it could also be because that’s what our experience is telling us is appropriate I also just want to throw this opinion out there just so you know uh sometimes I do get complaints from
People who are recently released saying they don’t really want to be uh in a room or in a program that is focused also on recently released people Enrique kind of alluded to this that sometimes when you’re out you want to be done with it and over and not
Thinking about it and not grouped up in that um I I don’t get that complaint all that often but it does come up sometimes and we do try to accommodate that um on the other hand sometime uh some of those push back and some of those opinions that I’ve been getting I
Wanted to air those as well because maybe those will resonate with you in your program um someone some people have said well if we treat re-entry people the same then it will make them feel the same and it kind of goes back to that reintegration uh Theory uh another thing that I’ve gotten
Push back is about that everyone at the library should be getting the same benefits programs and services and we shouldn’t be providing special things to the recently least um I don’t think for me I’m usually I’m always able to easily push back on that because there’s always
A reason why I am providing this specific service whether it be to the recently released or to people who don’t speak English very well or to people who are young or uh pregnant mothers you know whatever all of our we have different demographics and they have different needs and wants and usually
Almost always that’s why we’re creating programs to meet those needs and wants but again that might come up for you and it might be something for you to think about um there is some research out there that shows that an internal narrative can be very important for a re uh a formerly
Incarcerated person’s own Journey forward through life after incarceration and that research some research shows that if you have a narrative around a very deliberate purposeful transformation outside of incarceration that can be helpful and effective for that person and so what that means is maybe you don’t want to be
Feeding into this narrative that this person is always tied to the correctional process they’re always re-entry um that’s something to think about when you’re promoting your programs or when you’re crafting your programs is the research some research does show that having a transformative narrative ative can be very helpful for
People who are formly incarcerated uh I am trying to do further research on this I’m still looking I want to follow the best practices and so if anything comes up or if there’s anything out there I’m still looking and as I mentioned before if you know of something please
Share um there might be other related research that might shed some light like maybe I’ve looked into this and couldn’t really find anything but I didn’t look into it as strongly as um the research around formally incarcerated but maybe there’s some research around providing specific Library services to older adults or to
Recent immigrants and if there’s uh research around that maybe that can apply to this question as well I’m also currently doing research on a similar topic and that is what is what is successful integration um some topics of that re research are context and differences again putting people inside a social
Context but remembering differences um I’m also looking into what are definitions of successful reintegration best practices for getting to successful reintegration and then how specifically would a library uh a public library especially fit into that here uh are references that I’ve used um for this um PowerPoint and so I uh I took
Liberally from these different um sources and also I really wanted to say thank you to the advisory committee for notes on this presentation um to Kim mcneel Capers and Mike Riley at Queens public library for doing this work with me um and at to Ness at San Francisco
Public Library for doing this work with me previously at Queens Library and at San Francisco currently and then everyone at the jail and re-entry services and melon for this opportunity thank you Jill thank you so much for that incredible reflection on the need for services that are really designed to
Support people who are in the process of re-entry as well as your thoughtful consideration about how we can and examples of how we can create Library Services um I really really appreciate it I am going to give an overview of some of the different re-entry services that and director indirect services that
Public libraries are providing in the next few slides um but I also want to say as I begin this presentation that while I’m focused on public libraries there are opportunities for many many types of libraries to provide re-entry support as well as some very specific considerations and especially if you are
Interested in providing reentry Services through an academic Library I encourage you to go back to Rebecca bot’s presid presentation in the academic libraries training in this series so one of the first steps when um thinking about reentry Services which Jill touched on a little bit are just thinking about how we can reduce
Possible barriers um to accessing Library services for people who have recently experienced incarceration and a lot of these barriers might just be related to the difficulty in obtaining a legal identification post incarceration if people have lost their cards or if it’s been misplaced while they’ve been incarcerated um there’s a
Lot of process to getting ID if there are ways for the library system to support people in getting a local or state ID that’s really the ideal scenario but we know that’s not always the case so one of the ways that Library services or libraries have worked around
This issue is by reducing the requirements for people to obtain library cards if the if people can use their State issue or local issue ID which is a prison or jail identification to get their library cards and if that’s part of the library policy then that
Makes it much easier for people who do have that identification but might not have other legal identification to get a library card some other examples which I’ll show you in just a minute it include um creating book and resource list that are specifically about incarceration and the experiences of
Incarceration and also for family members of people who are or have been incarcerated um and in doing Outreach and as I to provide this overview I really encourage viewers to think about the language that they use around incarceration and re-entry um Jill touched on some of the terminology some
People say recently returned citizens or returning citizens um some people say formerly incarcerated but whatever language you’re using we really need to respect the people whose experiences we’re discussing um and to not pro not to create you know uh program descriptions or utilize images that might be feel really alienating or
Traumatizing for people who have been incarcerated so here’s an example from Seattle Public Library um illustrating one of their resource book list for kids and families of people who have been impacted by incarceration the Seattle Public Library website also features some resources for people who are formally incarcerated um including resources that
Are available at the library that are highlighted in this how we can help you section including things like finding employment um applying for jobs with conviction history some basic digital literacy building and adult education one-on-one tutoring they also highlight different resources that are available throughout the community including um Crisis Support
And prevention alternatives to violence programs um materials for children and families and a number of organizations that exist to support people who are in the process of re-entry some libraries have um actually created very comprehensive re-entry resource guides when these aren’t being created by other um organizations or groups in
Their area so one great example of this is nework public libraries connections guide which is published every year and it has it’s 400 pages long features artwork by incarcerated people and covers a variety of topics from those was basic to re-entry to Health in the middle of the covid-19 pandemic and
More other libraries have built very specific Community Resources resource guides for um people who are returning to the area that the library serves so this example from Queen’s Public Library is a very local guide and it highlights that the library is aware that Li patrons in the area May might have recently experienced
Incarceration when we’re thinking about library programs that um are either designed specifically for people who are in the process of re-entry or maybe could be modified to better include people who have been recently formally incarcerated um we really have to think about how to meet patrons where they are
Are and I’m just going to give a couple of examples of some ways to do that and then some other programs so some of the programs that libraries have provided all across the country um inside of facilities include things like how to create a resume how to do business planning um bringing in
Authors and other engaging programs uh we’ve had author programs here in San Francisco and part of what’s been really great about them is it’s an opportunity for people who are also writing while they’re inside to get to make professional connections and be recognized as um creative people who are
Capable of envisioning you know these whole worlds or of narrating their own stories some other programming that’s happened inside of facilities includes virtual programming um St Louis County library has been able to do some of this by loading their Library program um by sharing their library programs
With staff in the Missouri Department of Corrections that then loads the programs into the for-profit tablets but makes the library programs free so that people who are incarcerated have access to library programming um reference by mail libraries also will note and have noted in the reference by
Mail training that many of them play a key role in re-entry planning this might be from finding housing or beginning to EXP for employment opportunities to business planning um to even doing kind of you know prep to go before a parole board so libraries play a really the libraries that provide these Services
Play really a really integral role in supporting people even before they’re released there are also many opportunities for outreach and cross institutional Partnerships between prison libraries and public libraries for examp example in Washington state um prison Librarians work with public Librarians to ensure that when people are released they’re able to get a
Library they’ll have a library card already for their local public library um some people may need to go to state mandated meetings like probation or parole something we’ve done in San Francisco in coordination with the the digital and uh print Literacy Center at the main library which is called the
Bridge is to work with par parole so that the required parole meetings for San Francisco now occur at the main library this means that the library is there to give a warm welcome to people who are either are new or returning Library patrons to help people get
Library cards and to do some basic one-on-one introduction to what the library offers um there’s also many opportunities to provide Outreach to re-entry organiz ations some reentry organizations are peer-led they exist of networks of formally incarcerated people who are really supporting one another in the process of re-entry and um
Especially in the kinds of anxiety that doing new and unfamiliar things can cause people to feel there are also a number of advocacy organizations that make sure that people who are formally incarcerated can not only be networked with forly incarcerated people but also can be providing advocacy work
To support people who are currently incarcerated and both of these groups and other groups that support formally incarcerated people maybe by providing direct re-entry support or resource guides are possible partners for libraries um another option for libraries is to identify some transitional housing that people might be required to live in when
They’ve been released and to do Outreach to those transitional housing Outreach can look like building small collections especially for not only in carser of people but also including children’s books or other materials that might be of interest when they’re interacting with their family members um or providing on-site digital literacy support and
Programming so one of the ways that libraries can bring information about re-entry into some of their existing programs think job development or business or digital literacy is to incorporate information about incarceration and its effects into those programs with the assumption that there may be someone in the room who is
Experiencing that this takes the responsibility off of formerly incarcerated people to self-identify and also raises awareness among the general public that maybe hasn’t been if they haven’t been negative ly impacted by incarceration of how incarceration really saturates um our culture in the United States and the kinds of impacts
That it has on people and their experiences um for example in a job a resume prep class the person who’s running a program could mention that there are tips on how to address having spent time incarcerated or people’s rights to withhold information about their conviction histories and anti-discrimination protections
If you’re doing this if you’re bringing information about incarceration into existing programs I really encourage you to be available to discuss further outside of the program setting um or to create and share resource lists to provide more support for people who have been impacted by incarceration um also just to be aware of
How the anxiety of doing something new or unfamiliar as I mentioned that can really be a limitation or a barrier for program participants and many things feel new and unfamiliar after any period of incarceration but especially for our patrons who may have been incarcerated for a decade or Decades of their lives
And just bringing that General awareness in um approaching the topic in a way that is respectful and calm can really help to reduce some of that anxiety for technology programs um and digital digital literacy programs we know that technology changes at an incredibly rapid clip and for people who
Have been incarcerated even for a year there may be a whole new set of Technologies or um modes of behavior through Technologies like I don’t know emojis that are totally unfamiliar to them and that they’ll face a kind you know that will be very difficult to just
Um learn by encountering them and so for technology programs it’s really important to have someone on hand who’s able to work one-on-one with participants especially when people are unfamiliar with technology and I’ll say a little bit more about this in a moment you know libraries have so many amazing
Programs um I think it’s really important when we’re talking about this especially with larger Library systems if this is the case that staff know about the programs that are happening um either specifically for incarcerated people or existing programs and that these programs are getting promoted throughout Library systems just to make
Sure that all of our patrons who might like to attend them or might benefit from attending them know that they exist um this is an example of one of San Francisco Public Libraries resources to support existing programs around employment and it’s a web page um that’s linked to some of our employment
Programs that was created by business Librarians here that shows um Second Chance employers and other resources in training and employment services if you’re unfamiliar with the term Second Chance employers are people who and businesses who are committed to employing people even when they might have a record um a conviction history on their
Record so very very important information new programs will require some specific resources and trained staff especially new when I say new programs here I’m talking about new programs that are focused on supporting people who have recently experienced incarceration or might be building skills that were impacted by their time inside
Um and there I really encourage any of you who are thinking of doing this to reach out to community groups as you consider designing new programs I will say there is a considerable need to build trust with Community groups by making sure that staff are aware that we
Serve all of our patrons including patrons who have been negatively impacted by incarceration and that extends to their families and their communities that and we can do this by building staff awareness by providing consistent Services by being professional and by being kind um you may need to reach out to government
Agencies Community Supervision like probation or parole or similar agencies in order to to promote the new programs or to onboard people into new programs who might be interested in them and that requires an understanding of chains of command um of how to respectfully approach people who are employed as
Parole or probation officers and how to be a clear C and consistent and um patient Communicator with people who often have maximum case loads this might also DET require a lot of determination a lot of continued followup a lot of note- taking and emailing but you need Administration byy
In you need agent Buy in in order for some of these programming programs and services to be successful it’s not necessary to have probation or parole involved in any programs but it is a place where new programs that are being developed to support people in the process of re-entry can be promoted
Because we know that people have to be there you might want to conduct Outreach regularly to sites where people are located as I mentioned like transitional housing or probation or parole offices or bringing any required perole meetings if it’s possible into the library as we’ve done here and as some other
Libraries have done when doing this just be sure to communicate that the library supports recognizes people who are in transitional housing or who have to go to probation or parole um offices as whole people with Myriad interest right while we might be creating new programs to support people in rentry we also have
A host of other library programs that are interesting and relevant for all people including people who are in the um who are recently released or who have been impacted by Inc eration and when possible and often necessary I encourage um you to consider how there can be dedicated funding to ensure that
Technology is available for people who are in the process of re-entry and that there are staff who can provide um a dedicated touch point for people who are being supported through any new programs that you’re developing if you’re interested in some resources that were created by Librarians across California
Through the ready Access Project which supports people supports libraries in developing re-entry Services I’d like to just highlight a few of their resources that are related to developing Partnerships with Community groups and other organizations so here is um one example of a new program that libraries might
Consider bringing in which is to bring in an expungement clinic this helps people who have a conviction history on their records to get those removed which as I said earlier can be a way of reducing um the kinds of discrimination and barriers that people might experience post incarceration and this
Is a great podcast um that gives an overview of some examples of what it is like to run a consistent by monthly expungement expungement Clinic some libraries like the St Louis County Library have um created more holistic resources for people who are negatively impacted by incarceration and
The attached systems to it so this is um some information about the tap in Center at St Louis County Library which assists Library patrons and the community and navigating the legal system here’s another example of a library system kayoga County um just recognizing the impact of incarceration and ways to support formerly
Incarceration people in getting around some of the Discrimination that they might face when seeking employment or pursuing education so I want to focus on digital literacy um a very pressing topic when discussing incarceration and the after effects of incarceration so we know that when people are incarcerated they have very
Very limited access if any to any technology that’s equivalent to what people have access to on the outside including even just um basic computer features for the most part as well as and big highlight on this access to the internet so most of us um use the internet all of the time
To get information um just think back to whatever you’ve done online today including this training and then think of what it would be like consistently day after day to not be able to get access to information um to maybe have never been exposed to some of the technologies that now seem very rote
In how you live your life all of that is to underline that not having access has a really really big impact on uh people’s process of re-entry and the kinds of anxieties that they feel especially around technology which we all use now to navigate the world all of the time um from getting
From A to B you know with GPS to submitting job applications we live in a tech saturated and internet saturated environment so we’re going to have a future training actually on digital literacy and some of the issues around it in a future training but I did want
To touch on it here so this is a really really great research paper for those of you who are considering develop in some kind of digital literacy programming that’s specifically for formally incarcerated people or bringing more information about how incarceration shapes um people’s experiences with technology after they’re after they’ve
Been released from prisons or other carceral facilities and our back among our larger Patron base um and some of the special considerations that I’ll highlight from this paper I won’t overcap it all are that people feel a lot of anxiety around the kinds of surveillance that they might experience
Um people are not sure about the parole and probation restrictions that exist for them after when they are under that kind of uh State supervision and so things that they might be not they might not be prone to using social media um as a way of getting around like
Restrictions around being in community with other formly incarcerated people but that can also restrict access to those kinds of peer support networks that I mentioned before and can carry over to kind of hybridized social media sites that people might use for seeking employment or making professional connections like
LinkedIn um there’s also an economic impact of incarceration which is just profound and it affects the act the kind of technology that people have access to if they have access to any technology so providing digital literacy assistance requires a range of familiarity with various Technologies in various states
Of repair or disrepair you might want to consider um if possible running a fixic clinic that is for people to just bring in their technology and clean it up that might be wiping hard drives it might be doing basic Wi-Fi set up just to ensure that people actually have technology
That is useful and can meet their needs um and I’ll highlight here when I’ve been looking at re-entry um one of the ways that most people are accessing information online is through their cell phone so especially if there are ways to support people in using various everyday
Apps um or to support people in transferring files from a computer in the library that they might have used to create their resume to their phone those kinds of topics are especially important when we’re talking about digital literacy skills and Technology support for people who have been
Incarcerated but I would argue a better model is to actually provide people with the technology um as Jill and the the team at Queens Public Library have been able to do and McCracken County Public Library as well through Grant funds and sometimes with Community Partners making sure that people have access to
Technology that actually works is a major way to support them in their digital literacy development um this might be rinting out Chromebooks from an academic or a public library or actually providing people with the technology for free if there’s grant funding and again the technology is not enough accessing the technology is not
Enough to um support people in the process of re-entry having dedicated staff who know how to use the technology and know how to teach people how to use technology is an incredibly important component of Crea any kind of digital literacy or um online based programming that incorporates the needs and experiences
Of formally incarcerated people I also just I want to leave us here with when we’re talking about technology and digital literacy there is so much room for advocacy within our professional bounds and what we’re allowed to do um and I’ll just stop here by saying if you are interested in hearing from
Incarcerated people about their own advocacy for increased internet access and access to Reliable technology I really really encourage you to um follow San quinton’s news and if you don’t want to overcommit or not if you don’t want to commit that much time to reading a newspaper consistently to read this
Article by Joe Garcia in which he discusses the real need for internet excess inside and the kinds of damage that is occurring because incarcerated people are not receiving the kinds of information access and Technology access that people who aren’t incarcerated can receive um if they have funds in their
Own homes and if not through our libraries I hope this brief overview of just some of the work that public libraries are doing has provided useful examples and places to begin um if you are interested in more about any of the programs or resources that I’ve highlighted in this presentation I
Really encourage you to reach out to the individual libraries to learn about what they’re doing and how they got it done and if you’d like to reach out to our team the jayen re-entry servic department at San Francisco Public Library for more information please email us at jayen re-entry services at
Sfpl.org thank you so much for watching this training
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