[Bookstoprisoners] Re: First day of library at the jail

Sun Sep 25 14:59:05 CDT 2005

And a few more.

I like the index card idea for checkout - we were kept pretty steadily
occupied helping to find books and checking out on Friday (it was actually
me, not Ann Bishop) with just a few minutes between each inmate group.
Adding checking books back in to the picture will require as efficient a
procedure as we can muster.  It would be good also if we could get the
fiction and mystery sections into rough alphabetical order, even if just
by shelf (A-E, etc.), as many of our readers were in search of specific
authors and scanning 6 shelves obviously takes time.  I think we might
need time outside the service hours to accomplish that, however.

The mystery-thriller section was the most popular; most requested authors
were James Patterson, John Grisham, Dean Koontz, and Jonathan Kellerman. 
We had a lot by them but some had read all the titles we had and our store
was depleted by the end so I have looked up read-alikes and attached the
list for library volunteers and book sorters to help with alternative
suggestions.

Anne Phillips

> A few more thoughts to add to Frances's:
>
> Index cards sound good, but inmates may bring back only three of their
six books, so presumably crossing off those returned and then keeping
the card until all are back might make sense.
>
> I'm not well-versed in privacy issues (and not much is private in this
setting), but maybe it would be best to have bigger cards, with name and
number on top; just cross off returns and add new books checked out.
Don't toss cards.
>
> I assume this is a very transient population, books will wander, may get
returned by someone who didn't originally check them out. The more
dramatic titles will probably get read quickly and passed along. How
tough will we be on the "bring back 6 before checking out more" policy?
>
> Unlike our files in the basement at BTP, it might be nice to file these
by name and not number (with number included.)
>
> Susan Bruce
> On Sep 25, 2005, at 11:07 AM, Frances Jacobson Harris wrote:
>
>> A couple of thoughts below -
>>   Frances
>> On Sep 24, 2005, at 6:15 PM, Suzanne Linder wrote:
>>> Hello Librarians!
>>> I am happy to report that the first day of library at the Downtown
Jail was a tremendous success.  Ann Bishop, Jay, Sandra, and I were
there to check out books to any inmate at the jail who was interested.
 My favorite moment was when an inmate came into the room, climbed up
on a chair, and pulled a stack of books out from behind the
shelves--he had been in the library earlier in the week for a meeting
and was so excited about checking out books that he had hidden the
books he wanted to ensure that they would be there when he got his
turn at the library.  Multiple prisoners pointed out to us the raggedy
books that used to be in the library and happily compared them to the
new and diverse books that are in the library now.
>>> Check out procedures:
>>> We are using a fairly primitive system for checking out books--
inmates are allowed six books at a time and we have been recording the
inmate's name and number along with the titles they have
>>> checked out in the two composition books that are in the room. When
they return any of the books, we will need to find their
>>> record in the composition book and cross off the books they have
returned, before we can check out more books to them.
>> Instead of composition books, it might be worthwhile making these
records on index cards (probably 4" by 6") - 1 inmate, 1 card. Then the
cards can be filed alphabetically by name. When the inmate
>> returns the books, the card is pulled and tossed (which also
>> protects privacy). Still primitive, but efficient and does the job!
>>> Scheduling and substitutes:
>>> I have attached the final draft of the staffing schedule to this
email.  Please make a note of when you are scheduled to work.  If your
schedule changes and you are no longer able to staff the
>>> library on the day you are scheduled, you will be responsible for
finding a substitute.  I have attached an incomplete substitute list
to this email.  If you are willing to serve as a substitute, please
send me your phone number and I will add your name to the list and
send out an updated list in a week.  When you arrange a substitute,
please send Nancy Griffin an email at
>>> NGriffin at co.champaign.il.us to let her know of the change--this is
very important as the jail needs to know who to plan for.
>>> Questions for discussion:
>>> We had several prisoners ask for specific books that we are able to
provide our collection at the IMC (books by Dan Brown, for
>>> instance).  We are able to bring in additional boxes of books-- when
we do bring in books that fill a special request, should we tag them
and save them for the prisoner who asked for them?  How would we work
a request system across multiple librarians?
>> Again, index cards! In a box, filed this time by author. When a book
comes in from the IMC, it should be tagged. The librarian
>> looks in box, the inmate's name will be on the card. Same with
>> books that are being returned by inmates. The request cards should be
checked before books are shelved. Is there a way of notifying inmates
when a request has arrived?
>>> What do you all think about putting a sticker on the spine of
>>> books that are by or about African-Americans?  Inmates averaged about
8 minutes in the library and if they were particularly
>>> interested in books about African-Americans it was hard to find them
in that amount of time.  If we put stickers on the spine, they could
stay in their appropriate categorized but also be
>>> easily identified.
>> Sounds good to me.
>>>  Thanks!
>>>  Suzanne
>>> When you do arrive at the jail, please arrive 10-15 minutes before
your shift as it takes some time to go through the check in process.
>> _______________________________________________
>> BooksToPrisoners mailing list
>> BooksToPrisoners at lists.chambana.net
>> http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/bookstoprisoners
>
> ***********************
> Susan P. Bruce
> 1501 N Coler Avenue
> Urbana, IL 61801
> 217-384-2002
> 217-840-9120 (portable)
>
>
>

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