Submitted by Diane Walden, LSPF Vice-Chair
Join the conversation for librarians providing library services to incarcerated and detained youth at a new wiki and a meetup in New Orleans.
The Library Services to Incarcerated Youth wiki was created to address the issue that youth are incarcerated or detained with little or no access to high-interest material and engaging programming, despite the power libraries have to increase literacy, improve the detention experience, and reduce recidivism. All school, public, academic, and special librarians who provide or support the provision of library services to incarcerated youth are invited to share best practices at http://libraryservicestoincarceratedyouth.pbworks.com/w/page/37654221/FrontPage
Some of the topics currently under discussion include:
- creating a formal group and that group’s possible placement in ALA (OLOS, YALSA, ASCLA)
- rewriting the standards for juvenile library correctional facilities
- ALA conference programs
- awards for books for incarcerated teens
A meetup is scheduled in New Orleans during the AnnualConference on Saturday June 25, 8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. at Redfish Grill on Bourbon Street. The agenda includes plans for formal group organization and discussion of the wiki products in process. Any changes or updates will be posted to the wiki.