One powerful tool available to correctional facilities to affirm and protect the humanity of the people in their care are facility libraries and the books, reading and learning opportunities enabled through those libraries. Rule 64 of the ‘Nelson Mandela Rules’ states that every person deprived of liberty in our correctional institutions must have access to a well-stocked library and be encouraged to use it. This recognises the value of books, libraries and reading to people deprived of liberty.
In this presentation, the results of several research projects, each designed to explore and understand the role of books, libraries and reading in the lives of people deprived of liberty will be presented. The capacity for books, libraries and reading to support the humanity and dignity of persons deprived of liberty will be demonstrated across five domains: imagining a different future, maintaining and building connection with family and others, taking responsibility for the self, reducing institutionalisation, and keeping a foot in the outside world.
Although the provision of books, libraries and reading is mandated through the Mandela Rules, the practical requirements to do so are often challenging for correctional facilities. Examples of innovative practices, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region will be described to inform and inspire attendees. The presentation concludes with an introduction to the recently published International Library and Information Associations and Institutions Guidelines for Library Services to Prisoners, co-edited by the presenter, and written to support correctional institutions in their provision of library services to the people in their care.
×
Dr Jane Garner
Senior Lecturer, Charles Sturt University, Australia
Dr Jane Garner is a Senior Lecturer at Charles Sturt University, Australia. Since 2015, Dr Garner has undertaken research into the role of books, libraries and reading in the lives of people deprived of liberty in correctional institutions. Her study of both children and adults living in correctional institutions has been built around qualitative research methods that allow the experiences of people deprived of liberty to be described and shared using the words of the participants themselves. The opportunity for the voices of people deprived of liberty to be heard through her research provides a unique body of work based around the experiences of an often hard to reach community. Dr Garner has visited and undertaken research at seventeen correctional facilities across Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the Philippines, providing her with a varied experience of correctional facilities and of the experiences of the people residing in them.
Dr Garner is a co-editor of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions 'Guidelines for Library Services to Prisoners', having lead the international writing group responsible for the publication. As an United Nations Expert Advisor, she was recently able to contribute her knowledge and expertise regarding the provision of libraries, books and reading to people deprived of liberty to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) project titled: 'Read Your Way Out: Advancing prison reform through prison libraries for lifelong learning in places of detention'.
