Blog Posts by Subject: Criminology

NYPL Has Correctional Librarians? When I heard that the New York Public Library (NYPL) had a correctional librarian, you can bet that I was excited. I have an education background and recreational interest in criminal justice. I was fascinated to learn that NYPL visits Rikers, as well as other correctional institutions in and around New York City. Sarah Ball, Luis Torres, and a cadre of volunteers (some of whom work for NYPL) also answer inmate letters, organize the correctional special library, and help check out books to inmates on Rikers island.

I have been intrigued by why and how people commit crimes since I was young. This interest led to me devouring true crime stories as a child and true crime TV shows as an adult. I also got a master's degree in forensic psychology, and I have interned in several jails. Below are some criminal justice libraries and museums that I found.

Yes, it is one of my blog posts about a Walter Dean Myers book... again. I have a thing about Walter Dean Myers after hearing him speak a couple of times, and he seems very interesting. We also have a shared interest in teenagers and the criminal justice system. Anyhow, here is another one.

Lockdown by Walter Dean Myers, 2010

I served on the grand jury of the Bronx County Court House from mid-September to mid-October this year. I have always wanted to serve on the jury, so I was thrilled to do so. I was questioned for possible juror services for a trial jury in Albany, NY in 2002, but I was in library school at the time, so I was glad that I was not selected. And I was called for grand jury service in August of 2010, but I was between libraries (I was transferring), so I was glad that I was not selected. The summertime is very busy for the Library, since the kids are not in school, so autumn is the perfect time.

Reference question: when did the largest prison strike in the history of the United States occur? 1890? The 1930s maybe? Wait, was it Attica in 1971?

The answer: December 2010.

March 3, 1905, was not an auspicious day for Hy Brown.

Brown, an 18-year-old man from California with no known occupation, had been sentenced to death for the murder of Patrick Dunne, an aged storekeeper. On March 3rd, his sentence was carried out, making him the 149th of over 200 men executed by hanging at the California State Prison at San Quentin between 1893 and 1937.

November 27, 1846: "William Haynes, a native of Ireland, has been in this country about two years and six months.  He was sent to Blackwells Island three months for selling pernicious books."

I recently read Doris Lessing's 1987 collection of essays, Prisons We Choose to Live Inside. As an intern with the Correctional Services Program at NYPL, the book had layers of meaning for me. Lessing shares her wisdom, her unapologetic inquiries, and her unique experience through four essays on human behavior.