Freedom of Thought

On my first day as an intern at the New York Public Library, Nick Higgins, the Associate Director for Community Outreach, handed me a stack of legal-sized white envelopes, a letter opener, and a Correctional Library Services, Mid-Manhattan Library stamp.

"The song remained; Kino knew them, but no new songs were added. That does not mean that there were no personal songs. In Kino's head there was a song now, clear and soft, and if he had been able to speak of it, he would have called it the Song of the Family." —The Pearl, John Steinbeck

I read this passage from The Pearl while waiting for the Count to be made and the inmates to be led in a thin trickle to our closet-sized library. Time to wait and contemplate what it was that I was about to give to Jake, the DOC inmate working Bing lunch duty that day. Time to wonder if this book would be more than just a diversion of time; more than a 

While I've been actively working on the Veterans Oral History project, my behind-the-scenes project has been creating a book discussion syllabus for a book group at Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn. 

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.

The typical reaction I received from many co-workers after telling them that I wanted to go to Rikers Island was, “...why? Isn’t that dangerous?” I considered that question. Would it be dangerous? Quite possibly... but after meeting with prison librarians Nick Higgins and Luis Torres, taking a trip with them out to Rikers Island was never far from my mind. Several times each week as part of the library’s Correctional Services Program, Nick and Luis alternate going out to Rikers Island and to other facilities in order to offer books to incarcerated inmates. Each week, Nick and Luis bring much needed volunteers to aid them. On March 3rd, I was one of those 

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.

Last week Correctional Services completed a new program at Rikers Island called Daddy & Me. The program is designed to encourage early literacy efforts for incarcerated fathers. After two workshops on the importance of early literacy and storytelling skills, the dads involved began to record stories for their children. There were eight men in the program, most of them with more than one young child. We recorded them reading their children's favorite books and this morning they presented the finished CDs with the books to their kids. The program went wonderfully with the help of a few very dedicated people in both the library and the jail. The fathers 

Growing up, my father was the production designer for a violent television show that took place in a prison. When Nick Higgins, Correctional Services Librarian at New York Public Library, invited me to do a day of library service at Rikers, I thought: I spent my childhood in a fake jail–it’ll be like second nature, right? But then, on the Q100 out to the island, Luis Torres, Information Assistant, told me that there was the possibility that an alarm could sound during our service. “If that happens,” he explained calmly, “we’ll stop and enter a safe space. The alarm signifies a riot or the injury of a correctional officer by an 

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.

Another day of volunteering at Rikers Island with the NYPL has come to a close. Thursday I went to one of the male detention houses along with my mentor and two other staff members from NYPL. We were there for "book cart service," which is a little different than what I remember from Shawshank Redemption.

I spent the first week of March working with the Correctional Services Librarian at the New York Public Library. It was part of an internship through the University of Michigan's School of Information designed to be carried out during our alternative spring break week.

Some of my time was spent answering letters from inmates from Correctional Facilities at various locations throughout New York State. Most of the inmate letters are fascinating. The penmanship is painstakingly neat, and the language formal but completely lacking in grammar skills. From one inmate:

For twenty years, New York Public Library's Correctional Services program has provided books to the inmates of Rikers Island jail and provided reference services by mail to inmates throughout the state.