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Category: Institutional libraries

WASHINGTON’S LIBRARIES: HELPING THE FORMERLY INCARCERATED RE-ENTER SOCIETY

WASHINGTON’S LIBRARIES: HELPING THE FORMERLY INCARCERATED RE-ENTER SOCIETY

Nearly 7,500 people each year, on average, return to their communities after serving Washington state prison sentences, according to Department of Corrections (DOC) data for the last decade. Many of them face numerous challenges as they re-enter society, including establishing financial stability, reliable housing and transportation, and access to community resources, such as their local public library. Washington currently has 378 public libraries statewide. Public libraries offer informational and educational programs that can help formerly incarcerated people successfully transition back…

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INSTITUTIONAL LIBRARY SERVICES: A VIEW FROM THE NEW

INSTITUTIONAL LIBRARY SERVICES: A VIEW FROM THE NEW

Meet Jen Haas. She recently joined Washington State Library’s Institutional Library Services (ILS) and is the Branch Librarian at the Snoqualmie-based Echo Glen Children’s Center branch of the State Library, ILS’s first-ever state library for incarcerated youth. Read on as she reflects on her experience as a librarian and what brought her to ILS. “One of my favorite quotes from novelist and diarist Anais Nin compels us to reflect that, ‘…the day came when the risk to remain tight in…

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Community Members Generously Support Our Institutional Library Services

Community Members Generously Support Our Institutional Library Services

Troy and Cheryl LaBrum have a passion for giving.  A devout family, they donate often to local churches and missions, but their generosity doesn’t stop there; for years, they have also been donating extensively to the various prison and hospital libraries that make up the Institutional Library Services (ILS) program of the Washington State Library.  Hearing of ILS from a loved one who experienced the benefits firsthand, Troy and Cheryl decided to seek out a way to contribute to the…

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Big wins for WA libraries in the 2019 legislative session

Big wins for WA libraries in the 2019 legislative session

The 2019 legislative session has ended, and thanks to the hard work of many people, libraries across Washington will benefit immensely. The Office of the Secretary of State, which oversees the Washington State Library, played a huge part in making that success a reality. There is so much good news to report! First, thanks to library advocates everywhere. Lawmakers included eleven rural libraries around the state in the capital budget. Each of these libraries will receive funds to improve their…

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Port Townsend woman fills the shelves of Peninsula prison libraries

Port Townsend woman fills the shelves of Peninsula prison libraries

Virtually every public library in the world wants more funds for buying books. For the Institutional Library Services (ILS) program of the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of Secretary of State, that gap between wish and reality is lessened by Amazon Wish Lists. Through these lists, the ILS staff invites donors to purchase specific new books and materials sought by each library. For the library at Washington Corrections Center for Women, one superstar donor shines brightly: Robin…

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Author Patricia Briggs visits Coyote Ridge Corrections Center

Author Patricia Briggs visits Coyote Ridge Corrections Center

On August 28th, author Patricia Briggs gave a presentation in the library at Coyote Ridge Corrections Center to inmates and the Institutional Libraries Services staff of the State Library, which is a division of the Office of Secretary of State. Nearly 50 inmates attended, and many posed insightful questions about how Briggs approaches the writing process. She said that if you want to be a writer, the first thing you should do is read anything and everything. Her mother was a…

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Clallam Bay Corrections Center library
Institutional Libraries use poetry to promote community

Institutional Libraries use poetry to promote community

A couple weeks ago, a patron of our library at Clallam Bay Corrections Center told me, “I’m not even a reader, but this is a place where I always feel safe.” Sentiments like these, along with brilliant inquires, ideas, and authenticity, inspire me to create innovative programs and challenge me to provide the best services possible in an institutional library setting. On April 25, Washington State Library’s Institutional Library Services held its first ever Poetry Day, in which institutional libraries…

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Donated baby books
Babies, books, and a birthday wish for donations

Babies, books, and a birthday wish for donations

What do you give the librarian who has everything? Books, of course! However, in this tale, the books are not for the librarian but for her program. Anna Nash is a longtime librarian in the Washington State Library’s Institutional Library Services department. One of her favorite programs is “Baby Reads” at the Washington Corrections Center for Women in Gig Harbor. It is a storytime that is unique in our state. If a woman is pregnant when she becomes incarcerated and…

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National Library Week inspires inmate art

National Library Week inspires inmate art

The 2018 National Library Week theme was “Where did the Library lead you?” Libraries across America were encouraged to print a graphic, have their patrons add their thoughts and post a selfie on social media. Institutional Library Services (ILS), the branch of the State Library that operates in prisons and state hospitals, wanted to take part in this campaign, but there are strict rules about taking pictures of those facilities’ users. Sue Box from the Airway Heights Corrections Center wanted…

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Inmate artwork brightens library at Coyote Ridge

Inmate artwork brightens library at Coyote Ridge

Inmates at Coyote Ridge Corrections Center stand in front of artwork they created for the facility’s library. (Photo courtesy Department of Corrections) At the Coyote Ridge Corrections Center (CRCC) in Connell, there are some individuals who share their artistic abilities for the benefit of all. There is a paint crew of incarcerated individuals who not only paint but make cardboard props, models and games for use in plays and family-friendly activities. These models/games are donated to the local library for…

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