Just about all of us have been inside a library, whether it’s your local library, or a school or college library. But few of us have any idea what it’s like inside a prison library or the library at Western State Hospital. So now, you might have questions popping inside your head: How many books are checked out? How many inmates get help with their release plans? How many patients use the library as part of their treatment plan? You…
On Thursday, July 16, District #28 representative Tami Green and the new hospital superintendant toured the Western State Hospital Library. Washington’s legislators serve the state during legislative sessions. But legislators also have jobs or businesses. Representative Green was, and is, a psychiatric care nurse. She worked the night shift on the forensic wards at Western State Hospital and at the Child Study and Treatment Center at the hospital before accepting the challenge of lawmaker. Dr. Jess Jamieson formerly held a…
I can proudly say that I have visited all of our Institutional libraries here in Washington, or at least I used to be able to. Now I have one new one that I need to visit and from the pictures I would have to say this will be one of the more impressive ones that we have. The pictures show the work in progress as the library is being set up by the dedicated staff at Coyote Ridge. They have…
Earl Dungey – McNeil Island Corrections Center Library And many have done a “little time” They include Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, St. Paul, Christopher Columbus, and writers Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Miguel Cervantes. How one gets inside a prison isn’t as important as what they do there and after they are released, or so this illustrious list of names would have you believe. There are fifteen prisons, one of them for women in Washington, and another will be opening soon. …
Staffing consists of 16 women, 3 men, and 4 members of the staff have an MLS, and 2 vacancies. Institutions in Washington State with library services provided by ILS include 1 prison that houses women, 9 prisons that house men, 2 state hospitals, and 11 camps that receive ILL service from staff of ILS. Age range of staff 31-65 355 years of combined library experience The above are just basic facts, which are important, but they don’t really tell you what makes the…
Modern technology assures that no library staff is really alone, separated by miles, walls and fences perhaps but everyone is only a fax, phone call or email away. It is required that we check our email twice a day and respond. We share reference questions and circulation problems, coordinate efforts in coverage of absent library staff, illness or rare vacations and all through electronic transmissions. Still, it would be best if we would get together and share our experiences, training,…
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…
In fall 2021 the Washington State Heritage Center Trust became the ALL Foundation of Washington (ALL Foundation). The Washington State Heritage Center Trust was established in 2008 as a 501(c)(3) to fund and support Washington State Library, Washington Talking Book & Braille Library (WTBBL), Legacy Washington, and Washington State Archives programs and collections. The ALL Foundation builds on the work of the trust to promote history, community, and preservation statewide, and serve as the fiduciary of funds raised specifically to…
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…
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…