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Tag: Washington State Penitentiary

Tiger Johnson mug shot
Archives spotlight: Notorious Spokane criminal shot dead in 1918 at state penitentiary

Archives spotlight: Notorious Spokane criminal shot dead in 1918 at state penitentiary

Gunshots rang through downtown Spokane in a firefight between Fred “Tiger” Johnson and the police as Johnson attempted to flee across Northern Pacific and Great Northern Railway yards. After he robbed a streetcar, he attempted to avoid arrest but was outgunned by law enforcement. Tiger was shot twice, then booked by the Sheriff’s Office on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, highway robbery, and first-degree assault. This punched Tiger’s (sometimes known as Louis Coynt) ticket to the Walla Walla…

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Inmates at the Airway Heights Corrections Center
A National Library Week look at institutional libraries

A National Library Week look at institutional libraries

This week, April 8-14, is National Library Week. Through a partnership between the Washington State Library and the state Department of Corrections, we operate nine institutional libraries for inmates and state hospital patients across the state. Institutional libraries are located inside Airway Heights Corrections Center, Clallam Bay Corrections Center, Coyote Ridge Corrections Center, Stafford Creek Corrections Center, Washington Corrections Center, Washington Corrections Center for Women, and Washington State Penitentiary. There are also libraries located in the Twin Rivers Unit and Washington State Reformatory at the Monroe Correctional Complex. Additionally, interlibrary loan services…

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Poetry on the Inside

Poetry on the Inside

Washington State Poet Laureate Elizabeth Austen recently held  poetry workshops for the inmates at both the Coyote Ridge Correctional Center and the Washington State Penitentiary. Washington State Library has an institutional library branch in each of these facilities and the workshops were held in our libraries.  You may not think a prison would be a place that was receptive of poetry but both reported successful programs. ​At the Washington State Penitentiary’s program nine inmates attended as well as a couple of…

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Our Prison Libraries help inmates to re-enter society

Our Prison Libraries help inmates to re-enter society

 On February 24, 2015 Library Associate Jean Baker participated in a “Help and Program Fair” at The Washington State Penitentiary.   This is an annual event with the intent of reinforcing positive changes in the prison environment and is held in response to the establishment of the Group Violence Reduction Strategy.   The purpose of this event is to present all of the programs available to inmates and to help them choose different and more productive paths while serving their sentences.   This…

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Reflections from WSP Library, July 2013

Reflections from WSP Library, July 2013

My job in the Washington State Library Branch at the Washington State Penitentiary has exposed me to an area of librarianship I never would have thought I was suited for.   When I started at the penitentiary library I was green as they say but over the last five years I’ve learned a lot about how to provide library resources to a unique population of individuals.  The inmates are from many situations in their lives and those who take advantage of…

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Typical Year at WSP

Typical Year at WSP

It was a typical year for both of the Washington State Penitentiary (WSP) Branch Libraries, the East-Complex (EC) and the West-Complex (WC). In January 2011, our newest Library Associate, Molly Mooney had been on the job for 4 months.  Her training was going well and she enthusiastically participated in special projects:  working with our ILS Wiki pages and Library-Snapshot day.  In March the WC was open full-time again for the first time since February of 2010 and everyone was happy. …

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Vote in February “Archives treasures” poll!

Vote in February “Archives treasures” poll!

It’s that time again! Last week we began our February edition of our “Archives treasures” blog series. We provided you with pictures and interesting information about the Penitentiary Inmate Files of 1881-1902, a photograph of President Woodrow Wilson’s visit to Seattle in 1919, and yesterday we topped it all off with a letter written by George Washington during the Revolutionary War. Now we are asking you to vote for your State Archives February fave in this month’s opinion poll. The…

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Virtual Reference in Prison

Virtual Reference in Prison

Librarians at Coyote Ridge Corrections Center, Washington Corrections Center Shelton, and Washington State Penitentiary, have started using kiosks at their local institutions to send overdue notices and hold pickup notices to offenders. We are also answering questions submitted by offenders.  The result has been even better than expected!  At Coyote Ridge, we have drastically reduced our paper usage by sending the notices over the kiosk.  The new system is a win-win for staff and offenders alike; correctional officers don’t have…

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Piano anyone?

Piano anyone?

Working in prison libraries, we spend time answering “kites” from inmates in the locked units.  These kites are usually pretty basic reference questions, but every once in awhile we get one that just make us laugh.  Recently one such request was received at the Washington State Penitentiary, from an inmate in the Intensive Management Unit.  The information he requested was pretty straight forward until the last line …   kite……He got the information he wanted but security concerns prevented library staff…

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ILS Library Snapshot Day

ILS Library Snapshot Day

The Washington State Library’s Institutional Library Services (ILS) team hosted their very own Library Snapshot Day yesterday (1/11/11). Photos and stories from the event are being posted on Facebook, and you can find them under: ILS Library Snap Shot Day. Photos and stories are rolling in from institutions across the state, including: Washington State Reformatory, Western State Hospital, Washington State Penitentiary (East and West complexes), Clallam Bay Corrections Center, Washington Corrections Center for Women, Eastern State Hospital, and the Stafford…

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