The  first time that I walked into the Washington Correction Center for Women it was for a job interview. I remember thinking that it felt more like a college campus than a prison. I got the job and ten years later I am still working here in the library. The first week that I worked here an inmate told me to my face that they did not want a man in this job. I smiled at her and told her that I was here to stay. One of the inmate library clerks admitted that she was guilty of her crime but allowed that the other 800 cherubs here were all innocent. That term cherub stuck with me and I often still use it when talking about the inmates here. I worked for one year in a men’s prison back in the 1980’s and did not care much for that experience. There are many differences between working with male and female inmates. The men got right to the business of finding out if you had a certain book or not. The women want more of a relationship from you and even expect you to know their reading likes and dislikes. Women here are less likely than the men to curse me out although it does happen every once in awhile. In general the women smell better than the men. People always ask me what do the women read ? They read all of the same books that women read everywhere else. Romance books are very popular but they also love mysteries and true crime and a few even read Tom Clancy’s books. I like to plan my day while in the shower and while driving to work. After 10 years of working here I do not know why I bother. No matter how much planning I do, everything changes when I arrive. The announcement over the intercom says “Cease Movement” and every inmate then has to go into the closest building or sometimes face the wall. This is used when there is a fight or medical emergency or maybe a fire alarm has gone off. Sometimes “Institutional Recall ” is called and this means that all inmates have to return to their cells. Usually this is for a count. The old timers here say that WCCW stands for “we can’t count women”. Unlike the men’s prison, there are babies here. If a woman comes here pregnant and gives birth while here she may be allowed under certain guidelines to keep her child with her in prison. Recently I asked my mother if she thought I would ever wound up in prison and her reply was that she thought it was always just a matter of time.

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