AHCC Library

2011 saw many changes at the Airway Heights Corrections Center (AHCC). The institution changed to a closed movement facility and this has had a dramatic impact on library attendance. From what was a full library most movements has changed to about half our normal capacity.  

We started the year out with a Library Snapshot Day. Everyone had a blast and the atmosphere here was full of excitement. In February DOC started to make changes to increase security and for the next 6 months we were open and then closed due to lack of inmate clerks. Our budgets had been slashed so we started to feel the impact of that. Even with all the changes within DOC, the AHCC library has remained the center of activity. I still see all my regular patrons and reading remains high on the list of positive activities within the prison environment. 

In October, the AHCC branch library distributing the first book for our “AHCC Library Reads Together” program. We had our first session at the end of November and discussed Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. Since then the program has tripled in size and we have read The Skyfisherman by Craig Lesley and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. We are just starting our newest selection, Little Bee by Chris Cleave. This program is really having a positive impact. The inmates are talking about these books in their day rooms and the discussions in our group are amazing.  

I have high hopes for the AHCC library in 2012.

Clallam Bay Library

The two biggest highlights of 2011 for Clallam Bay Corrections Center were the ILS Library Snapshot Day and the donation of $1,000 to buy library materials.

The ILS Library Snapshot day was a huge hit at the CBCC branch library.  The turnout for each unit was great and many were disappointed when they could not attend due to lack of room.  Stacks of “What library services mean to me” forms were filled out with heartfelt statements, even by those who didn’t make it in for that day.  The guys really felt it was important to let someone – anyone – know how important their library is to them.  Of course the picture taking was a big hit because the pictures were going to be posted on Facebook and their family and friends would be able to see them.  It was a fun filled evening enjoyed by patrons, clerks and staff alike.

The second big event was the donation of $1,000 from the CBIT (Clallam Bay Improvement Team) which is a team of offenders with a staff sponsor.  Their goal is to do things in the institution that improves being incarcerated here. They held a fund raiser, selling pies and chicken purchased at a not so close by store, with a mark up to give the donation.  This is often done by offenders who only make $.34 an hour.  It was touching to me that when they found out that the budget for the library had been cut drastically they were all willing to spend their hard earned money so a good donation could be given and new books and music could be purchased for their library.

WCC Library

When I first came to the Washington Corrections Center Library in 2010 I went through a little bit of a culture shock.  I had worked in other facilities, but nothing like WCC.  This library serves a small population of inmates who are housed here on a long term basis, but the institution has the unique aspect of being the receiving center for all male inmates in the state of Washington. 

In 2011 I asked if the library could provide service to the Recieving Units, otherwise known as the R-Units.  I got approval, which lead to several months of a rotating door.  The inmates moved in and out of the institution so fast that I was not able to keep up with  them. Because this led to the loss of too many library materials, this trial service was suspended.  However, we were lucky that we still had all of the books and other material from the McNeil Island Corrections Center library that has closed in 2010.  This material found a home in the R-Units here at WCC giving the many readers that transititioned through the facility an escape from prison life. 

During this trial period, we also started serving a unique unit here at WCC, the Re-Entry Unit.  This unit is full of offenders who have 6 months or less till they return to society.  I have been grateful that I have been able to provide them with much needed re-entry material that will help them transition into society.  They continue to come to the library today and will be joining the long term inmates in our WCC Reading Program as we read some of the classics.

Even as 2011 came to a close I realized that the ups and downs have made us all stronger and we continue to provide a much needed service to the inmates in all of our institutions.  I personally look forward to moving forward in 2012.

Western State Hosptial

To re-new interest in the WSH Library, we began the year by participating in ILS Snapshot Day 1-11-11 and all branches shared stories and pictures on the State Library website.  A month later, a WSH Library newsletter was introduced on campus to highlight the collection’s offerings.  Starting mid-year, classes at the hospital treatment centers were entertained with a weekly show-n-tell—poetry—storytelling format library programming.  District #28 Rep. Troy Kelley accepted an invitation to visit the library and WSH history museum.  The Library is a major supporter of the hospital’s historical heritage and hosted a WSH Museum open-house in September.

In the spirit of thrift,  Eastern and Western State Hospital staff wrote to certain publishers to seek in-kind donations.  The donations received were shared with all 12 ILS branches.  The Forest Institute donated good quality psych education videos to the WSH Library.  Branches shared equipment and materials to maximize shelf-life.  WSH Staff and patients donated books, DVDs, music CDs and artwork throughout the year.

The idea that men around here will run to a library never fails to amaze me. They arrive, wheezing our names while holding up a hand, signaling us to wait a moment while they catch their breath in order to ask some burning question. The sound of books being dumped into the drop box outside the library initiates a vague sense of anxiety in my chest, as those who did not run fast enough are turned away. The officer’s voice on the radio: J323 to base, library at capacity. I’m never sure if my anxiety is for those who didn’t make it to the library this time, or for the next hour of madness I am almost surely about to endure. Time passes quickly while I am here. Many things happen that you probably would not see anywhere else. All the conversations, jokes, interesting questions, and situations that make me feel crazy all seem to fade over time. But this picture, this moment, when over a hundred men are running to a library, will stay with me forever

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Western State Hospital Library

The last few years have been difficult for all due to the state of the economy.  In spite of shrinking budgets and the uncertainty of the future, the staff in Institutional Library Services have lived up to their mission by continuing to serve their customers “with spirit and fortitude”. Over the next few weeks ILS will be sharing what they have been thankful for in the year 2011 and how they look forward to 2012.  Please check out the upcoming posts from the library staff in the prisons and psychiatric hospital libraries across the state.