Title: Canadian Federal Prison Libraries: Results of a National Survey
1Canadian Federal Prison Libraries Results of a
National Survey
2Outline
- Purpose scope of survey
- Brief history of Canadian prison libraries
- Profile of inmate population
- Correctional Service Canada (CSC)
- Standards for Prison Libraries
- Survey Results
3Purpose Scope of Survey
- Purpose To gain an overall picture of Canadian
prison libraries and their collections, as no
general assessments had been done. - Scope Mailed survey to all 51 Canadian federal
prisons
4Focus of Questions
- Collection size
- Collection content
- Collection policies
- Prisoners preferences
- Prisoners access
- Factors influencing collection decisions
- Budgets
5Overall Purpose
- Exploration of how Canadian prison librarians
balance their professional ethics regarding a
patrons rights to information with the reality
of prison regulations. - Inside prison you sense the old struggle. How is
it possible to confine, punish, and repair at the
same time? - Stewart, B. Macleans 114 (April 9), 34-8.
6Canadian Prisons A Brief History
- Early 1800s Prisoners held in common gaols
attached to courthouses - 1835 First large prison opened in Kingston,
Ontario - 1836 John Macaulay donates books to create a
small prison library at Kingston - 1844 Governor General Metcalfe gives a sizable
collection of non-religious books to the library,
forming the nucleus of a real collection
7History
- 1869 Good conduct prisoners allowed a coal
oil lamp so they can read in their cells until 9
p.m. - 1872 Acquisitions list shows many religious
books and a surprising number of armchair travel
books - 1875 Prisoners begin to work in the Kingston
prison library
8More Prisons Completed
- St. Vincent de Paul, Quebec (1873)
- Stony Mountain, Manitoba (1877)
- New Westminster, BC (1878)
- Dorchester, New Brunswick (1880)
- Prince Albert, Saskatchewan (1911)
- productive labour during the day, solitary
confinement during leisure time, rule of silence
at all times..
9Profile of Canadas Inmates
- 151,000 adults in federal, provincial,
territorial jails - Of these, 12,700 are in federal prisons serving
sentences of two years or more - Prison population is 97 men and 3 women
- Incarceration rate 118 per 100,000
10International Rates of Incarcerationper 100,000
persons U.S. 699
11Profile
- Very multicultural and multilingual population
- At least 17 languages spoken in addition to
English French - First Nations (Indian) people over-represented
- 17 of prison population, but only 3 of general
Canadian population
12Profile
- Frequently learning disabled
- High level of illiteracy
- Require basic educational programming
- 82 have less than grade 10 education
- 65 have less than grade 8 education
- Require vocational programming
- 75 have unstable job histories
- Require independent and distance education
13Correctional Service Canada (CSC)
- Responsible under the Ministry of the Solicitor
General of Canada for prisoners serving 2 years
or more - Provinces/territories assume responsibility for
those serving lesser sentences - Administration divided into 5 regions Atlantic,
Quebec, Ontario, the Prairies, and Pacific
14CSC Responsibilities Fifty-one federal maximum,
medium, minimum, and multi-level correctional
institutions
- BC 8 prisons
- Alberta 7
- Saskatchewan 4
- Manitoba - 2
- Ontario 13
- Quebec 12
- New Brunswick 3
- Nova Scotia 2
15 CSC Website www.csc-scc.gc.ca
- About Us
- Regions and Facilities
- National Headquarters
- Our Role
- Our Values
- How We Operate
- Our History
-
16 Role of the CSC
- to contribute to the protection of society by
actively encouraging and assisting offenders to
become law-abiding citizens, while exercising
reasonable, safe, secure and humane control.
17CSC Directives
- Commissioners Directive 764
- Access to Material Live Entertainment
- Objective is to ensure that material which
could jeopardize the security of institutions or
the safety of persons is not available in
institutions and to ensure that the living
conditions of offenders and working conditions of
staff members are free from practices which
undermine a persons sense of personal dignity.
Examples of prohibited material are given.
18CSC Directives
- Commissioners Directive 720
- Education of Offenders
- Reasonable effort shall be made to ensure
that material is available to support
institutional programs and to meet offenders
needs for recreational, cultural, educational,
and informative materials. Where feasible, access
to the services of community libraries shall be
encouraged.
19CSC Directives
- Directive 720
- - States that the institutional head is
responsible for ensuring that the library has
up-to-date copies of key legal, regulatory, and
official documents, both in English and French - - Specific titles are given, including the
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the
Criminal Code
20Standards for Prison Libraries
- U.S.
- ALA Library Standards for Adult Correctional
Institutions 1992 - U.K.
- LA Guidelines for Prison Libraries 1997
- International
- IFLA International Guidelines for Library
Services to Prisoners 1993
21Survey Results
- Surveys mailed in 2001 to person in charge of
library - French-language surveys mailed to Quebec prisons
surveys in both official languages mailed to New
Brunswick prisons - Response rate 73 (37 of 51)
- Responses recd from all provinces
22Size of Canadian Prisons
23Library Users
- In addition to prisoners using the library,
- 80 of respondents said administration staff
guards use the library - 6 reported use by inmates families or visitors
- teachers, tutors, volunteers were mentioned as
other library users
24Library Staff
- 30.5 have a library qualification
- 8 (3/37) have an MLIS degree
- 22 have a library technician diploma
- Other staff qualifications teacher, general B.A.
- 83 of respondents report that prisoners work in
their libraries
25Collection Profile
- All libraries had books
- 81 - magazines
- 81 - newspapers
- 38 - audio cassettes
- 19 - videos
- 14 - compact disks
- None had Internet access
26Collection Profile
- Legal Materials (Statutes)
- Included in 62 of respondents libraries, but
included in all maximum security prisons.
27Inmate preferences
(in descending order)
- Fiction
- Current events (newspapers, newsmagazines)
- Legal materials
- General interest magazines
- General non-fiction (true crime very popular)
28Collection Size Age
- Half of collections had 10,000 or more items
- One-quarter had 3,000 or fewer
- Half of respondents noted that only 25 of their
collection had been acquired after 1990 - General assessment collections are of adequate
size but contain much out-dated material. Library
staff are very hesitant to weed
29Selection Policies/Practices
- Only 30 had a written selection policy
- 86 acquire materials by gift/donation, in
addition to purchasing material - 36 use inter-library loans to obtain requested
material
30Budgets
- Budget amounts vary widely by size of institution
and by region - Four libraries had no materials budget at all,
while another had 12,000/year - Average acquisitions budget 4,051
- Typical comment about library budgets
- We are drastically under-funded and
under-staffed.
31Subject Areas
- Over 90 include general fiction, mystery,
horror, science fiction/fantasy, and westerns - 83 have materials of First Nations interest
- Over 70 have historical fiction and romances
- 25 have gay/lesbian fiction
32Languages
- 50 have materials in languages other than
English and French - Examples Vietnamese, Spanish, Chinese,
Punjabi, Hindi, German, Mohawk, Cree, Italian,
Polish, Arabic, Icelandic, Catalan, Estonian,
Czech, Welsh, and Norwegian
33Access to Information
- Administrators must prevent escapes and ensure
the safety of both staff and prisoners - They must strive to find a balance between rigid
and over-reaching censorship that isolates
inmates, and open access to all information, some
of which prisoners may abuse
34Access to Information
- The greater commitment to deprivation of
liberty, the tougher the censorship the more the
prison was seen as an apparatus for transforming
individuals, the more control was likely to be
exercised on the prisoners reading as part of
that apparatus, unless reading was itself
recognized as having transforming power. -
- Janet Fyfe. Books Behind Bars The Role of
Books, Reading, and Libraries - in British Prison Reform 1701-1911
35Prohibited Materials
36Prohibited Materials
- Many respondents referred to the philosophy,
wording, and examples of prohibited material in
Commissioners Directive 764 - Material that gives detailed information on
making weapons or the commission of a criminal
act - Material that advocates or promotes genocide or
hatred of an identifiable group - Sexually oriented material involving violence or
children
37Prohibited Material
- Under Directive 764, the Institutional Head may
also prohibit material that portrays excessive
violence and aggression, or prison violence, and
also sexually oriented materials that promote any
form of criminal act, if the Head believes that
that inmate may commit a similar act.
38Prohibited Material
- Examples of subjects or authors prohibited
- by policy in some libraries
39Prohibited Materials
- Survey question Have specific materials been
challenged or banned from your library in the
past 5 years? - No 39
- Unknown 39
- Yes 22
40Prohibited Materials
- Do library staff members have access to an
appeals process when materials are challenged? - Yes 41
- No 24
- Unknown 30
- No answer 2
-
41Library Performance
- How well (on a 5-point scale) does your library
meet Directive 720? - 1not well 5very well
-
- 58 - 4 or 5
- 33 - 3
- 9 - 1 or 2
42Overall Conclusions
- Some positive comments about recent improvements
in floor space, collections, and staffing - Majority of respondents say there is much room
for improvement in funding for staff and
collections
43Conclusions
- Staff are weary of the constant public relations
battle to obtain recognition of the educational
and psychological roles their libraries play.
Many feel undervalued - There is no environment where the need is
greater and the commitment less.
44Conclusions
- Staff hope that major development work can be
done soon on filters and firewalls so that their
libraries can provide safe, acceptable Internet
access to prisoners. Providing secure access in
the library would be easier to monitor and less
expensive than providing access in each cell.
45- Hopefully we can work toward ensuring that those
who relinquish most of their freedoms and rights
while incarcerated are not also denied rights
that ensure dignity and assist with
rehabilitation, such as access to good library
service.
46Research completed by
- Dr. Ann CurryAssociate ProfessorSchool of
Library, Archival and Information Studies
(SLAIS)The University of British Columbiaemail
ltann.curry_at_ubc.cagtWith the assistance of MLIS
Graduate studentsSandra BoutilierHelen
ChanKris Wolfe
47Publication
- Journal of Librarianship and Information Science,
Fall 2003 - Website www.slais.ubc.ca under the heading
Research after July 15, 2003
48The researchers gratefully acknowledge the help
of
- Denis Barbe - CSC Headquarters, Ottawa
- Nancy Hannum Legal Resource Centre, Vancouver
- Jennifer Joslin Mission Institution, BC
- Rob McCreary CSC Pacific Regional Headquarters
- Wally Peake Matsqui Institution, BC
- Julia Schneider - Corcoran Substance Abuse
Treatment Facility and State Prison, California
49Thank you.