The Prison Library as an Agent of Rehabilitative Change

Many prisoners regret their criminal behavior and resolve to change their ways. Few places in the prison offer a more exciting opportunity to get inmates invested in lasting rehabilitative change than the prison library, yet many Departments of Correction undervalue the changed-based potential of both library and Librarian as vital pieces of the rehabilitative puzzle.

If you are a current professional prison librarian, library science student interested in prison librarianship, have a strong interest in services to prisoners or are motivate to partner with prison librarians to expand library services to prisoners, we invite you to register today for The Prison Library as an Agent of Rehabilitative Change, a 5 week course beginning on Monday, October 7, 2019.  

The instructor, William D. Mongelli, Institution Librarian, Massachusetts Correctional Institution, has worked as a librarian for the Massachusetts Department of Correction (DOC), taught inmates Lexis research skills, consequential thinking, humor-as-therapy, book discussions and ABE library orientation. He has given DOC workshops on legal research, prison library history, and constructive workplace humor. Since 2001, Bill has taught both in-person and online courses in prison library management for San Jose State University. During this course, he will share examples of course materials, curricula and post-program data analysis. 

Additionally, the course will discuss ways to advocate for the library as a program environment (as opposed to being a simple management tool). Library-based programs such as consequential thinking, book discussions, writing-as-therapy, humor-as-therapy in the correctional environment, and the respectful treatment of women will be examined.

This course is brought to you by the Association of Specialized, Government and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASGCLA) a division of the American Library Association.