Libraries offer important services to people who are incarcerated and those who have been recently released from prison or jail. Institutional libraries provide extensive and highly valuable literacy opportunities to those who are incarcerated, while public libraries can play a crucial role in reentry into one’s community.

ALA Resources

• ALA’s Prison Libraries Lib Guide shares print and online resources for librarians, links to policies related to prison libraries including the Prisoners’ Right to Read and Services to Detention Facilities and Jails, programming ideas, and ways to get involved through committees and book donations.

• ALA’s Library Services to the Justice-Involved is an interest group to support those who provide services to underserved adults and youth who are incarcerated (jail or prison), detained, recently released, paroled, or living under supervision. Formerly called Library Services to the Incarcerated and Detained, the group’s resource page provides books, documents, and other resource links.
• ODLOS-hosted webinar – Reimagining the Public: Library Services to People in Jails and Prisons: http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/diversity/odlos-webinar-archives
• ALA’s Great Stories Club is a grant-based program focused on engaging underserved teens through thematic reading and discussion. Participating facilitators receive training and resources to host impactful programs, and teen participants receive a free copy of each book that is discussed. Reading lists, discussion questions, and other resources are available online for free.

National Organizations Supporting Literacy Programs

• The COABE Journal’s Prison Literacy edition highlights programs, approaches, and professionals who work with adults currently serving or who have served time in correctional settings.
• Federal Bureau of Prisons offer various literacy programs at all facilities to those without a high school diploma.
• The UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) is to promote lifelong learning with a focus on adult and continuing education, literacy and non-formal basic education. One of their vulnerable groups focuses on the prisoners and the challenges they face.  They offer two publications, Books Beyond Bars: The Transformative Potential of Prison Libraries and Basic Education in Prisons, for free.

 Resources for Recently-Released Individuals

• The New York Public Library Office of Outreach and Adult Programming Correctional Services department has many services, including an annual publication Connections, reentry guide for the incarcerated. Their website has a link to this PDF as well as descriptions of several of their services. 

Resources for Juveniles who are Incarcerated

• ALA’s Great Stories Club is a grant-based program focused on engaging underserved teens through thematic reading and discussion. Participating facilitators receive training and resources to host impactful programs, and teen participants receive a free copy of each book that is discussed. Reading lists, discussion questions, and other resources are available online for free.
• Literacy for Incarcerated Teens, a community-based, non-profit organization committed to combating illiteracy in the court-involved children and young adults in New York, has developed a Suggested Books List and Activity Guide for teachers and librarians in detention centers.

Resources for Juveniles with Parents who are Incarcerated

• Children of Prison Inmates – This program encourages children and incarcerated persons to read more through storytelling, book giveaways, and voice recordings to share with family members.

Research, Reports & Data

• Equipping Individuals for Life Beyond Bars: the Promise of Higher Education & Job Training in Closing the Gap in Skills for Incarcerated Adults by Monique O. Ositelu describes the gap in literacy between incarcerated adults and the general public.
• Highlights from the U.S. PIAAC Survey of Incarcerated Adults: Their Skills, Work Experience, Education, and Training was written by the U.S. Department of Education in 2014. The assessment examined the basic skills and broad range of competencies of adults, including adult literacy and life skills.  The study of incarcerated individuals was adapted to include activities in prison, such as participation in academic programs and ESL classes; experiences with prison jobs; and involvement in nonacademic programs, such as employment readiness classes.
• How Effective Is Correctional Education, and Where do We Go from Here? This report was sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Assistance and was conducted in the Safety and Justice Program, within RNAD Justice, Infrastructure, and Environment. Written in 2014, this report is based on a meta-analysis of the data on the effectiveness of correctional education programs in reducing recidivism.

• How to Unlock the Power of Prison Education was written by Stephen J. Steurer for the ETS Center for Research on Human Capital and Education.  Written in 2020, this report highlights the reasons for the high rates of re-arrests by those released from prison.  To combat the problem, he proposes actionable recommendations in prison education.
• The National Institute of Corrections’ Library offers numerous online resources including state population and facility data and statistics, reports, and webinars covering a wide range of relevant topics.
• RTI International’s Re-entry Education Toolkit offers education providers guidelines, tools, and resources to effectively implement the Reentry Education Framework. This framework’s five critical components are program infrastructure, strategic partnerships, education services, transition processes, and sustainability.

College/Correspondence Courses for Adults who are Incarcerated

• College Guild is a non-profit organization that provides correspondence courses to incarcerated adults.
• Supporting Learning on the Inside: Academic Library Services for Students in Prison was presented to at the ACRL 2017 conference. Written by Stephanie DeLano Davis, the study examines the need for academic library support as more college classes are being offered in prison.
• University Beyond Bars serves the incarcerated population of the State of Washington. Their mission is to break the cycle of incarceration through education.