NEWS FEATURE
Can libraries keep prisons out of the headlines?
IN May of this year CILIP’s Prisons Library Group published its Excellence Framework for Prison Libraries (
https://bit.ly/3s1W3lC), setting out strategies to harness the power of the prison library for rehabilitation.
It could not have come at a more opportune moment, with a series of problems in prisons making headlines for all the wrong reasons. There was a high-profile escape from Wandsworth Prison and in September a German court refused to extradite a suspected drug trafficker to Britain due to the state of its prisons. That same month saw Charlie Taylor, Chief Inspector of Prisons for His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) tell The Guardian that 10 per cent of UK prisons should be shut down. However, earlier in the year he was talking about the power of literacy in prisons as he wrote a fore- word for HMIP’s The quality of reading education in prisons: one year on, a follow-up to a joint HMIP and Ofsted report released the previous year, with the same title (minus the “one year on”).
In the latter report he says: “Illiteracy was interfering with their daily life in prison and affecting their ability to get work. Most importantly, it was limiting their chances of staying out of trouble when they came out.”
He also laments a lack of progress, saying: “Things have not improved at anything like the rate that Ofsted and HMIP would have expected. Although prisons are now required to have a reading strategy, many we have seen have been generic and created by the education provider without enough input or commitment from prison leaders. We have less confidence that prisoners will make progress in these prisons, than in the rarer prisons where improving reading is being driven by the governor, in partnership with
12 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL
the education provider.” Unsurprisingly, CILIP’s Prison Libraries Group (PLG) is a strong advocate for literacy in prisons, but its members’ work can be hampered by funding issues and staff shortages else- where in the prison system that mean prisoners are often unable to spend time in their library.
Victoria Barnett, Prison Library Development Manager for Kent County Council, and Chair of the Prison Libraries Group, welcomed the renewed interest in literacy and said the PLG’s framework could help deliver positive change.
She said: “Prison librarians have always understood the importance of reading in prisons, and how improving literacy, improves outcomes. When we set out to write the framework it was a time of uncertainty for prison libraries because we had heard that the con- tracts were going to change. Unsure what the impact would be, we wanted to ensure that whoever was responsible for the budget was aware of the value of the library service in their prison and the important part it can play in their reducing re-offending agenda. “The new interest in reading in prisons has come at a perfect time to tie in with our framework, and we hope that Governors reading it will use it as a benchmark for their own libraries. The prisons inspectorate has recently set out some specific criteria for prison libraries which is a very positive step because Governors care about inspec- tions and the new expectations align closely with our Excellence Frame- work.
“Most prison libraries work in partnership with a number of organ- isations – from Shannon Trust who have a peer-led reading programme to others like Prison Reading Groups, The National Literacy Trust and The Reading Agency, all working with the
CILIP Prisons Library Group’s An Excellence Framework for Prison Libraries.
common goal of improving literacy and reading for pleasure in prisons. The library service is highly valued by pris- oners but the most common complaint from prison librarians is the lack of customers due to regime restrictions. “Raising our profile in the prison and improving understanding of the value of our service is our biggest challenge, and we hope that this Excellence Framework will go some way towards meeting that challenge.”
One threat to this goal is funding. Many prison libraries are run by coun- cils, funded by the prison service. With the financial hardships councils now face, some may struggle to keep their prison library commitments viable. You can find out more about PLG’s Excellence Framework at https://tinyurl. com/4jfcvmjp.
October-November 2023
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