Edinburgh jail's library, designed and built by prisoners, has won this year's UK Libraries Change Lives Award
Edinburgh prison governor Nigel Ironside inside the award winning library. Photograph: Drew FarrellIt's just after 2pm and a small group of prisoners has gathered outside the library in Edinburgh prison. "They can't wait to get in," says Jacqueline Clinton, head of offender outcomes for the jail.
In 18 months, the prison library has been transformed from what amounted to a small book depository, ill-used by the jail's 900 prisoners, to a bright, community space that has a waiting list for membership. Yesterday it was named the winner of the 2010 UK Libraries Change Lives Award.
Operated in collaboration with Edinburgh City Libraries, the library was designed and built with the help of prisoners in a refurbished wing of the jail. It's housed in an expansive room, with wood-effect flooring, low green sofas and chairs, and a woodland scene along one wall. The books are displayed on broad, open shelves. Crime dominates the fiction section. Other shelves hold volumes of poetry. There are biographies and works on natural history, art and sports. Quotes by Aldous Huxley, Thomas Edison and Walt Disney adorn the walls.
Kate King is the full-time librarian. "It is their library and they want to come here," she says of the prisoners. "It is so valued."
Prisoners have a dedicated 45-minute session in the library each week, but can access it at other times. Before the new library opened, only 5% of prisoners used to borrow books – now 50% take books out. And damage to the books has gone down from 80% to zero.
A recent survey found that 91% of prisoners had poor reading skills, with 11% having literacy levels below that of an 11-year-old. Prison governor Nigel Ironside says the library has become the cornerstone of the prison's literacy strategy. "This engagement in literacy and basic learning for prisoners is the basis for reducing reoffending," he says.
In the past 18 months, there have been 63 referrals from the library to other courses and learning programmes.
For Pete Turner (not his real name), 30, eight months into a 12-month sentence, the library has been a revelation. He now works as a library volunteer . "If it wasn't for the bars on the windows, it would look just like any other library," he says. "I never read much, now I'm reading a bit of everything. I'm learning Spanish as well and they've got some books in on that. The library is important to the prisoners and a hub of information for the whole jail."
Linda Constable, chair of the judging committee of the annual awards run by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, says: "Kate's empathy and passion have driven this life-changing work, not only in the prison but on release, by giving prisoners improved life-chances. It is our hope that the work at Edinburgh will be an inspiration for similar projects."
It's good. But when the man says "This engagement in literacy and basic learning for prisoners is the basis for reducing reoffending," I think to myself that there's a little bit more to it than that.
ReplyDeleteGiving proper access to books is always a good thing.
ReplyDelete