Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Prison Librarianship And Lis Schools: Is There A Career-Path?, Patrick J. Raftery Jr

Urban Library Journal

Library Information Science research has inquired and advocated for prison librarianship since as far back as the 1930s. While most of the articles published focus on the problems facing these institutional libraries, (budgets, censorship, best practices, and standards), very few focus on the preparations LIS schools take to prepare and promote prison librarianship. For many years’ civilians, not professional librarians, operated prison libraries. Although the rise in professional librarians in prison libraries has grown, has the preparation and quality of professionally trained institutional/prison librarians changed? Previous research states LIS schools often overlook or ignore institutional/prison librarianship. This article explores past …