What's Missing from This Picture of Prisoners Embracing Reading?

-- Library Journal, 08/04/2006

The New York Times's Education page on Wednesday included a sensitively-written feature story that explored the journey of prisoners in a Newark, NJ halfway house to the world of reading. There would be an opportunity to browse the shelves, and even to check out the music section, all part of the process of easing back into society. On the first trip, about a dozen residents, those who had no misbehavior demerits, left the halfway house for two hours—for many the first foray beyond the fence. When several of the men headed for the CD section, the Times reported, those working at the facility wondered if there was an event, or school group. The halfway house coordinator, who had not provided advance notice of the visit, explained where the group was fun. The men have been back numerous times, and the facility—a Barnes & Noble—has welcomed them. But it's notable that a bookstore, not a library, was seen as the sanctuary, and that the welcoming of the men was an ad hoc effort, rather than a civic responsibility via a public facility.