Hello, there, readers!
I am really excited to start working as a full-time minion
at the prison library instead of an unpaid mintern! I just received my Masters
in Library and Information Science this month, and I’m ready to put my new
skills to use in a real library. But, before I get to do librarian stuff, I’ll
spend the next five weeks participating in basic training for the Department of
Corrections alongside about 100 correctional officers, 10 parole officers, and
4 medical staff. I’m sure the training process is different for every state,
but I hope I can give you a little peak at what kind of training you’ll go
through as a correctional employee before you can even start training in your
library. If I make it through all five weeks, I’ll have passed three written
tests and one physical test.
Now, when I first heard the term “basic training” my heart
rate picked up a bit because I imagined a lot of sweaty, eight-hour shifts
filled with running laps and repetitive push-ups. In reality, the most grueling
physical activity I’ve done so far is lifting a giant three-ring binder filled
with copies of PowerPoint presentations. (The State loves three-ring binders.
The only thing it loves more than three-ring binders is the PowerPoint copies
that get put into those binders.) By the end of week one, we had talked about
everything from professionalism to games criminals play to fire safety
and communicable diseases.
However, regardless of the content of the lesson, at the
crux of every single discussion was the overarching theme of “offender
success.” Successful reintegration is a high priority for the department. In
training we’ve been learning some really progressive criminological theories
and effective management practices. Every staff member can promote offender
success through motivational interviewing and positive professional
communication. The entire department has shifted its focus from merely
warehousing criminals to actively trying to change the thought process of the
offender. We spent a lot of time discussing how the state is addressing the 8
criminogenic factors according to each offender’s individual needs as well as
how each staff member can be a constructive role model.
Promoting offender success has been a pretty controversial
topic in my training class. Some people don’t believe that offenders deserve
our compassion or empathy. The idea of encouraging offender success makes quite
a few people uncomfortable. As a librarian, I think these concepts come
naturally. After all, our profession is all about doing good in the community
and helping the public. That being said, I think it might be worthwhile to
contemplate how helping an offender achieve his or her personal goals would
make you feel before you commit to a career in corrections. Most offenders are
incarcerated because they did really bad things; and, as a prison librarian, it
would be your job to treat the ‘bad guys’ with the same respect and
professionalism as any other patron in a more conventional library setting
regardless of the crime that was committed. Just something to think about while
you are considering a job in prison!
Until next time! Mintern, over and out.
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