Prison Libraries

Paper Summary:

This paper explores the issue of libraries in prisons. The paper begins with a reference to the popular movie "The Shawshank Redemption" in which a major theme is the construction of a library for use by the inmates. The paper then looks at the legal rights of prisoners, especially noting the 1977 landmark Supreme Court decision in Bounds v. Smith which led to the establishment of law libraries in most major U.S. prisons. The paper includes information relating to the funding efforts towards building better prison libraries.

From the Paper:

"Most likely the Greene-Rose investigation included the Quaker experiment in Pennsylvania. In 1787, Dr. Benjamin Rush, a Quaker who led reformers to lobby the Pennsylvania legislature for a state prison based on reform through solitude and reflection stated, "Let the avenue to this house be rendered difficult and gloomy by mountains and morasses. Let the doors be of iron, and let the grating, occasioned by opening and shutting them, be increased by an echo that shall deeply pierce the soul" (Walsh pg). Pennsylvania's Eastern State Prison was completed in 1836 and was the most expensive building in America, costing $772,600, and during the next 100 years became the model for more than 300 prisons worldwide."

More papers on Prison Libraries:

• Analytical Essay # 143054 : "Prison Conditions"
• Essay # 68069 : "Gang Violence in Prison"
• Film Review # 66367 : "Shawshank Redemption"

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