The Role of the Law Library in Serving Incarcerated Individuals (8/2/2024)

 Access to legal information is both a legal right and crucial need for people who are incarcerated, yet little comprehensive data exists regarding how that information is provided or about the quality or accessibility of services available to individuals in prison. While anecdotal evidence suggests that law librarians are playing a key role in bridging this service gap, there is a lack of information about best practices and models, as well as about the state of the profession’s capacity to meet the incarcerated population’s need for access to legal information. How and where are people who are incarcerated able to access legal information? And how can we develop more robust and nimble service offerings to meet their needs?

In a new project funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), we will examine the national landscape of access to legal information for people who are incarcerated and the current state of the field of law librarianship in facilitating access to the law for the justice-impacted population. This project will build on exploratory research to document the different types of libraries involved in providing services to incarcerated patrons and the challenges and opportunities they face.

Press Release:

The Role of the Law Library in Serving Incarcerated Individuals - Ithaka S+R

Ithaka S+R helps academic and cultural communities serve the public good and navigate economic, technological, and demographic change. Our work also aims to broaden access to higher education by reducing costs and improving student outcomes.

Homelessness- Denver Basic Income Study (2024).

 

The Denver Basic Income Project (DBIP) is studying the impact of providing a guaranteed income (GI) to individuals and families experiencing homelessness. The project is the first and largest of its kind in the United States to study the impact of guaranteed income on unhoused individuals and families at this scale.

FINAL_DBIP+Year+One+Executive+Summary.pdf (squarespace.com)

library services and incarceration.

 Hello-

San Francisco Public Library's Jail and Reentry Services staff have created a 10 video training series on topics related to library services and incarceration.* Each video is approximately an hour long and is opened by a formerly incarcerated person. Topics include direct and indirect services, digital literacy, discussing incarceration in the LIS classroom, and more.

You are invited to utilize these materials in your courses!

All videos are freely available on the Expanding Information Access for Incarcerated People grant page at

https://sfpl.org/services/jail-and-reentry-services/expanding-information-access-incarcerated-people-initiative.

You can also access the videos on our YouTube channel at

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGpyI74Nnel5466NFubfyUg8RfpIwqPR3.

Videos are available with English or Spanish captioning. Each video description contains a link to the full transcript.

Please email jailandreentryservices@sfpl.org with any questions about these resources.

All Best,

Jeanie Austin
pronouns: they/them/their

End Poverty in America.

Poverty

 

End Poverty in America

Universal Declaration of Human Rights- 75th Anniversary

 

On 10December 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The UDHR was a milestone in the history of human rights; it was the first time that the international community agreed on a set of common values and recognized that human rights are inherent to everyone, everywhere.

Human Rights Day 2023 | OHCHR

Social impact museums have on visitors - Toolkit

The Measurement of Museum Social Impact (MOMSI) addresses the critical need of establishing best practices for measuring social impact within the museum field. It advances museum practice by measuring the social impact museums have on visitors and developing a tool for museums to better understand their social impact on individuals and communities. MOMSI will test the scalabaility of a tool developed in Utah nationwide to provide museums of all sizes the opportunity to measure their own social impact. 

Toolkit | Museum Impact Study (museumsocialimpact.org)

Aaron Swartz Remembered- 10 Years

ALA Memorial Resolution from January 29, 2013

 A Memorial Resolution Honoring Aaron Swartz Whereas the American Library Association (ALA) and the broader community of those who support open access to published materials lost a valued colleague on January 11, 2013, with the tragic death of 26- year-old Aaron Swartz

Whereas Aaron Swartz was a tireless and outspoken advocate of intellectual freedom and the rights of individuals to freely access information; 

 Whereas he was a team member of Creative Commons, a group that simplifies access to free copyright licenses for authors; 

 Whereas Aaron Swartz founded the organization Demand Progress, which campaigned against the "Stop Online Piracy Act" (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act, thus contributing to the failure of the legislation; 

 Whereas the international library community lost a leader who was the chief architect of Open Library.org – an online project that fostered collaboration with librarians and intended to “…build the world’s greatest library, then put it up on the Internet free for all to use...” according to Swartz in a 2007 announcement of the project; 

 Whereas Aaron Swartz was a member of a group that co-authored RSS 1.0 (also known as Really Simple Syndication) – a widely used Internet-based tool that enables publishers and users the ability to syndicate and/or manage digital data from multiple source points;

 Whereas he helped to create Reddit, Inc – a social news and entertainment site which holds the distinction of being the first social media site to be used by a sitting United States President (President Barack Obama) to engage with voters in a live online question and answer session; 

 Whereas Aaron Swartz was dedicated to the exploration and understanding of ethics, political action, and how to apply knowledge to improving people's lives, as demonstrated by his 2010-2011 tenure as a fellow at the Harvard University Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics ; 

Whereas Aaron Swartz was loved and respected by his family, friends, co-workers, and many individuals, both in the United States and around the world; 

and Whereas his true legacy lies in the profound effect that he had on countless individuals and institutions to engage in critical conversations regarding the importance of open access and the dissolving of internet censorship; 

now therefore, be it A Memorial Resolution Honoring Aaron Swartz

Resolved, that the American Library Association (ALA) on behalf of its members; 1. recognizes the significant contributions of Aaron Swartz over the course of his distinguished career and mourns his death; 2. expresses its sincere sympathy to his family, loved ones, and colleagues throughout the country, and his many friends and admirers both within and outside of the library community; and 3. encourages libraries and librarians to remain vigilant in protecting and extending the public domain, and to promoting and developing new means of providing access to and openly disseminating information. 

Adopted by the Council of the American Library Association Tuesday, January 29, 2013