Inmate Letters: Providing Reference to Those Who Are Incarcerated

The Reference to Those Who Are Incarcerated Program offers library services to a deeply underserved population: Residents of state and federal prisons in Arizona. This presentation will cover the Letters program at PCPL, the context of why we provide this service, and information on how other library systems can get involved.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn how libraries can navigate and interact with the prison system in Arizona 
• Reduce stigma around justice-involved customers and raise library staff’s confidence in their ability to handle justice-involved customer interactions
• Learn about the benefits this type of reference-by-mail program provides to a highly vulnerable population 
  

Presenters:

Casey Short is a Librarian II at Pima County Public Library, where she currently oversees the Reference Department.