If you read this blog regularly, you may already know the Washington State Library provides outreach library services to all the public prisons in the state (except for the minimum centers.) The benefit of this cooperative agreement between agencies is that incarcerated populations in Washington State have access to fantastic libraries and are served by the certified Librarians and library technicians who manage them.

At Coyote Ridge Corrections Center, general and legal services are combined in one library. It is the only prison library in Washington State, so far, that is working with this service model.

The CRCC library is divided by a wall with large windows and one door, and library staff are trained and prepared to assist patrons with both general and legal research questions. In the legal services area of the library, patrons are provided computer (thin client) access to an electronic (external hard drive version) of LexisNexis. This is how the patrons research case law, state statutes, and other legal research publications. The library’s computer network is isolated. Offenders do not have access to any part of the DOC network, nor do they have the ability to access the internet. The LexisNexis product is updated quarterly in order to keep it current. Offenders also have computer access to the Department of Corrections operating policies (view only) and a variety of legal forms. They also have access to MS Word for the purpose of composing briefs and other original legal work. Patrons can print their work, but they are not allowed to save anything. Typewriters are also available in this section of the library.

The general library is much like any other small public library. The operating software for the library’s computers is Destiny, by Follett, and offenders use it to locate materials in the library and place holds on items. Offender library clerks use the computers behind the circulation counter to check books in and out.

That’s the Coyote Ridge Corrections Center Branch Library, in a nutshell. So far, things seem to be going pretty well, although it’s difficult for me to judge when I’m always right in the middle of everything. In the future, we would like to provide more structured information literacy training, especially in the legal services area.