Introducing the Ruth Fine Memorial Student Loan & the Ainsworth Rand Spofford President's Award Recipients
Photo: Anita Kinney and Elizabeth Lieutenant, students at CUA, pictured with Victor Benitez, Abbey Yochelson and Jessica McGilvary, members of DCLA SFAC
At DCLA's 120th Anniversary Banquet and Awards Ceremony, Anita Kinney and Elizabeth Lieutenant, students at Catholic University, were presented with their Ruth Fine Memorial Student Loan checks.
The Ruth Fine Memorial Student Loans are awarded based on a commitment to pursuing a professional career in the library and information science field, academic background, work experience and financial need. The loans may be forgiven upon evidence of superior academic achievement. To learn more about the Ruth Fine Memorial Student Loan and its past recipients, click here. Scroll down for Anita and Elizabeth's biographies.
Photo: Kenny Nero, Jr. pictured with Bobbie Dougherty, DCLA Membership Director, Rob von Schneider, D.C. Public Library, and Amanda J. Wilson, DCLA Immediate Past President
The Ainsworth Rand Spofford President's Award was presented to the D.C. Jail Library Coalition, Kenny Nero, Jr., Howard University Library, accepted the award. Scroll down for a description of the D.C. Jail Library Coalition
The Ainsworth Rand Spofford President's Award recognizes contributions to the development or improvement of library and information services as evidence by outstanding achievements in leadership, advocacy, outreach or the creative application of technology.
Anita Kinney's Bio:
Anita is beginning her second year in the MSLIS program at Catholic University. A native Portuguese speaker, she learned Spanish while living in Panama with her military family, and looks forward to using her language skills to connect with diverse audiences. She holds a BA in English (Judaic Studies) from Portland State University. Prior to attending library school, Anita worked to improve services for Spanish speakers in museum and public health settings. She holds paid internships at the National Archives, the DC Department of Transportation, and the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land and is also a freelance journalist. Immediately after receiving the Ruth Fine award, Anita was hired for a new position as a “data analyst” to examine evaluation and metrics for the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System. Anita looks forward to designing this new job and also to serving as the treasurer for the university's Graduate Student Association.
Elizabeth Lieutenant's Bio:
Elizabeth is an MSLIS Candidate at the Catholic University of America, where she anticipates graduating in 2016. She received a her BA in Social Sciences from Thomas Edison State College. She is employed as a Graduate Assistant for CUA's Department of Library and Information Science and is spending the summer working as an Exhibitions Intern for the Smithsonian Libraries Advancement Department. She was the co-creator of the first website for the Association of Graduate Library and Information Science Students at CUA and has blogged for the Special Libraries Association web series, “What I’m Learning in Library School.” Elizabeth is a fiercely egalitarian person who is inspired by the intersection between librarianship and social justice. She plans to devote her career to fostering inclusive communities, removing personal, institutional, and societal barriers to knowledge resources, and empowering others through informal and formal learning opportunities.
Description of the D.C. Jail Library Coalition:
Catalyzed by a Fall 2013 testimony given by Free Minds D.C., a non-profit that uses books and creative writing to grant inmates transformative power, to the D.C. Council's Education Committee voicing concerns about the D.C. Jail's increased suicide numbers and lack of a library, a group of community activists formed the D.C. Jail Coalition to campaign for libraries in the D.C. Jail. The coalition borrowed from the Montgomery County's (MD) and other models of jail libraries to craft and submit a proposal for D.C. correctional facilities to Mayor Gray and the D.C. Council. The coalition's efforts were successful, resulting in dedicated funds allocated for this effort supporting funding a full-time librarian, a part-time library aid and other initiatives such as job readiness, digital literacy and re-entry programs. The D.C. Jail library is expected to open in October 2014.
Books Behind Bars: Building A Community of Action Around Restorative Justice
by Damayanti Desai
Tucked away at the back of Petworth Citizen in the “Reading Room,” an impressively diverse cross-section of D.C. gathered for the evening. The air was charged with energy and the aroma of late night snacks. People of varying ages and backgrounds shifted drinks from one hand to the other as they exchanged handshakes and smiles. Others in the room were more insular, necks craned over books like The New Jim Crow as the room swelled around them with more and more bodies.
By 7:00 PM, the space was packed. All attention focused on eight individuals seated in a semicircle of chairs against a wall of books. “Welcome to Books Behind Bars,” began Sam Jewler, lead activist of the D.C. Jail Library Coalition (DCJLC) and co-organizer of this event, and the room relaxed into attentive silence.
Back in November, Sam, a writer, activist and D.C. native, had just finished collaborating on a successful campaign to secure paid sick days for restaurant workers. Newly assured of the power of citizens to change city government, Sam watched a hearing online about attempted suicides and living conditions at D.C. Jail and resolved to take action. Thus began the months-long campaign that grew into the DCJLC, recently granted approximately $200,000 of the mayor’s budget to install a library in the D.C. Jail, in partnership with the D.C. Public Library. Over the course of the project it became clear to the DCJLC team that the number of interested and knowledgeable restorative justice activists in D.C. was large, and largely unknown to many outside that world. In an effort to facilitate a visible and collaborative community of incarceration and arts-focused activists, and to invite more people to the cause, Books Behind Bars was created.
Monday’s event consisted of a panel, Q&A, opportunity for networking, and mingling with others interested in incarceration-related service and activism. Selected speakers represented different aspects of creative and impactful restorative justice work with communities in D.C., Maryland and on a national scale. Each panelist shared their backgrounds, described their work and outlined opportunities for others to get involved.
Gary Durant was a 17-year-old high school athlete coveted by collegiate scouts when he was tried and incarcerated as an adult. To the more than 40 attentive listeners gathered in the Reading Room, Gary explained the isolation and abandonment he felt during his two years spent in solitary confinement. “Reading is what got me through,” he explained. Gary, who says he couldn’t read or write well before being incarcerated, worked with Free Minds Book Club and Writing Workshop (a small non-profit empowering inmates through promoting literacy and creative writing in prisons) to develop these skills. He closed his speech by reading an original poem “Prisoner Society,” and his skillful rhyme and powerful message captivated the audience.
Also on the panel was Glennor Shirley, former head librarian for Maryland prisons and renowned prison literacy activist. Ms. Shirley shared shocking and compelling statistics about incarceration in America. Of inmates who use prison educational facilities only 16% return for a second offense, she explained. Of the inmates who do not have access to these facilities, the recidivism rate jumps to 60-70%. She also detailed the type of books different inmates could benefit from and provided insight into the demands and requirements of prison librarian positions. Afterwards, DCPL officials in attendance confirmed they would be working with her to develop the DC Jail Library.
The other panelists featured were Sherman Justice, Free Minds Outreach Coordinator, Meaghan O’Connor, Assistant Director of Programs and Partnerships at D.C. Public Library, Mark Strandquist, the artist and creator of Windows from Prison, Stacy Litner of Washington Lawyers Committee and Books to Prisons, Alison Ganem, a volunteer poetry teacher at DC’s Correctional Treatment Facility, and Sam Jewler. Although unique in their approaches, all eight panelists were united in purpose touching on common themes of literacy, education and creative outlets for expression as important means to combat isolation, aggression and recidivism in prison populations.
Audience members then had the opportunity to ask questions and share their comments and insights with the panelists. One woman suggested that a D.C. jail library should include books and resources in multiple languages, and the panelists made a note of the comment in order to follow up. The panel concluded with encouraging words from Sam, who assured the audience that they could change city government simply by finding like-minded people, getting organized and taking action.
“I was really inspired by the high turnout and excitement in the room tonight,” Jewler said. “People want to know what’s next. It might be “ban the box,”* because people who have paid their dues in prison still have too much trouble getting jobs, or figuring out how to crowdsource oversight of the police because racial arrest disparities are still huge in DC.”
Hours later, groups of event attendees could be found still seated in the booths of Petworth Citizen sharing food with new friends and collaborators and discussing possible projects to positively impact restorative justice in the D.C. area. In the words of Franklin D. Roosevelt, “our strength is our unity of purpose.”
For opportunities to get involved with restorative justice activism in D.C. check out any and all of the following organizations and initiatives represented at the Books Behind Bars panel:
Free Minds – freemindsbookclub.org
Windows from Prison – windowsfromprison.com
Books to Prisons – dcbookstoprisoners.org
DC Library Association - dcla.org
Knowledge Commons DC - knowledgecommonsdc.org
*“Ban the box” refers to an ordinance trending nationally, which removes the criminal conviction checkbox from job applications in an effort to prevent discrimination against ex-offenders in the search for employment
Update from Kenny Nero, Jr., DC Jail Library Coalition: “I'm writing to thank you all who helped in anyway on this effort from tweeting and petition signing to submitting a written testimony and everything in between. We were successful!!! The D.C. Public Library will institute a book-cart based library in the DC Jail by October 1st with a budget much higher than our original proposal. At first, Mayor Gray allocated $193,000 to the library and recently the education committee upped the ante to $293,000! The latter generosity is still going through the channels but either way, this is good news.”
