Supporting prison libraries: the 2015 ALIA Minimum Standard Guidelines for Library Services to Prisoners

National 2016 Conference, 29 August-2 September 2016 Adelaide: Engage Create Lead.
 
Prison libraries play a pivotal role in serving the educational, recreational and other information needs of prison inmates.  This conference presentation (PowerPoint slides) supports the paper which discusses the updating of the Mimimum Standard Guidelines for Library Services to Prisoners.  
 
In 2015 the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) established a working group to review and update the Minimum Standard Guidelines for Library Services to Prisoners, first published in 1990.  The guidelines are designed to assist with the planning of new prison libraries as well as in the evaluation and development of existing services. They are based in part on the third edition of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), Guidelines for Library Services to Prisoners (Lehmann & Locke, 2005).  This paper describes the activities of the Working Group and the challenges they faced. It examines how Corrective Services New South Wales has responded to the publication of the Guidelines. Other activities relating to prison libraries that are underway or proposed are discussed and opportunities for further research are suggested.