Tales of A Jailhouse Librarian: Challenging the Juvenile Justice System One Book At A Time

In a large suburban county jail, a rolling library book cart connects boys with their new counselor, a veteran schoolteacher. Faced with their unquenchable thirst for reading to help ease the unremitting boredom of everyday life, "Mrs. Z", now, "the book-lady," gives them the opportunity to share their hopes, their disappointments, their disillusionment and most of all, their anger at a system that is crushing their spirit and dreams for the future. What Frederick Douglass advised us about education rings true today--"It's easier to build strong children than repair broken men." Tales of a Jailhouse Librarian skillfully captures the sights, sensations and rhythms of jail life. Zeman mixes journalism, memoir and character sketches with facts about the juvenile justice system, describes the various agencies, provides relevant statistics, and specific court cases that become so palatable they are easily digested. Never a "slog". Interesting and engaging. She makes a strong argument that these boys need education, not jail time. "We have to recognize that we have a very narrow window of opportunity left to re-direct incarcerated youth toward education and living productive lives. Jail isn't always the best solution. One million dollars invested in incarceration reduces 350 crimes; one million dollars invested in education reduces 600 crimes. It's difficult to slap the word, criminal, onto a juvenile-someone who is 16 or 17 or 18, someone who has the rest of their lives ahead of them and is just as likely as you or I were at that age to change." Not a screed or an expose. These are real stories about real kids in prison, stories so real and so raw they become our own.

Author: Marybeth Zeman
Publisher: Vinegar Hill Press
Published: 02/07/2014
Pages: 348
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 7.99h x 5.24w x 0.72d
ISBN: 9780615953878

Review Citation(s):
Foreword 05/27/2014

About the Author
Marybeth Zeman has been a teacher on the elementary, high school and college level for more than thirty years and, since 2010, has served as transitional counselor for a school program for incarcerated youth at the Nassau County Correctional Center. In 2009, she was awarded a Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Scholarship from St. John's University where she earned a master's degree in Library Science and Information Services. Zeman has been a high school ESL teacher at W.T. Clarke High School, and an adjunct professor at Queensborough Community College, Nassau Community College and St. Joseph's College. Zeman is involved with the juvenile justice community and is a champion for the rights of the incarcerated and the formerly incarcerated. She is a member of advocacy groups Think Outside the Cell and the Education from the Inside Out. She has been an active participant in the Juvenile Justice Exchange Group formed on LinkedIn. Zeman is a member of the American Library Association and its sub-committees operating under the ASCLA-American Special Collection Library Association and OLOS-Office of Library Outreach Services, Library Services to Incarcerated Individuals and via ALA Connect, and is a member of the Prison Librarian's Group. Most recently, she has become a member of the Library Services to Youth in Custody Group. Zeman contributes regularly as a blog writer for the Public Libraries Online magazine. Recent blog articles: Being a Librarian-It's a Wonderful Life http: //publiclibrariesonline.org/2013/12/being-a-librarian-its-a-wonderful-life/ Juvenile Ex-Offenders Need Libraries, Too http: //publiclibrariesonline.org/2013/11/juvenile-ex-offenders-need-libraries-too/

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