I am purposefully not naming the specific facility I work at. Regardless, all statements and opinions are strictly mine and do not represent my employer.
If you told me a little over a year ago I would be celebrating my work-iversary as a prison librarian, I wouldn't have believed you! Yet here we are where I can say I have worked this position for a full year, going up in rank from Librarian I to Librarian II! To celebrate here on the blog, I thought it would be fun to write about what an average day looks like. Spoiler alert! Just like most library jobs, no two days look exactly the same. However, I do have a bit of a routine now that I'm a year in as a prison librarian.
7:30am Head out for work, usually listening to an audiobook or music on the way.
8:00am Clock in at the bunker (front building entrance), get my keys, and have an officer run my (clear) backpack through the security x-ray while I go through the metal detector.
8:05am Greet my co-workers (I'm the only librarian, but I share office space with the administrative assistants), put away lunch, and wait for my computer to slowly boot up.
8:10am Check emails and set up my to-do list for the day (My job involves a few major tasks and lots of little tasks, so a basic list in the order I'd like to address everything that day helps me stay focused!).
8:40am Do other computer-based tasks (may include placing holds on ILL books / DVDs, logging books approved to be sent in to inmates*, and making plans for various library projects).
9:10am Look over magazines like Star, National Geographic, People, Motor Trend, Southern Living, and Sports Illustrated to ensure none of the content, pictures, or ads violate our content policies (removing the pages or images if so).
9:30am Head to the back half of the facility (through another security gate) to visit the library now that it has been opened by a library aide. These group of men are the reason why I don't have to be in the library every moment it is open for our patrons, and I wouldn't be able to do nearly as much as I do without their help.
9:40am Spend time in the library getting caught up by a library aide if I missed anything over the weekend as well as holding my version of "office hours" for patrons to ask questions, submit requests, etc.
11am Head back through the security gate to the front half of the facility for more desk work (usually following up on things discussed during my time in the library, answering / sending more emails, etc. This may also include altering my to-do list to better suit what needs to get done that day / week.)
12pm Clock out for lunch
12:30pm Clock back in from lunch and finish any last-minute tasks still needed before book club
1pm Head through the security gate (again) to run book club with a group of 12 men. This quarter, we are going through the book The Sentences that Create Us: Crafting a Writer's Life in Prison from PEN America. That being the case, it's like a hybrid book club / writing club.
2pm Wrap up book club and hang out in the library for another "office hours" session and/or notarizing documents for those who requested it in the morning
2:30pm Library closes and I head through the security gate for a final time back to my desk in the front area. From there, I finish the day with a little more computer work and/or filing paperwork given to me for release day folders.
3:45pm Clock out for the day! (Assuming I arrived on time in the morning. Otherwise, I try to stay over the same amount of time I was late to keep my hours balanced.) In the bunker, I turn in my keys and pick up my locator card before heading home.
And that's it! At least as far as Monday's go, that's pretty typical for me. Each day of the week usually has one planned difference and a bunch of little things that happen to keep things interesting. Tuesdays include going to the local public library for ILL exchanges, Wednesdays I am off because this is a part-time position at 29 hours, Thursdays I have my weekly morning meeting with the library aides, and Fridays I take a book cart full of requested books to the other facility on our campus for their population / pick up request forms for the following week.
Like I mentioned before, I also have a bunch of little tasks going on at any point that keep my days varied, too. Recently, some of those mini-projects included gathering documents for our facility's annual audit prep, making a list of memoirs centered around meth addiction available to borrow via ILL, creating a feedback survey for our patrons to fill out, picking out potential books for future book clubs, designing the monthly library newsletter in Canva, and taking down phone notes to email out as the unofficial secretary for the counselors' office (because for some reason none of us can figure out, all of their unanswered calls are automatically forwarded to my phone).
I feel incredibly lucky to have a unique job like this, especially in a facility that is far from average when it comes to how safe I feel at any time and the flexibility I am afforded in my job thanks to this dynamic as well as having a leadership team that doesn't believe in micromanaging. I've been able to try out so many ideas in this library, learning what works and what doesn't for an adult patron population. Even though I am early in my career, I truly feel like I am making a difference every day I work this job, and my co-workers / library aides / patrons frequently let me know how grateful they are for my efforts. That's something I never want to take for granted!
Till next time,
Sam
*Note: There is some debate on what words are okay to use when referring to incarcerated individuals. I personally use the word "inmates" when needing to specify because this is the term I have heard them use for themselves. If that particular context doesn't matter or has already been established, then I say "patrons" because that is who they are to my library.
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