Information Provision and the Carceral State: Race and Reference beyond the Idea of the "Underserved". Issue 4 (2nd October 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Austin, Jeanie; Villa-Nicholas, Melissa
• Is Part Of: Reference librarian. Volume 60:Issue 4(2019)
• Page Start: 233
• Page End: 261
• Publication Date: 2019-10-02
• Subjects: Incarceration -- information access -- LIS education -- racial capitalism -- reference by mail; Reference services (Libraries) -- Periodicals; Library administration -- Periodicals; 025.5205
• DOI: 10.1080/02763877.2019.1645077
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0276-3877

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article addresses an approach to library services for people who are incarcerated that meets the situated information needs and desires of people within jails and prisons. By creating a flow of information between LIS students and individuals who are incarcerated through a Reference by Mail program, resources available to incarcerated people are increased while students engage in a humanizing and self-reflexive project, with the understanding that the regulation of information within jails and prisons has lasting effects for the life chances of incarcerated people.