The PRISM Project: Findings from impact research in Colorado prison libraries
Are PRISon libraries Motivators of prosocial behavior and successful re-entry?
This was the guiding question of a multi-year outcomes and impact study in Colorado prisons, funded by the IMLS. Researchers from the Colorado State Library/Library Research Service, Renewed Libraries, LLC, and Remerg, a reentry resource hub for Colorado, have worked together to create a research blueprint and toolkit that can be adapted and used in other states and carceral settings, and a report that centers the experiences of people impacted by incarceration. Findings from the PRISM Project show how prison libraries support people who are incarcerated and their loved ones, as well as ways in which prison libraries can be improved.
This 90-minute webinar, hosted by the Colorado State Library, will be relevant to library and information workers from all types of libraries, as well as system-impacted people, including those who work in or adjacent to jails, prisons, and other carceral settings.
Presenters: Amy Bahlenhorst, Erin Boyington, Charissa Brammer, Sara Wicen, Chelsea Jordan-Makely and Carol Peeples