Law Library Conversations: Learning Curve

This day, I went to the Law Library to work on my case.

As is seemingly the norm, there were only a handful of us in this prison's library out of our population of over 1,800 people. I made a mental observation that pained me a little:
Wow. The marijuana dispensary I visited back home could fit our entire library in it five times, minimum.

It is simultaneously true and sad, where a prison library is so small that if it had 240 square feet, it just might be an improvement.

The Joint

...no pun intended. 😄
This place is tiny, cramped, and may have room for one non-bariatric wheelchair user at a time on a low traffic day. There's a small smattering of general library books, mostly fiction novels that are worn out, with pages torn or missing in many books. The covers have been repaired or outright replaced with a manila folder cut to size and bound in place with book or packaging tape.
'New' books make it to the library via resident donations -- someone might have way too many books, and must be rid of some to make space in their locker. Many of those books arrive through the various prison literature services, or through purchases from companies like Thriftbooks or the Books 'n Things Warehouse.

Library traffic is curtailed by a requirement of a callout to attend either General Library or Law Library -- if you have neither, you may not enter this tiny broom closet of a library without risk of receiving a disciplinary report, which works against you if you're trying to return to the Courts and win your freedom.

Now, my trip there was largely uneventful -- I worked out a way to find some of the content I was searching, and took some notes.

As I was returning on the North walk to my dorm, a gentleman who was also in there asked me a question, observing that I was going all the way down the walk to the Faith and Character Based and Ashland University Dorm.

He has a year left to go before he returns to the free world. He wanted to know if he has enough time to get a degree through the university here. I give him the unfortunate news: The program will only accept you if your sentence is between two and ten years, and will turn you away if not. He then asks about the Faith and Character Based Program. It similarly needs at least 18 months for completion, which he does not have.

He's upset, because he wants to do something useful with the remainder of his sentence, instead of just moldering away in a meat warehouse for the time. For a person with a high school diploma or equivalent, many, if not most of us will be told we're at the peak of our education, there is nothing else, stop asking. We are to believe that we are not here to be rehabilitated, just punished for the time we were sentenced.

News Flash!

Think about this for a moment.
Many of us in prison have an "out date", also known as an "EOS date". It's the day the courts have said we are done with being in a prison environment. We may then have probation to serve, which hangs more prison over our heads if we do not follow a new set of rules.
Ultimately, however, many of us end up on the streets as your neighbors.
One of us might hand you your coffee in the morning at your coffee shop of choice. Another might be the server at the little café your partner likes. That guy over there? He spotted a leak in your brake line when you came in to just have the tires rotated, saving future you's life.
Maybe it's just me, but wouldn't it make sense to do good to those in prison, to offer opportunities for improvement for as many people as possible in a robust manner?

What do?

I ended up giving that gentleman my only handwritten copy of services outside that work with us inside to help us further our education and potential. It's okay, though: I think he will make good use of that list and his remaining time. I tell him I have a similar quandary: too much time, so I can't go to university here, either.

Needs Patches

How, pray tell, do we fix the quandary of prisoners desperate to rehabilitate, eager to learn, desiring of a chance to strengthen their minds and sharpen their skills?

Give them programs, education with educators eager to teach our audiences. It's a learning experience for the educators, as well! Teaching in an adverse environment like prison requires skill to overcome traumas that prisoners may have suffered, and are still suffering.
Many, if not most prisoners are working to overcome self esteem issues implanted into them during their formative years. Imagine having someone who raised you tell you all the time that you're never going to amount to anything, that you'll never finish school, that you aren't smart. Now see them fulfill this prophecy so far in their life.

They're in prison now.

Can we work to end what could be a generational curse?
By celebrating the victories as they come, I believe we can.
Treating each success as a milestone, understanding that people don't want participation trophies, knowing that each milestone is 5/9ths stone (which makes them great for laying foundations to build on)...

They're in prison now.
They were in prisons. Now they're out of one mental prison, and feel ready to tackle the challenges of getting out of physical prison.

Let's turn this into a Build-A-Neighbor factory, shall we?