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Rae-Anne Montague, Joe Coyle, and Jeanie AustinGraduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Youth Empowerment in the Champaign County Juvenile Detention Center Library
ReferencesHayes, M. (2007). From State Policy to Classroom Practice: Improving Literacy Instruction for All Students. National Association of State Boards of Education. Alexandria, VA.
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. (2009). Juvenile Justice 2008. Juvenile Justice Bulletin.
Vacca, J. (2008). Crime Can Be Prevented If Schools Teach Juvenile Offenders to Read. Children and Youth Services Review, 30, 1055-1062
Next Steps• Continue building collaboration
• Collection development
• Create programming
• Fund raising
• Link to curriculum
• Develop youth-centered research
• Disseminate
Addressing the Information Needs of Youth in the Detention Center
• Provide access to a range of interesting and
relevant materials.
• Hold book talks and discussion groups on
stories and themes that emphasize decision
making skills and restorative outcomes.
• Collaborate with peer mentoring
organizations to create programming that is
empowering and responds to the residents’
interests.
• Develop library skills training so that
residents can effectively utilize the public
library as a community and educational
resource upon release.
Why Are Juvenile Detention Center Libraries Important?
• Nearly 100,000 youth are held in detention
facilities on any given day. (OFJJDP, 2009).
• 1/3 of juvenile offenders read below the
fourth grade level (Hayes, 2007).
• Most juvenile offenders who exit detention
facilities after the age of 16 do not return to
any formal school program (Vacca, 2008).
• 2/3 of prison inmates dropped out of high
school (Hayes, 2007).
Goals• Youth will have an improved sense of
community resources and public library
services.• Youth will be more likely to seek out
information related to their interests.• Literacy rates of incarcerated youth will be
improved.• Juvenile offender recidivism rates will
decrease.• Librarians and GSLIS affiliates will have new
opportunities to engage in offering services
in several essential areas, including library
outreach, collection development, and
information literacy.• Community groups will collaborate and
engage with an otherwise removed
population.
..
The Champaign County Juvenile Detention Center (CCJDC) is a short-term correctional facility with a resident capacity of 40. The majority of the CCJDC resident population is from historically
underserved groups (75-77% of youth are African American).
The Peer Ambassadors A group of African-American
and Latino/a youth that provides peer mentoring, counseling and education in Champaign County. This youth organization initiated the juvenile detention center
library project.
Urbana Free LibraryThe detention center library is being modeled after Urbana Free in order to increase the youths’ familiarity with public
library organization. The library also contributes materials to the
detention center.
To ensure sustainability, this project takes a collaborative approach to renovating library services. The collaboration currently involves the following organizations.
Books2PrisonersA community-based
organization that provides
donated materials to inmates
throughout Illinois.
The library in the Champaign County Juvenile Detention Center is located by the classrooms. Fiction books are grouped by reading level. Non-fiction books are organized by topic.
Learn more about the project by visiting
http://elseyjdc.wordpress.com/
Creating the CollaborationThe dedicated staff at the Champaign County Detention Center have maintained a library for many years.Through focus groups sessions with youth at the detention center, the Peer Ambassadors identified a need for materials that reflected the lived experiences and interests of the residents. The Peer Ambassadors partnered with the Graduate School of Library and Information Science to rebuild the collection and link to the public library.
Graduate School of Library and Information Science
Staff and students from the
school support the project by
providing input on organization,
materials selection, fundraising,
and project promotion.