Interlibrary Loan Outreach to a Prison

Abstract

Research has shown that college courses in prisons can reduce recidivism, but inmates in correctional facilities who are taking college courses often have difficulty accessing research materials. Academic libraries can develop interlibrary loan programs with prisons that will allow inmates access to research materials from their collections. Such programs need not detract from services to constituent students and can be managed so that the program has very little impact on the college library staff's work load. An interlibrary lending relationship between Taft Correctional Institute and California State University, Bakersfield, is described.