People often ask corrections librarians what it's like to work with prisoners. "Prisoners read???" is the most common response I hear when I tell people I've worked in jail, quickly followed by, "What exactly DO they read?" My answer probably disappoints anyone wanting to hear that books about lock-picking and Houdini's greatest escapes are on the most-wanted list in jail. The fact is, readers' advisory in correctional facilities mirrors readers advisory in most public libraries. Patrons from all walks of life express a limitless array of interests and preferences that we meet by matching seemingly random associations between subjects and authors to books that surprise and delight them.
Readers' advisory, whether your patron is a congressman or a con artist, is the ancient art of answering that ageless question: "What do I read now?" The professional resources public librarians trust, such as Genreflecting and Book Lust, Amazon.com's Listmania and Library Journal, are equally useful behind bars. But it's also true that discrete populations, i.e. senior women in retirement communities, pre-teen boys, or homeschooling families, often repeatedly request the same things. In my experience, inmate patrons tend to gravitate toward genre fiction -Ann Tyler can't compare to Anne Rice, nor can Pat Conroy compete with Patricia Cornwell. With this in mind, here are some suggestions for your inmate patrons who find themselves in the worst of all possible places - between good books with nothing to read!
Action/intrigue. Readers of Tom Clancy should enjoy Clive Cussler, Robert Ludlum, and John Sandford. Fans of military fiction and police procedurals can be steered toward Patricia Cornwell, W.E.B. Griffin, Hugh Holton, Jonathon Kellerman, Elmore Leonard, and Walter Mosley. Grisham fans do well with David Baldacci, Steve Martini, Richard North Patterson, and Scott Turow. Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye's devotees will also enjoy Frank Peretti.
Horror/suspense. Fans of realistic horror enjoy Jeffrey Deaver, Thomas Harris, Greg Iles, and James Patterson. Stephen King's readers also like Dean Koontz, Robert McCammon, Christopher Pike, and R.L Stine. Anne Rice's following often enjoy V.C. Andrews and Clive Barker.
Romance. Romance readers of both sexes are alive and well in jail, especially fans of the grittier urban romances of Mary B. Morrison and Carl Weber. Prominent African-American authors like Eric Jerome Dickey, E. Lynn Harris, Sheneska Jackson, Terry McMillan, and Omar Tyree enjoy greater appeal in prison than Nora Roberts and Danielle Steel. For purely frivolous, erotic escapism, Jackie Collins, Janet Evanovich, and Harold Robbins can't be beat.
Science fiction/fantasy. Fantasy readers who have exhausted Tolkien and Terry Brooks can turn to David Eddings, Raymond Feist, Terry Goodkind, Robert Jordan, and Tad Williams. Children's classics, such as Harry Potter and the Narnia series are perennial favorites that a lot of prisoners missed in childhood. (These books are also a great way to facilitate literacy-friendly dialogue between inmates and their children.) Dungeons and Dragons enthusiasts will enjoy the Forgotten Realms books by R.A. Salvatore, and the Dragonlance books, particularly those by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. All science fiction fans are well served with recommendations of Octavia Butler, Orson Scott Card, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein, Anne McCaffrey, and Dan Simmons. Graphic novels, with their strong visuals, fast pace, and popular science fiction/fantasy themes (especially superheroes), can hook patrons with lower reading levels without any shameful implications.
Urban fiction. Sex and street violence are what readers of Donald Goines are after. Other good recommendations are Iceberg Slim, Teri Woods, and Zane. Westerns. Max Brand, Matt Braun, Donald Clayton Porter, and Dana Fuller Ross appeal to Louis L'Amour aficionados. Readers preferring sexier stories like Tabor Evans, Jake Logan, and Jon Sharpe. William Johnstone is enjoyed by all.
While correctional facility libraries should encompass the spirit of public libraries' commitment to freedom of access and expression, corrections librarians must sensibly consider what materials they provide. You need to uphold the broadest possible acquisitions philosophy; the facility administration's job is to prohibit information posing obvious security risks. So, make sure you and administration agree upon a written collection development policy that allows the acquisition of I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, but excludes 101 Easy Ways For Jailbirds to Fly the Coop.
Readers advisory, like any humanistic activity in a dehumanizing environment, makes the walls surrounding prisoners disappear, if only for a little while. In an environment built on "no," good readers advisory allows us to say "yes," to literacy, to civility, and to life.
Erica MacCreaigh is Outreach Coordinator for Arapahoe Library District in Arapahoe County, Colorado and coauthor of Library Services to the Incarcerated: Applying the Public Library Model in Correctional Facility Libraries (Libraries Unlimited, 2006). She holds an MLIS from the University of Wisconsin and has fifteen years of public library experience, including almost three years at the Arapahoe County Detention Facility library.