Evening star., 1933-04-30

catalogue Listing an hooks by title,
author and subject. # 4 prisoner Is In
tefegted tn radio. he can qaAckly dls-
cover all the library hal 70 o6er on
that subject and the same with religion,
art, history or science.
Leaflet catalogues listing the books
available On particular subjects are
compiled by the Librarians and dis
trtbuted to the cells. The prisoner may
look over these lists and make q selec-
ton along some line that captures his
Of this distributing of lists has been
greatly increased demand for nom
fiction. Inmates whose sole interest in
the past has been In the more lurid
types OF fiction, and who did not read
at all when such books were unavail-
able, have turned to more solid read
ing with measurable educational ad-
yantages.
Before the improved system was
adopted, q prisoner would get q book
from the library, read it, and hand it
on to the man In the next cell There
was no record as to who had the vol
ume. Now books are charged to the
prisoner who takes them out, and it il
his duty to return them to the library
In this way, constant track is kept o,
all books, and 1t Is possible for man
who wants given book to put his name
ON waiting list for it and he will get
1t as soon as 1t Is released.
Practical Value Of Reading.
Now that the Federal prison libraries
are known to be responsibly conducted, it
has become practicable for public Ii
braries to lend special books for the
,,ca ~ inn, ofoe V,yIo ho VA aeLaJ For wa
terial to follow up a certain line Of
study. For example, Q report shows that
in one three month period the Leaven-
worth Penitentiary borrowed 421 books
from eight outside libraries on special
request from prisoners who wanted to
follow certain lines of inquiry farther
than the scope of the Leavenworth col
lection would permit.
Prison authorities and penolosists
are looking on the rehabilitation value
Of books with increased interest since
the Federal Bureau has shown what
can be done in stimulating the interest
Of inmates and giving them a new out
look and a new hope. The bureau has
the record Of q prisoner who was re-
garded as special problem. He was
respondent and obstinate. He was as
signed as q trusty to the library and
became so interested In the work that
at the end Of his term he opened a
book shop and made an entirely new
start in life. His work in the prison
library had given him profession and
an incentive to live useful life.
One Of the most deadening influences
in any penal institution is idleness The
long hours Of confinement with nothing
to do induce brooding The habit Of
occupying the time in constructive
reading which has been stimulated by
organized library methods has gone far
toward solving this problem. Within a
few months after the improved library
methods had been put into operation.
the use of books at Atlanta increased
1873 per cent; at Leavenworth 400 per
cent
Prison experts do not go so far as to
say that reading will reform a man
STEPPED in anti-social ways and with
deep-seated criminal instincts, but they
do assert that the sort Of library serv-
ice now available may well be credited
with preventing many prisoners from
drifting into such habits Of thought
through sheer boredom.