Many prisoners regret their criminal behavior and resolve to change their ways. Few places in the prison offer a more exciting opportunity to get inmates invested in lasting rehabilitative change than the prison library, yet many Departments of Correction undervalue the changed-based potential of both library and Librarian as vital pieces of the rehabilitative puzzle.

If you are a current professional prison librarian, library science student interested in prison librarianship, have a strong interest in services to prisoners or are motivate to partner with prison librarians to expand library services to prisoners, we invite you to register today for , a 5 week course beginning on Monday, October 7, 2019.

The instructor, William D. Mongelli, Institution Librarian, Massachusetts Correctional Institution, has worked as a librarian for the Massachusetts Department of Correction (DOC), taught inmates Lexis research skills, consequential thinking, humor-as-therapy, book discussions and ABE library orientation. He has given DOC workshops on legal research, prison library history, and constructive workplace humor. Since 2001, Bill has taught both in-person and online courses in prison library management for San Jose State University. During this course, he will share examples of course materials, curricula and post-program data analysis.

Additionally, the course will discuss ways to advocate for the library as a program environment (as opposed to being a simple management tool). Library-based programs such as consequential thinking, book discussions, writing-as-therapy, humor-as-therapy in the correctional environment, and the respectful treatment of women will be examined.

This course is brought to you by the a division of the 91´«Ã½.