Systemic Oppression and the Contested Ground of Information Access for Incarcerated People
Library and information science (LIS), as a whole, has not prioritized the information access of people inside of jails and prisons as a central tenet of library practice At the moment, there is growing attention given to states’ attempts to curtail book access for people inside of jails and prisons...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
De Gruyter
2020-12-01
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| Series: | Open Information Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/opis-2020-0013 |
| _version_ | 1818677609875111936 |
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| author | Austin Jeanie Charenko Melissa Dillon Michelle Lincoln Jodi |
| author_facet | Austin Jeanie Charenko Melissa Dillon Michelle Lincoln Jodi |
| author_sort | Austin Jeanie |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Library and information science (LIS), as a whole, has not prioritized the information access of people inside of jails and prisons as a central tenet of library practice At the moment, there is growing attention given to states’ attempts to curtail book access for people inside of jails and prisons. Groups that provide free books to incarcerated people -- such as the numerous Books to Prisoners programs across the United States -- have been central to the discussions around access to information and resistance to censorship. These groups have drawn particular attention to the ways that Black, Indigenous, and people of color, as well as LGBTQ people, in prison experience ongoing oppression during incarceration because of limited access to materials relevant to their experiences. By identifying the types of information that are banned or limited, the difficulties people who are incarcerated face in seeking to access information, and the impact that access to information has in the lives of people who are incarcerated, this article explains prison censorship as a form of state-sponsored oppression, which is largely being combated by Books to Prisoners rather than LIS. The article ends by explaining LIS’ lack of attention to information access for people who are incarcerated. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T09:02:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a0aab3bb81e3445a965f5c2ff64dfd35 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2451-1781 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T09:02:06Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | De Gruyter |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Open Information Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-a0aab3bb81e3445a965f5c2ff64dfd352022-12-21T21:55:41ZengDe GruyterOpen Information Science2451-17812020-12-014116918510.1515/opis-2020-0013opis-2020-0013Systemic Oppression and the Contested Ground of Information Access for Incarcerated PeopleAustin Jeanie0Charenko Melissa1Dillon Michelle2Lincoln Jodi3San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, CA United StatesMichigan State University, East Lansing, MI United States and LGBT Books to Prisoners, Madison, WI United StatesBooks to Prisoners, Seattle, WA United StatesBook ‘Em, Pittsburgh, PA United StatesLibrary and information science (LIS), as a whole, has not prioritized the information access of people inside of jails and prisons as a central tenet of library practice At the moment, there is growing attention given to states’ attempts to curtail book access for people inside of jails and prisons. Groups that provide free books to incarcerated people -- such as the numerous Books to Prisoners programs across the United States -- have been central to the discussions around access to information and resistance to censorship. These groups have drawn particular attention to the ways that Black, Indigenous, and people of color, as well as LGBTQ people, in prison experience ongoing oppression during incarceration because of limited access to materials relevant to their experiences. By identifying the types of information that are banned or limited, the difficulties people who are incarcerated face in seeking to access information, and the impact that access to information has in the lives of people who are incarcerated, this article explains prison censorship as a form of state-sponsored oppression, which is largely being combated by Books to Prisoners rather than LIS. The article ends by explaining LIS’ lack of attention to information access for people who are incarcerated.https://doi.org/10.1515/opis-2020-0013books to prisonerscensorshipincarcerated peopleinformation accessoppressionstate power |
| spellingShingle | Austin Jeanie Charenko Melissa Dillon Michelle Lincoln Jodi Systemic Oppression and the Contested Ground of Information Access for Incarcerated People Open Information Science books to prisoners censorship incarcerated people information access oppression state power |
| title | Systemic Oppression and the Contested Ground of Information Access for Incarcerated People |
| title_full | Systemic Oppression and the Contested Ground of Information Access for Incarcerated People |
| title_fullStr | Systemic Oppression and the Contested Ground of Information Access for Incarcerated People |
| title_full_unstemmed | Systemic Oppression and the Contested Ground of Information Access for Incarcerated People |
| title_short | Systemic Oppression and the Contested Ground of Information Access for Incarcerated People |
| title_sort | systemic oppression and the contested ground of information access for incarcerated people |
| topic | books to prisoners censorship incarcerated people information access oppression state power |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1515/opis-2020-0013 |
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