It seems I have been outed... time for change...

Mostly it was a very busy, but satisfying work day. I got the new books and donations processed and linked and into circulation, got half the ILL requests sent, CDs tomorrow, sent out three bins full of return ILLs and some ILLs requested from us. Yes I carried it down the stairs in one trip, I keep thinking I am special.

A visitor dropped in, he works as a volunteer, helping with whatever the Governor can't find funds for, and since there is a hiring freeze that seems to be a lot. He remembered me from years ago, I had attended a Kairos closing and he had asked if I would write something up about my experience - he remembered that I had. Go ahead, ask me to write, anyway, he said of the forty or more people he has asked only three have written. I don't work in Kairos as long as I work inside the fence, too confusing to the inmates is my reasoning. I still help bake cookies at the church when I can. I gave him my business card, with the blog title and my personal emails on the back. I also had a nice talk with two of the Corrections Officers coming in and working, asking how I was, did I need a break - it was only last Wednesday that I fainted, wasn't it? We did get the Segregation Unit books out and picked up the returns, so even having things still undone (we had a five minute Earthquake drill!) I was feeling good about going home and returning tomorrow.

It is raining, I have mentioned that haven't I? and as I left the Visitors' Building I saw a man ahead of me folding up his umbrella, so I called and asked him if he knew it was raining, and he said did you hear what she said. She being the officer in the tower controlling the gate sally port. I said no, I hadn't heard her, and I stood waiting for the gate to open for me, and it didn't.

So I waited, and then the officer said plainly that one couldn't open an umbrella until they cleared the second gate to the outside of the fence. And she called me a "Jackass". I had been outed. I did mention that I didn't have an umbrella, my ID was on the outside of my leather jacket, and I am now known to the world waiting at the gate as a Jackass. Feeling as bad as she wanted me to feel, standing in the rain, at a gate she wouldn't open, not being allowed to verbally assault the Corrections Officer in the fine performance of her duty, I turned to the other people that were waiting, and explained to three of the ladies with open umbrellas that they would have to close them and make sure their ID cards were showing before the officer that had called me a name would open the gate. They closed their umbrellas and we all got through the two gates the officer controlled without having to submit to any further abuse.

It really was my fault, being a Jackass, it isn't the officer's fault that she had to tell the world that I am less than human. She does have the responsibility to make sure that no inmates or other monsters of various persuasions sneak out under the cover of an umbrella. It is really true, if I were to continue to work at a place that I am not given a civil level of respect that I am sure I am a Jackass.

Being mentioned in Dispatches, don't you know?

In the Empire's military, being mentioned in Dispatches was sure to bring attention to your heroic (or otherwise) achievements, and since many could not buy their next promotion it remained a valued measure of one's capabilities and potential. Well, I have been mentioned in the Travelling Librarian's Report of 2009.




"4.1.3 McNeil Island Corrections Centre
McNeil Island Corrections Centre is a 20 minute ferry ride from the mainland and
is a facility for male medium security offenders. As it takes time to access the
prison some staff live on the island, outside the facility, in case of emergencies.
There is also a special commitments centre on the island which holds sex
offenders who have finished their sentence but are considered too dangerous to
be released. These men do not have access to the library in the prison and as the
centre is not considered to be a prison no library is provided within it.

McNeil Island has the capacity to hold around 1,000 prisoners and the prisoners
work in all areas, including on the ferry carrying staff and visitors from the
mainland. The library has a stock of around 17,000 books as well as the music
collection. Earl, the associate at McNeil Island had integrated the easy readers
into the general collection although they were still identifiable by a yellow sticker, but he found that the men were more likely to borrow them this way, indicating that they found it embarrassing to be seen borrowing the easy readers than other books."

What are you going to do when they close MICC?

One of my patrons asked me that on Monday night, thinking I would worry about losing my job, I smiled and said "I guess I will have to find another one, just like I found this one." But the buzz is that the State of Washington is broke and going to close up many things and everyone is going to be in terrible trouble. KING 5 News breaks the story about McNeil Island Corrections Center being offered up by the Senate, so it must be true. Of more import to me is the number of VIPs from the Department of Correction that are coming to look around - what are they looking for? They weren't here before?

I think the entire ECONOMIC CRISIS is manufactured to get people frightened, obligated to the government, and staring into the lights of the oncoming train wreck. So I am not worried and lifting some great thoughts from a lady I decide to iron my shirts, one of which is pink, but mostly blues and watch Serenity not that I identify with any of the heroes and heroines but I really do believe that males must engage in combat in order to succeed in reproduction - one isn't supposed to happen without the other - ask Darwin. I am so happily broken into my mold. Y'all be good for the best of reasons, no one from the government messes with the good folks, they don't need much attention.

So what happened to my problem?

Well, after I left the island he continued to cause trouble where he could, almost got pounded by my crew as he decided to talk bad about them. Then he went into his drama with the Corridor Officer, again. And finally he went for his medication after pill line was closed and upset the officers there. So he was handcuffed and allowed his medications and as I was going home he went into the Hole - F unit, for segregation and attention. If I were a real betting man I would put my money on he wanted to get out of his unit because someone was after him - or he had stopped taking his medication and was out of control. I think it was someone is after him and F-unit does mean you are safe from inmates. I pulled three books for him to read, Dorothy Dunnett's King Hereafter, Stephen Hunter's Hot Springs, and David Morrell's First Blood. That should hold him until next week.

In the mail comes Newsweek deciding we are now Socialists, Time magazine wants to get rid of Handguns (196?) and Newsweek calls us Socialists (proudly), at least the Swimsuit Issue of Sports Illustrated arrived - I looked it over carefully, none of the models represent me nor my dreams - I am so out of it. But noting things like I do, more smiles from the cheerleaders than the bikini'd babes on the beaches - boring and bored looking doesn't do it for me, I am going for the smiles that reach the eyes. I am going for American Supermodel V-rod Muscle 14 month calendar. She wasn't there.... failed again.

Really, I could just browse and feed my read all day

The amazing amount of material to find on the Internet. Will never become more than I am if I don't break free, and what is that Facebook thing? Pictures and text (almost) messaging. I think I see a greater divide between the generations and education systems - wonder where that change will lead the country and the world.

Getting time to close the library for the year, had 715 circs, yesterday in only three hours, the evening session was closed due to transfer of contraband, or almost escape attempt during the Visiting Movements - I downloaded records for donated CDs while my crew had Picture Card Count with the rest of the prison population. About two hour delay in ferry boats while they re-established their security inside the fence, so I rode a packed ferry with lots of families that had been visiting. The visitors took it all in stride.

The annual wrap up of numbers for the year, the cleaning of 2008 from the computers, the blocking of days in the 2009 calendar for meetings, holidays and just because I can will happen at my last hour in the library on McNeil Island for 2008. I will know what I did, the numbers will reflect my opening and closing the doors and the patrons that visited. About my personal goals for the year, they didn't happen - don't think lists work well - I did shoot better, ride better, and knocking off the medications has made me feel much better the last few months.

King County Jail has decided to save money by using Corrections Officers instead of librarians to provide library services to their prisoners. I know how well that will work - it all depends on the officer and how much care they have about the mission. They sold it on doubling the budget for buying new materials - from $15,000 to $30,000 for books. Sounds like a good deal but the price of paperbacks has gone from 7.99 to 9.99 or 14.00 for large urban fiction so I figure they will get just about the same number of books unless they are visiting Half-price Books more often. In the end it is all about the budget, there isn't that much money around they gave it to the bankers, or some such thing. I was denied access to GuitarWorld on the internet, couldn't get an article requested about Shredding, so I asked the IT folks - the answer - officially, is that if they are going to deny access to that site for the Department of Corrections employees then the inmate patrons can't go there either. Land of the Free, home of the ? It isn't censorship if they are protecting the children is it?

Obviously, I had better get a better attitude and put a smile back in my heart and head - I am about to work in a prison again and need to make that as small a prison as possible, and allow my library to open all the escape hatches in everyone's mind and day. Later!

After a bit: packed out the donated paperbacks - I encourage everyone to donate to the USO, prisons, and places where people wait for better times (homeless and battered women's shelters) those paperbacks you read once or gifts you haven't gotten around to reading yet, re-cycle and load up another person's mind with mush and matter. It really helps when someone needs escape and motivation and company.

I also took the garbage out, since they missed us in the snows, and along my path I found the set of missing house and car keys. Mine, and I feel better about seeing grass and tossed beer cans if I can find good stuff for my piece of mind. Already my lucky day, better check the Lotto tickets!

Back on the Island in the Library...

I keep forgetting the thousands of people that are waiting for news about the Library, so here goes. I have had my annual evaluation: I am found to be in compliance more often than not, I am a bit better when working with others, I am keeping the Gang of Three posted and aware, will have to check the banned books list more often, and I have weeding priorities scheduled with my monthly reports. I feel much better this year than last - since being thought of (and on record) as not polite shamed my parents' best efforts and myself. Only five more to go?

The Audit team for the ACA certification had their three day visit, and the entire prison glowed - but I am mostly proud of two and a half of the library work crew and the Corridor Porter as technical expert in the wax, fast buffer (red pad, white pad), cold water or snapback. They put a mirror finish on the library floor yesterday morning that was remarkable - and so I am remarking about it. If the bakery were open I would be buying them a dozen doughnuts apiece, might even plug in the coffee pot if I didn't fear it would spoil them. The Audit went well, the Superintendent sent us an email saying so and I forwarded it to my bosses.

We have been hitting the weeding hard, and finding way too many books with pages missing, pictures removed and in general destroyed for petty gratification. Discouraging, since there was a comment posted on our Institutional Library Services blog about how Washington Prison Libraries have a reputation for quality materials and service, if we are a bit discouraged what is it like caring for a library that is completely falling apart? The destroyed books are removed from the collection, the ones that wore out are replaced - and I love replacing books that have been read a few hundred times to the point un-repairable. But I almost cry about the ones that Stupid destroyed for his personal pleasure - and it doesn't help when someone says - well we are in a prison everyone here is a lawbreaker. Our recently re-elected Governess has been scrabbling to find a couple tons of money - she will be right behind the next bailout plan - since most of her tax money is from latte sales and they aren't hot except at the bikini bottomed Latte stand. Overall she is looking at cutting services and programs and although prisons can't be cut - she says - the stuffing inside of them is up for grabs. The inmates will get cheap comic books and boring government manuals for self improvement in their future.

Which brings me back to the coming new Hope, I am thinking the heat under the pot we have all been swimming in will get turned up. Don't know if it will boil us before we jump or not, but I have seen two comparisons that remind me about how fragile civilization is for a country and voter choice having dire results - the election of Hitler (he didn't seem to have bad things in mind for Germany) and the elections in Rhodesia that produced Zimbabwe - going from a country that fed millions to one that can't feed itself. If pirates from Somalia, that fine country of gangs and clans and tribes, can take ships at sea and the civilized world looks on fearing insurance rates might go up, I wonder if it isn't time to allow the whole thing to collapse. Lets us all go hide under our beds until the uglies get hauled off by the enlightened government of goodness sakes. Then I remember that I am working in a prison library, the shelves and patrons are full of fantasy and ugly reality, I have to bring some order find the correct information and attempt, one patron at a time, to make a difference -- my posterity depends on it. Yours does, too. Be careful out there.

Yes, I am still working in the prison library...

Travelling Librarian Award

An award jointly sponsored by the ESU and The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) is granted each year to a professionally qualified librarian working in British libraries or information centres. The programme is designed to encourage US/UK contacts in the library world and the visit is for two weeks and normally takes place in the autumn.

The 2008 travel grant has been awarded to Sibylla Parkhill from HMP, Bronzefield who will travel to the US in Autumn 2008.

Washington State Library (ILS) is hosting her visits to four of our Institutional Library branches next week, I think she is in Maryland this week touring. I received the clearance yesterday and the coordination has been made. Weather permitting and the creek don't rise it should be very interesting. We are doing better at making sure the world knows that the Institutional Library Services exist and what a fine job we are doing. I should inform the Superintendent and his Associates that she is coming, he saw me on the steps taking mail down and asked how the Book Business was - I told him it was great, we had six hundred plus circulation yesterday with the reduced evening open hour, that is a good thing.

Strange day and staff is appreciated...

This week has Department of Corrections appreciating staff, got a fortune cookie on Tuesday, mine didn't have the big prize but I liked the motivational message and one fortune cookie isn't bad. They honored the staff with food for two days - I stayed with my sandwiches and apples. The new corridor officer in training got my library shut down for an hour, then I had only one inmate worker left and we shut down for the last hour and worked in clean up. The Callout has two inmates coming to start working and that will be very good.

The large Drug bust of the college students must have gotten the Corrections Officers busy, there was a bust of Upper A unit, and after they emptied it and searched, they started selecting, packing out and removing the members of the ring exposed. All afternoon they marched individuals to the F-unit for further investigation and such things authorized by the Justice Department. We have three mail bins of books for F-unit that couldn't be delivered yesterday, we will deliver them today.

After work I stopped and got my Dragon Case for my boot knife, and tested wearing it at home while working and stuff. I like it and it is right to hand, although I am sure I will use my Leatherman Wave more often than the boot knife at my back. I wore my compact pistol the other day and was impressed with how little I noticed it. Which is where one should always hope to be, the state of mind that isn't minding. Just be aware of what is happening and your portion of the World's events - may it always be very small and happily contented.

Good Help hard to find, or I am a harsh taskmaster

Of the last four inmate workers I have hired, only one remains. The very educated and well read and very eloquent man decided that I had shorted him for two months on his hours and that he couldn't physically do the work since he had some joint problems he needed medical help for. One decided that he could steal, felt guilty and confessed, returned what he had stolen and is now in "the HOLE" for something else. The last one of the missing three is on room restriction (stays in room except for meals and work) and decided that he didn't need to come to work yesterday. So just two inmate clerks and I manned the library and circulated an extra hundred items during the afternoon above what four of them and I had done the day before.

Until I have truly two terminations I cannot hire two new workers, so we will struggle along but will be open and circulating and answering questions. I wonder if employment is so fragile on the outside, is it a constant hiring process - when I think of work I think that the manager at the local grocery, the clerk at checkout have been there forever, but then a whole group of supporting workers seem to be in constant flux. We did go to drop off hot trash and dirty rags, picking up a bundle of clean rags and dust mop heads. The inmates that frequent the library love to call to us and say hello from where they are working as we pass by; everyone strives to be noticed, feel friendly and be seen at 'their' work. The leather hobby guy brought my belt back and the Dragon design he had made for me - very nice work. Since it was a custom job he learned many things while he created it twice to get it right. Some of the inmates take real pride in what they do well. One of the older workers long ago told me that he could get a crew to clean out my home in less than two hours - just get them off the island - they would take care of the truck and such as they did the job. Not really well rehabilitated, but proud of their work skills in criminal enterprise... he is still a great worker, just not in the library now.

True Crimes

Well, I had a patron with a problem today, and I am kind of a problem solver. He wanted to know how he could have asked for a music CD on ILL, since he hadn't done that and he wanted to stop it from happening in the future. So I told him that I would put his account on restriction and when he really wanted library materials all he had to do was see me and I could fix it for him.

I asked him how it felt to be a victim of ID theft. Our policy is only one ILL per patron active at any time, and they (the criminal master minds) figure out that putting the request in another's name will be okay. Then when the material arrives they ask for it and get it - if my clerks are corrupt or not checking the patron name against the ID they just scanned.

I could recommend to the Institutional Library Leadership (bosses by any other name) that we first scan the patron ID (to check name against ILL request and for the patron having no ILLs) but that would be one step closer to slowing the whole system to a crashing stop.

Corrections Centers don't stop the criminal conduct; just its rewards, we are in a completely no smoking facility and the inmates will tell you that only the cost of tobacco has changed. And I would say the open display of foolish behavior over tobacco - but that is just my observation.