Expanding Information Access for Incarcerated People is a nationwide project that ensures librarians and information professionals have the resources they need to advocate for, develop, and increase library services for people who are incarcerated or in the process of reentry. The grant work involves identifying existing library services for incarcerated people and building professional networks and resources, with the goal of solidifying library services for people who are or have been incarcerated as a focused area of professional concern.
The grant supported the American Library Association (ALA), in creating the 2024 Standards for Library Services for the Incarcerated or Detained. Ongoing collaborations with ALA involve the distribution and implementation of the Standards, as well as the development of digital literacy programming for people who are formerly incarcerated.
The project began in 2022 and includes coordinating virtual and in-person nationwide meetings, an online, interactive map of library and information services for people who are or have been incarcerated, a training series on library services and incarceration, and white papers that summarize recent research in the field. In-development projects include the creation of an early-career cohort of professionals and students engaged in this work.
CONVENINGS
Expanding Information Access for Incarcerated People grant staff hold annual invitation-only convenings of librarians to strengthen professional networks and provide best practices. Each convening brings together formerly incarcerated people, librarians, and information professionals to discuss the importance of providing library services to people who are incarcerated and to share best practices. Please subscribe to our newsletter if you are interested in information about future convenings.
The convenings build from an initial collaboration with the Colorado State Library’s Library Research Service and Chelsea Jordan-Makely to identify where library services were being provided in juvenile detention centers, jails, and prisons and how to better support these services. These findings were published in the Library Journal article “Growing services: Libraries creating services for incarcerated people.”
THE MAP
Grant staff are building and refining an online, interactive map that shows where and what types of services are available to incarcerated people. The map contextualizes library services within statistics about incarceration and includes other information resources that are available to incarcerated people. The goal of this map is to help librarians find one another and identify models that fit their library systems and locations. It is also a tool that advocates, families, and friends of incarcerated people can utilize to find free books and information services for their loved ones inside.
TRAINING SERIES
Grant staff have drawn on their professional networks to create a virtual training series for librarians, library staff, and information providers who provide library services to people negatively impacted by incarceration. Each video is opened by a formerly incarcerated person speaking on the role of books and libraries in their life. The 10-video training series is available on the Jail and Reentry Services YouTube playlist (titles begin with "Training"). Videos are captioned in English and Spanish and full transcripts are linked to each video.
Additionally, librarians and information workers can receive a free certificate for viewing each training through ALA's learning platform.
STANDARDS
Under the leadership of Tracie D. Hall, the American Library Association coordinated experts from across the country to revise the Standards for Library Services for the Incarcerated and Detained. The new version of the Standards was approved by the ALA Council at the Annual Conference in June 2023 and launched at the ALA Annual Conference in June 2024. Click here for information about the new version of the Standards.
REENTRY
ALA supported a Digital Literacy Fellow who researched and prototyped how libraries can support people who are formerly incarcerated to develop their digital literacy skills. This work resulted in the T.E.C.H. For Reentry: Digital Literacy and Public Library Programming for Formerly Incarcerated Community Members white paper, published by the American Library Association in December of 2025.
ONGOING RESEARCH
Grant staff are conducting ongoing research related to library services for incarcerated people. This research includes reviewing academic and popular publications, locating information about existing services on library websites, and reading policy documents created by carceral facilities. The Expanding Information Access for Incarcerated People project has produced two white papers related to library services for people who are incarcerated. One is on “Trends and concerns in library services for incarcerated people and people in the process of reentry” and the other is on “Technology in carceral facilities.”
Standards for Library Services for the Incarcerated or Detained
"The 2024 American Library Association Standards for Library Services for the Incarcerated or Detained provides guidance, best practices, and models for implementing library services in carceral settings. It attends to the current phenomenon of mass incarceration, the inequitable incarceration rates of BIPOC individuals, and the rising rates of incarceration of women (especially women of color). It pays special attention to the incarceration of LGBTQIA+ individuals, undocumented individuals, and youth, as well as to the information needs of returning individuals." (See https://alaeditions.org/standards/ for more information about the Standards.)
The 2024 Standards for Library Services for the Incarcerated or Detained are available to download as a no-cost PDF. View or download the document detailing library service standards for incarcerated or detained individuals.
SFPL is distributing print copies of the Standards to librarians across the country. To request a free copy, please click here to submit a request form.
Copies will be sent monthly while supplies are available.
Training videos related to the Standards (from ALA)
T.E.C.H. for Reentry white paper (from ALA)
ALA's Office of Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services released the white paper T.E.C.H. for Reentry: Digital Literacy and Public Library Programming for Formerly Incarcerated Community Members in December of 2025. The white paper outlines the development of Technology Education and Computer Help (T.E.C.H.) for Reentry, a digital literacy training program for people returning to their communities after incarceration. The paper offers lessons from four pilot public library sites and best practices for library professionals interested in developing programs for formerly incarcerated people.
Expanding Services Together Cohort
Expanding Services Together: Learning and Modeling Library Services for People Negatively Impacted by Incarceration is an early career cohort of co-learners focused on developing professional skills and advocacy related to library services for currently and formerly incarcerated people. The 2025 cohort brought together 29 librarians and information workers from across the country over three months. Cohort members built professional connections and created proposals for new and more robust library services for people who are or have been incarcerated.
The 2026 Expanding Services Together is an upcoming learning cohort for early career library and information workers, LIS students, and members of community-based projects. It is an opportunity to develop professional skills related to library services for people who are or have been incarcerated.
Focus areas
- Reviewing models of library services
- Responding to information needs created by incarceration
- Responding to information needs created by reentry
- Creating cultural- and gender-responsive services
- Locating community resources
- Supporting digital literacy
The upcoming cohort will take place in the fall of 2026. The cohort will be composed of approximately 20 members. Information about applicant criteria and the first round of application materials will be made available on January 9th, 2026, and will be announced through the Expanding Information Access for Incarcerated People newsletter. Please subscribe to the newsletter at this link.
The due date for the first step in the application process is February 9, 2026.
Training Series Videos
Mapping Library Services
If your library provides library services to incarcerated people that aren’t represented on the map, please let us know!
This map may not load in Firefox. Please click through to the larger map or use another browser if you are experiencing issues viewing the map.
Inside Knowledge Art Exhibition
Inside Knowledge was special exhibition of works exploring perspectives on information access, all created by artists who are incarcerated. The exhibition launched on 6/27/24 at SFPL’s 3rd Convening of Librarians & Information Workers Who Work with Incarcerated People & People in the Process of Reentry, then moved to the San Diego Convention Center for ALA’s Annual Conference & Exhibition. More about the exhibit, including images of the artwork, is available here.
Advisory Committee
Expanding Information Access for Incarcerated People grant staff are especially grateful for our advisory committee, which helps to guide our grant-related work. This committee consists of individuals who have been incarcerated or have incarcerated and previously incarcerated loved ones, groups that consist of currently and formerly incarcerated members, and experts on the types of information that people who are incarcerated most need and desire.
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