Books Behind Bars documentary screening – March 31st
The GELA Women’s Prison Library and Reintegration Subcommittee and the Edmonton Public Library invite you to attend the screening of Books Behind Bars on March 31 at 7 pm in the Theatre of the Stanley A. Milner Library in downtown Edmonton.
Books Behind Bars is a short documentary film that follows the development and growth of the library, its programs, and the people inside the only multi-level women’s prison facility in Western Canada.
Over the past few years, the Subcommittee has grown from a group of four librarians to a group of over twenty active volunteers, who organize many projects, such as books clubs, book drives, and borrowing projects. Among these is the Storybook Project, where the volunteers record women reading to their children, and send the recordings, along with the books, to their children.”
A panel discussion will follow the presentation. This event is being held as a fundraiser to support the on-going library projects at the prison and to purchase materials for the prison library – anyone can attend for free but the suggested donation is $10 or whatever you can afford. Other donations will also be gratefully accepted.
The Current Podcast: Women’s Prisons
Today, CBC’s The Current ran a segment about Women’s Prisons in Canada:
The Federal Government is considering a bill that would bring in mandatory minimum sentences for some crimes. That would mean more people in Canada’s prisons. And according to the Correctional Investigator of Canada, that’s a big problem … especially for women.
You can listen to the podcast of the interview with “Rachel” a woman on parole who speaks very frankly about her experiences in Grand Valley Prison in Ontario, as well as an interview with Howard Sapers the Ombudsman for Corrections Canada.
Senator Mitchell’s statement to the Senate about Women in Prisons in Canada
Back in October, Senator Grant Mitchell attended one of our fundraising events and spoke to a number of our committee volunteers about the work we are doing at the Edmonton Institution for Women. Inspired by that event, Senator Mitchell rose in the Senate in December and delivered the following statement:
US children & parents in prison
A good story on the BBC about kids whose parents are in prison.
For those of you into quantifiable data, the BBC article also refers to this report on the “collateral costs” of increasing incarceration levels in the U.S.
GELA Christmas Brunch
Hi everyone, not to be a pest, but please come to the GELA Christmas Brunch next weekend on the 11th. There will be a fascinating speaker (with sock puppets!), delicious food, charming company, hot coffee, august surroundings… in other words, everything you could possibly want from a holiday brunch. AND MORE. PLEASE COME!
10 US prisons with impressive libraries
An intrepid reader sent in this link: 10 US Prisons with Impressive Libraries.
Committee Email list updated (again)
Please see Jocelyn’s private post from September 24 about the email contact list. I just added a bunch more names – so please use that list as the most recently updated one!
And remember that the post with the list is set to private so you need to be logged in as an administrator to see it. Contact Jocelyn to hook you up with the all-powerful admin status!
Thanks!
Wishlist update
Just a quick note to say — the wishlist has been updated. Thanks to those who sent in their suggestions. If you have blog editing privileges on this page, you can edit that page as well. Go ahead and do so if you see any omissions or errors. Or send changes to me. Thanks, JB
Meeting minutes: October 25 general committee
Thanks to Jorden for being awesome minute-taker!
The minutes of the meeting are here: 25_10-2010 Minutes
Please be aware of all ACTION items in the minutes (they are highlighted in red) – also, there are a few volunteer opportunities to be aware of (also highlighted in red):
- Volunteering for Storybook project
- Volunteering with bookclub(s)
- Volunteering with the EPL book borrowing project
- Volunteering on the fundraising committee to put on a art show/fundraiser at Latitude 53 in the new year
Thanks to everyone who attended and to all those who submitted reports/regrets!
Updated Donations Wishlist
I updated the donations wishlist today. Please take a look at it if you’re collecting.
The updated list contains titles that are presently circulating at EIFW through the EPL borrowing project; however, Cathee flagged these items as high demand and added them to the donations list. A number of title requests from the previous wishlist were filled through the EPL borrowing project and are no longer in demand (and therefore no longer on the list).
The list also contains Books on CD, which up until recently, were not accepted in EIFW donations. Apparently, the EIFW administration have decided to allow this material to circulate. The rules of relaxed now that Cathee has been given permission to start a CD borrowing project using reclaimed inmate CDs.
Please let me know if you have any questions about the latest list.
Thanks!
Masha
Six Days: Some Rememberings
I encourage you all to listen to the story “Six Days: Some Rememberings”. In it, author and activist Grace Paley writes about her six day incarceration in the 1960’s at the Women’s Detention Centre, which was then located in the middle of Greenwich Village – her own neighbourhood.
Paley talks about the women she meets, their abuses at the hands of the police, the empty feeling of not having books or pen and paper, and the comfort she feels in being able to look out the window and see her children walk to school.
It’s a privileged perspective of prison in which Paley owns and examines her privilege. And it is, of course, beautifully written.
“Now there is a garden where the Women’s House of Detention once stood. A green place, safely fenced in with protective daffodils and tulips. Roses bloom in it too. Sometimes in to November.
The big women’s warehouse and it’s barred, blind windows have been removed from Greenwich Village’s affluent throat. I was sorry when it happened. The bricks came roaring down. Great trucks carried them away.
I have always agreed with Rita and Evelyn that if there are prisons, they ought to be in the neighbourhood near a subway, not way out in distant suburbs where families have to take cars, busses, ferries, trains. And the population that considers itself innocent forgets. Denies. Chooses to never know that there is a whole huge country of the bad and the unlucky and the self hurters. A country with a population greater than that of many nations in our world.”
(it’s the first story on the podcast and runs about 15 minutes)
Pub Night Fundraiser a Success!
Thank you to everyone who contributed to making our Beers Beyond Bars Pub Night Fundraiser a huge success! Over 70 people came out for the event and helped us raise $925 through the purchase of event passes and raffle tickets. An additional $550 came in through generous donations, bringing our grand total to $1475. This monetary support will be used to support current programs, including our Book Club, Storybook Project, and Computer Literacy working group, and will also purchase many greatly appreciated books from our library wishlists.
Special recognition goes out to PLRC members who helped plan and promote this event, as well as local raffle prize donors Madison’s Grill, The Ranch Golf and Country Club, and photographer Karen McArthur. We would also like to acknowledge the financial support of GELA and LISSA, who provided snacks for the event. Happy Thanksgiving to all!
GELA Pub Night 2010: Beers Beyond Bars
Please join us for this exciting fundraiser, held to support the work of GELA’s Prison Library and Reintegration Committee. Tickets are $10 and include a free drink before 10pm.
When: Friday, October 8th 2010 from 6-10 pm (raffle draw at 9pm)
Where: Celis’s Irish Pub – 10338 109 St NW
What: Raffles (art, restaurant and golf prizes)
Why: Meet other information professionals, and find out more about GELA, LISAA and the Prison Library and Reintegration committee.
While we encourage you to reserve advance tickets by emailing Tara (tforman@ualberta.ca), a limited supply will be available for purchase at the door.
This event is generously sponsored by GELA and LISAA. For more information:
GELA http://www.gela.ca/
LISAA http://lisaa.ca/
Recent email contact list – UPDATED
Hi everyone, I’ve just posted the most recent email contact list to the blog. Please update your contacts so everyone who is on the mailing list is receiving emails.
Please note that the post is set to private, meaning only those with blog administrator status can see it (to protect us all from the evil spam-bots). If you would like to have admin status (so you can post to this blog, or just see top-secret posts), send me a request and I will hook you up. Trust me, the power is intoxicating.
I hope you’re all having a lovely fall!
Jocelyn
Art behind bars
The Edmonton Journal is running a series this week on art in prisons in Alberta.
Today’s article is about piano lessons at EIFW. (Anyone got a spare electric keyboard kicking around…?)
I don’t like how they incorporate the crimes in to the stories, but I suppose it’s to be expected and it’s not as sensationalist as it could be. It’s nice to have some positive stories like this getting out.
