Federal Prisons Limit Religion Titles; Librarians Out of the Loop

Lynn Blumenstein -- Library Journal, 09/25/2007

Ever since the New York Times on September 10 reported on the federal Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) mission to clear the shelves of any religion titles "not on a list of approved resources," the BOP has faced a lot of criticism—but not, however, a great response among librarians, because the collections are administered by chaplains.

The religion materials are now limited to collections of 150 book titles and 150 multimedia resources. According to the Times, the BOP was acting to bar access to items that could "discriminate, disparage, advocate violence, or radicalize;" inmates have filed a lawsuit challenging the move. The BOP is an agency of the Justice Department, which released a report that recommended steps prisons should take to minimize themselves as recruitment grounds for militant Muslim and other religious groups.

BOP spokesperson Felicia Ponce confirmed to LJ that many requests for the list of titles have been received since the article first appeared but said a Freedom of Information Act request was required to get it. The BOP "stopped recreational libraries" in prisons long ago, according to Brenda Vogel, former library coordinator of the Maryland Correctional Educational Program. The BOP does oversee legal materials, without online access. As Vogel told LJ, local prison librarians, few of whom are professionals, "have to beg and whine" to public libraries for books, which come via bookmobiles, interlibrary loan, or deposit collections.

Glennor Shirley, who now holds Vogel’s Maryland position, agrees that the BOP action hasn’t affected state prisons, which in Maryland fall under the Department of Education. We "try to abide by the American Library Association’s Bill of Rights," Shirley said.