The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian

Remember this guy? I have to say, he's up there on my list of favorite characters ever. I loved that he spent is years at Shawshank Prison in the library. He completely defied any judgements I had made about inmates. Brooks was kind, intelligent, and good with people and animals. He valued books and made them an important part of prison life. Is Brooks the only one for books in prison?

Brooks Hatlen: prison librarian/trustee and one of the oldest convicts at Shawshank.

I'll get to the point. Solveig told me about the story Art behind bars that she heard on MPR's Midmorning this morning. Being that I've always been interested in prison life (don't ask- weird obsession) and the books/the arts I listened to the story as soon as I got home. We agreed that it must be shared with the other Bookettes right away. 


The guests on today's show were Avi Steinberg (check out his book cover below), who spent time working in a prison library and saw first-hand what books and literature meant to some prisoners and Janie Paul, works with prisoners on creative arts projects.  During the show they share their perspective on arts and humanities in the prisons. The host, Kerri Miller, also takes calls from former inmates and their families. In a time when budget cuts abound, this story makes an compelling argument for the value of the arts in prisons.

Is this fitting with our recent read, The Accidental Tourist, or what?

Janie Paul

Improvisation 3
2005

You can listen here:

How about you? What books have resonated with you? How did that particular book relate to what was going on in your life at the time you read it?

-Marit

Bookettes Annual Report: Year 1

As you can read below, our last bookclub meeting marked our first full year together! And of course, to celebrate in true Bookette fashion, we had to include all of the essentials: wonderful meal? Check. Fabulous dessert? Check. Official poll of our top books of the year? Check!

We conducted a weighted poll where we each gave three points to our favorite book, two to our second, and one to our third favorite book of the year. 

And the Bookettes official favorite book of the year is ... (sound drumroll) ....

Let the Great World Spin, by Colum McCann! (read more about that book here)

And here's how the rest of the books faired:

Did you really think we'd let this big event pass without some official video documenting? Watch our unveiling of the top 4 books here:

It's been a great year ladies! Can't wait to see what books will be on our top-4 of year two!