“it’s not about you”—Memorandums of Understanding

This Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Griswold Memorial Library, Belding Memorial Library, and Franklin County Sheriff's Office was created with the aim of codifying and ensuring these services, beyond any of the individuals who have been involved in this project. The MOU spells out the "WHY" for these services, as they connect to the participating organizations' mission statements and strategic plans, and to IFLA standards, the 1st Amendment, ALA Prisoners' Right to Read, etc. It also sets the limits of these services--i.e. we do not actually have funding.

Per the data we collected in the last round of the Library Services to People Impacted by Incarceration Survey, agreements of this type are not yet standard. But, a lot of the library and information workers doing this work feel that it rests on their shoulders alone. MOUs represent a "benevolent” bureaucracy—a tool that library and information workers can use to edge our way into jails, prisons, juvenile detention facilities, etc. An MOU links each organization’s mission and common goals. You want these people to do well? You want to uphold the Constitution? You see how us working together makes things better for our community in the long run?

I see no reason to think that the number of people incarcerated in the U.S. will decline further than its current, still-astonishing rate. I do think that if there is any hope of changing this dynamic, libraries will be a part of that solution. I’m not sure that the library profession on a whole has grasped this fact yet, or figured how best to communicate the story. But an MOU is a start, and “Whereas” could be as transformative as “Once upon a time.”