1. Books Behind Bars: GVPL At Wilkinson Jail
Carl Cavanagh
August 6, 2015
I’m a Public Service Librarian at GVPL in Victoria BC.
Like all GVPL librarians I have outreach duties. Mine involve Wilkinson Jail, and downtown social service agencies such as Our Place, which is the preeminent centre for treating homelessness in downtown Victoria.
My plan is to tell my story, draw some deep but tenuous philosophical conclusions about how my work might apply generally to library outreach, and then open things up the discussion – all in less than 45 minutes
Anyone here from Vancouver Island?
Question for you: hands up if there is prison in your area. Go around and put people on the spot: which prison? Is there library service there?
Is Courtney Novotny here? We’re going to talk about the Mission Institution after this presentation!
Hands up if you’ve ever been inside a prison before?
Final question: how many are here just because they couldn’t get into Penny Ballen’s talk? Me too – I already know what’s going to be said in this talk

2. Vancouver Island Hands up if you’ve heard of this place
Hands up if you’ve been inside the Wilkie

3. Bigger Than Belgium Hands up if you’ve heard of this place
Hands up if you’ve been inside the Wilkie

4. Smaller Than Moldova Hands up if you’ve heard of this place
Hands up if you’ve been inside the Wilkie

5. WV < VAN ISLE < SC

6. Vancouver Island Hands up if you’ve heard of this place
Hands up if you’ve been inside the Wilkie

7. GREATER VICTORIA PUBLIC LIBRARY
Hands up if you’ve heard of this place
Hands up if you’ve been inside the Wilkie

8. SERVING TEN MUNICIPALITIES
Central Saanich
Metchosin
Colwood
Oak Bay
Esquimalt
Saanich
Highlands
Victoria
Langford
View Royal

9. DID YOU KNOW? One of the highest per-capita usage rate in Canada
Over 6 million borrows per year
Over 2 million visits in person
Almost 4 million virtual visits
Over people at programs/events
* 2013 numbers

10. WILKINSON JAIL Hands up if you’ve heard of this place
Hands up if you’ve been inside the Wilkie

11. REALLY CLOSE TO NEIGHBOURING HOUSES IN THE INTERURBAN AREA OF Saanich, which is the biggest municipality in GREATER VICTORIA.

12. WILLIAM HEAD PENITENTIARY
People in Victoria are often confusing Wilkinson with William Head, the federal penitentiary in beautiful Metchosin, also in Greater Victoria. It’s known for some of the most breathtaking real estate in the region. William Head Pen has a renowned theatre program … and a three-hole golf course. The place is sometimes called Club Fed.

13. WILKINSON … WILLIAM HEAD
Wilkinson … William Head, they do sound similar, so they’re confused back home.
Architecturally, Wilkinson is often confused with …

14. And what’s with all the prison sub-plots on Downton Abbey anyway?

15. NEVER BEEN “WILKINSON JAIL”!
Colquitz Gaol (1913)
Saanich Prison Farm ( )
Colquitz Centre for the Criminally Insane ( )
Provincial Government Pheasant Farm ( )
Colquitz Provincial Mental Home ( )
Oakalla Prison Farm, Vancouver Island Unit ( )
Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Centre (1966-present)
IT’S OKAY – EASY TO CONFUSE

16. WILKINSON / VIRCC Provincial Jail 185 staff
Two years less a day
185 staff
Capacity for about 400 inmates
12 units, including Segregation and Psych
About 50% are on remand (i.e. awaiting trial)
any offence, including murder

17. Text
Text 2
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SPEAKING OF STAFF, THESE FOUR GUYS ARE ON STAFF AT WILKIE

18. Text
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THIS GUY ED ME FOR SOME HELP

19. REVEREND KEVIN ARNDT
SEPTEMBER 2011: COULD I SPARE SOME BOOKS FOR THE CHAPLAINCY: SELF-HELP, PSYCHOLOGY, THEOLOGY

20. “OH, BY THE WAY …”
JANUARY 2012: DID I KNOW THAT VIRCC HAD A LIBRARY THAT WAS LANGUISHING?
WOULD I LIKE TO HAVE A LOOK?
YES I WOULD!!
LET’S GO IN TOGETHER …

21. RECEPTION EXTENSIVE CRIMINAL RECORD CHECK TOUR AND ORIENTATION
RECEPTION IS WHERE INMATE FAMILIES GO FOR VISITS

22. LOCKERS
ALL VALUABLES INCLUDING CELLPHONES, WALLETS, ANYTHING METAL

23. Access Pass
THIS PASS GETS YOU ALL OVER THE JAIL

24. PERSONAL ALERT DEVICE (PAD)
VARIOUS WAYS TO SIGNAL FOR HELP: DRAW STRING, BUTTON, AND GYRO (i.e. LEANING MORE THAN 45 DEGREES)

25. EAST SALLY GATE DEF: SECURE, CONTROLLED ENTRYWAY
ON CAMERA: IDENTIFY YOURSELF TO THE CONTROL GUARD

26. JANUARY 5, 1915
Robert Suttee was hanged on a temporary gallows – the only judicial execution in Wilkinson history
Murdered a foreman at the prison

27. WOODWORKING SHOP
MAKE SOME AMAZING STUFF FOR SALE, INCLUDING …

28. MEMORIAL BENCH
SAANICH PARKS AND REC

29. CAPE COD CHAIRS
ABOUT $100!

30. BIKE SHOP VOLUNTEER INSTRUCTOR
DON’T ALL BECOME BIKE MECHANICS BUT LEARN IMPORTANT WORK SKILLS
BIKES WILL BE TRANSPORTED TO AFRICA

31. UP TO THE LOFT
JUST ABOVE THE BIKE SHOP

32. A PILE OF JUNK … WITH BOOKS!
DUG THROUGH JUNK TO FIND BOOKS
GUARDS WOULD OCCASIONALLY DELIVER GARBAGE BAGS OF BOOKS TO THE UNITS

33. CASTOFF HARLEQUINS!! GIVEN BY WELL-MEANING LOCAL BOOKSTORE
SPENT THE NEXT FEW MONTHS ONCE A WEEK WITH A COLLEAGUE FROM LITERACY VICTORIA
THREW STUFF OUT AND RAIDED GVPL DONATIONS, WITHDRAWAL, TC SALE
MEANWHILE A CREW OF INMATES AND STAFF CLEARED THE JUNK AWAY AND BUILT SOME PROPER BOOKCASES

34. WILKIE BOOK DEPOT
EQUIVALENT OF ABOUT 12 BAYS OF 5 SHELVES EACH = 2000 BOOKS

35. LITERATURE GENERAL FICTION MYSTERIES SCI-FI NON-FICTION
FIVE GENRES
LITERATURE
GENERAL FICTION
MYSTERIES
BAYS ARRANGED IN FIVE GENRES
EACH BOOK ASSIGNED TO A GENRE WITH A STROKE OF A COLOURED MARKER ON THE TOP EDGE
SCI-FI
NON-FICTION

36. CLASSIFY … BY COLOURED MARKERS!

38. MONTHLY ROTATION VIRCC SUPPLIED US WITH SOME STURDY BINS
15 EACH GENRE, SO ABOUT 75 BOOKS PER BIN

39. RANDOM BOOK SELECTION
REMEMBER THIS RANDOM PROBABILITY EQUATION? NEITHER DO I! ACTUALLY JUST TAKE BASKETS OF EACH GENRE AND PLACED INDIVIDUAL BOOKS 1N EACH BOX AND HOPED FOR THE BEST …
BROUGHT UP A MORE SERIOUS ISSUE: HOW DO WE AVOID BEING THE UNWITTING DISTRIBUTOR OF CONTRABAND?
ALMOST SCUTTLED THE WHOLE PROJECT

40. FRESH BOOKS TO 12 UNITS
WAY WE DID THAT WAS FIRST MY MAKING EACH BOX INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM EACH OTHER. INMATES NEVER NEW WHICH BOOK WAS GOING INTO WHICH BIN, AND GUARDS DON’T KNOW WHICH BIN IS GOING TO WHICH UNIT
BOXES WERE FILLED BY ME, AND DELIVERED THE SAME DAY IF POSSIBLE
AROUND 800 BOOKS GO OUT … AND SOMEWHERE AROUND THAT COME BACK
ALWAYS SOME DAMAGE (ABOUT 10%): ANGER + POKER CHIPS + “REVIEWS”
GOT SOME DONATED BOOKS FROM ITEMS INMATES CAN BUY FROM THE OUTSIDE

41. “OH, BY THE WAY …”
“COULD I ASK FOR A SPECIFIC TITLE OR AUTHOR OR SUBJECT?”
“I DON’T KNOW BUT I’LL LOOK INTO IT”

42. REQUEST FORM
PRETTY SIMPLE & STRAIGHTFORWARD

43. REQUESTS SPREADSHEET

44. LETTER FROM INMATE
Still getting requests to this day. Book of baby names. Had to fill it …

45. IN AND OUT OF THE “CUBBIES”

46. … AND TO THE LIVING UNITS

47. USUALLY MORE LIKE …

48. VIRCC REQUESTS 2000 REQUESTS FROM MARCH 2013 TO AUGUST 2014
FILLED ABOUT HALF OF THEM
PROGRAM SUSPENDED IN SEPTEMBER 2014 FOR OPERATIONAL REASONS

49. LETTER FROM INMATE
Still getting requests to this day. Book of baby names. Had to fill it …

50. BREAKING NEWS!
INITIALLED AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN GVPL AND VIRCC FOR A “CORPORATE CARD”
FIRST FORMAL LIBRARY SERVICE IN OVER 100 YEARS!

51. JOINT MEMORANDUM

54. THE FUTURE IS DEEPER TRANSITION INMATES ON TO REGULAR CARDS
INCLUDE GVPL BROCHURE WITH EXIT PACKAGE
GET INMATES HELPING WITH THE MONTHLY ROTATION

55. THE FUTURE IS WIDER
WORKING WITH COWICHAN VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT TO SUPPORT A NEW K-12 SCHOOL AT VIRCC
WORKING WITH VICTORIA READ SOCIETY TO SUPPORT ADULT LITERACY AY VIRCC
PRESENTLY CONSULTING WITH WILLIAM HEAD, NANAIMO, AND MISSION PRISONS ON GVPL EXPERIENCE

56. … then figure out how to do it.
LESSON 1: SAY YES …
… then figure out how to do it.
There were lots of points, even at the beginning, where we could have (and maybe should have!) said “No, we can’t do this”. Resist that temptation!
You can always find some way …

57. LESSON 1A: SAY “I’LL REALLY TRY”
We work in complex organizations where “yes” isn’t easy

58. LESSON 2: FIND A CHAMPION
CEO Maureen Sawa, who was new to GVPL when the germ of the Wilkie Library began
Was dear to her heart, as she had fostered a library/prison relationship back in Ontario
The woman to the left is Judy Moore, recently departed GVPL to VIRC: she taught me the phrase “Say Yes … then figure out how to do it”.
There’s always someone around who can help things along
If you’re one of those people, “Say Yes” when passionate people are trying something new and innovative

59. LESSON 3: A PRETTY GOOD START IS BETTER …
… than a really, really, really, really, really good plan. So get started!
I’m always trying to improve how we do the book rotation; certainly will be the case with the new corporate card system. Just get on with it!