People in prison have a constitutional right of access to the courts to challenge their convictions, contest conditions of confinement, and otherwise protect their legal interests. That right, however, depends on meaningful access to legal information. When realized, it protects not only incarcerated individuals, but also serves a broader public purpose by helping expose wrongful convictions, identify unconstitutional conditions, and ensure that our nation’s correctional institutions remain subject to legal oversight and accountability.

In the first phase of our two-year project, The Role of the Law Library in Serving Incarcerated Individuals, funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), we examined how states define and implement this constitutional obligation. Our findings painted a picture of sharply limited legal access. Across the country, correctional law libraries often operate with restricted hours, limited collections, outdated technology, and little or no trained staff to assist incarcerated people with legal research.

As correctional systems have reduced the resources devoted to legal access, in response both to budgetary pressures and to a progressively narrower interpretation of their constitutional obligations, a diverse ecosystem has emerged to help fill the gaps. Jailhouse lawyers, legal aid organizations, law school clinics, and other community-based organizations all play important roles in helping people in prisons and jails access, understand, and use the law.

Among them are state, county, academic, and other law libraries. Established to provide legal information and research assistance to the public, a growing number now serve incarcerated patrons as well. In some jurisdictions, these services are part of the library’s formal mission and supported through partnerships with correctional agencies. In most cases, they began through the initiative of individual librarians who recognized unmet legal information needs in their communities, and gradually launched initiatives and built programs to address them.

Our new report turns the spotlight on these librarians and the work they do. Drawing on a national survey of law libraries and in-depth interviews with librarians across the country, we document the current landscape of services for incarcerated patrons, the barriers librarians face, and the creative strategies they have developed to expand access to legal information despite limited resources and significant institutional constraints.

The report finds that law librarians routinely navigate challenges including restrictive communication policies, limited staffing, and the absence of formal relationships with correctional agencies. At the same time, it highlights remarkable innovation across the field. Librarians have developed new outreach strategies, reusable legal information packets, communication templates, partnerships with correctional facilities, and other practical approaches that help make legal information more accessible behind prison walls.

Our hope is that this report serves as a resource for the field. By documenting effective practices and highlighting opportunities to expand and strengthen services, we aim to support law librarians serving incarcerated patrons while fostering stronger connections across the broader ecosystem of organizations working to expand access to the law.