Several factors limit education and information access and equity in carceral settings, including limited budgets to support education inside, censorship and media review practices, lack of attention to library services, and regulations prohibiting information sharing between incarcerated people. Libraries and nonprofits are working to address these limitations by identifying how people who are incarcerated can more easily access information, engage in creative practices, and support their own learning goals.

In this session at the Montreal International Conference on Prison Education, Ithaka S+R’s Ess Pokornowski and Jeanie L. Austin of the San Francisco Public Library will provide background information and examples of library and information services that address censorship, inequities in carceral facilities, and the impacts these have for non- and informal education during incarceration and after release. After presenters share an overview and model implementations to address these inequities, the panel will move to a group discussion about how attendees can develop and implement similar resources in their own context.

The session is scheduled for Thursday, October 17 at 10:00-11:50am.