Reading Behind Bars: A True Story of Literature, Law, and Life as a Prison Librarian

by Jill Grunenwald

In December 2008, twentysomething Jill Grunenwald graduated with her master’s degree in library science, ready to start living her dream of becoming a librarian. But the economy had a different idea. Jill got a job was behind bars as the prison librarian at a men’s minimum-security prison.Over the course of a little less than two years, Jill came to see past the bleak surroundings and the orange jumpsuits and recognize the humanity of the men stuck behind bars. They were just like every other library patron—persons who simply wanted to read, to be educated and entertained through the written word. By helping these inmates, Jill simultaneously began to recognize the humanity in everyone and to discover inner strength that she never knew she had.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Books About Books, Biography, Biography Memoir, Autobiography, Crime

342 pages, Hardcover

First published July 2, 2019

Reviews

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a newly minted librarian, the author found to her dismay, that job openings were few and far between. When she applied for and was hired, she wasn't aware of just what she had gotten into. She soon found herself in a required self defense class and then she gradually learned all the rules, regulations and tasks of her new job. Although it was a minimum security facility, meaning the men within didn't committ the worst of crimes,non violent. Still, there was alot to learn and many regulations to follow.

I loved the friendly, easy flowing style of her writing. The prison still used the old card catalogs, and stamped cards for checkout. This is well remember. Working in a prison library is one of the most coveted in prison, and her helpers, aids were all inmates. There were quite a few references to Harry Potter, which I've never read, so couldn't relate. All in all, I enjoyed reading this. A new experience for me.

[Katy O. · Rating 3 out of 5]

➕➗ Review math:
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5 ⭐️ for the prison library topic
3 ⭐️ for the actual writing
2 ⭐️ for the voice
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Overall = 3.3333 ⭐️ and worth reading if you are a MAJOR library nerd like me and want any library memoir you can get your hands on. If you only ever want to read ONE book about libraries, try THE LIBRARY BOOK by Susan Orlean.
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I just didn’t love the super casual, irreverent and often profane tone and I think there could have been several more rounds of editing to eradicate some repetitions of content. But most of the trade reviews have been great and the cover quote by NYT states “a stylish and sparkly writer” so it may just be me and my personal taste 😊 Lots of new-to-me info about prison libraries, which was awesome!

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I read the synopsis of the book trying to determine if it was worth checking out at the library (irony), I had thought it would be more about a real human experience with these inmates. Instead, I felt like I was just reading about someone's job, like, literally, anyone could write a book about their time on their job. Where was the meat? The real human experience? I didn't get it. I think her best writing was in the epilogue and wished that bit of deepness would have carried through the book. I didn't even really connect with the author who wrote this in first person. Okay, you're an atheist, liberal librarian who's an introvert. Well, that's pretty much a given. And, that's about all I got. But, I did stick with it hoping to get that meat on the bone only to be left still hungry at the end.

[Lesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard to finish, to be honest. The content was fine, but the writing style was irritating in that it definitely felt written from the perspective of someone who hadn't had a friend/loved one incarcerated or done enough anti-oppression self-work to effectively build a class/race narrative for solidarity with patrons. Prison libraries have a pretty incredible, revolutionary history and I just wasn't feeling that reflected in this.

[♥ Sandi ❣ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

Thanks Diane for recommending this book. I really liked it.

Nonfiction about a young librarian, just out of college, who nabbed a job in a prison library, when her classmates were struggling to find work.

This book was so reminiscent of a job I had that took me behind prison walls. I gave talks to those incarcerated, just before their release dates, about the agency I worked for that was solely based on finding the ex-offender employment. Only two of us worked in my locale - a satellite office, from the Chicago based agency - so we took on all the jobs of our distant co-workers, which meant visiting the local prisons to ensure that those leaving prison knew that we existed. Most often those talks were given in the prison libraries. So I was privy to what went on in their individual libraries while I was there.

Grunenwald hit the mark. Her book reminded me of many of the things I watched, heard and was privy to while in the prison libraries. The book is an easy quick read and Grunenwald gave a good account of her two years behind bars as a prion librarian.

[Elliot · Rating 1 out of 5]

I provide library service in NYC's jails, so I was eager to read this book. But DAMN, this was...not good. It read slightly better than a first draft, so a long way from what a polished, published book should be. Given that the publisher is Skyhorse, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

While reading, the lazy writing and constant Harry Potter references annoyed me (it took me three weeks to finish this). But in the end, I just didn't get what the point of the book was. What were people supposed to take away from this? There was a brief paragraph of "oh, people in prison are humans too," but no major revelations or insights. Like, I did not need a whole chapter on how she decided to try rollerblading and broke her elbow. This read like a rambling, self-indulgent blog post.

[Christina Autumn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read a hundred pages. I'll read anything about libraries, but the author is a poor writer and she's obnoxious. I would love to read a book on this topic by someone else!

[Jill MacRae · Rating 2 out of 5]

Egad it was bad. The writing and editing are appalling. The whole book has the tone of a "what I did on vacation" essay. The author claims to have advanced degrees in writing yet her style offers no grounds to believe this. Some of the anecdotes she relates that show errors in judgement and action, are evidence of a serious lack of emotional maturity which she somehow shrugs off as standard for an introvert. Didn't like the book or the author.

[Hayley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hope this book leads more people to donate to and support prison library programs.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A desperate new grad accepted a job at “correctional treatment facility” and unbeknownst to her she learned a new vocabulary meaning of the word “correctional” thus her 21 month adventure begins. It’s a behind the scenes memoir of the challenges and workings of a prison library system. While there aren’t any deep inspirational stories of the inmates who spent time at the library or of the author, it did give a glimpse into an unusual profession.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This should be called "JILL Behind Bars" not presumably, "[Inmates] Reading Behind Bars". It's all about Jill, Jill, Jill. I was so disappointed. I have a relative in a prison, and he's a big reader, so I was really interested to hear about her experience and work with the inmates. I personally know many good stories about reading in prison, but Jill wasn't interested in relating any. It might also have been called "Diary of My 21 Months in a Prison Library and How I Got Out". My takeaway: she survived it and then got a real job on the outside. It was "how I ended up getting a degree in library science, how the economy of 2008 was bad (poor me), how I didn't know what Corrections meant, how I survived the entry features (drug tests-- but I can't pee on command, and fingerprinting), how I am an introverted book nerd, how I love Harry Potter, how much I hate getting up early and foregoing a social life (but I'm socially awkward and do I have a social life?), how much I hate the commute, but I won't give up my apartment, how much I needed to rehab the library system because the last librarian was lazy and got fired for sleeping with an inmate, and then there was my heartbreak when my boyfriend (who I rarely saw) dumped me and what a mess I was, going into work----I mean, really, is this why YOU would want to read this book? It was about her minutiae, and wasn't well written, to boot. The NYT says it's "Stylish and Sparkly"?? Are you kidding? There was no spark to this book. Many other reviewers commented on the typos and the bad editing.

I would have dumped it after a couple of boring, detailed chapters, but I kept thinking it would get better! It never did.

She starts a few stories, but often just ends them without finishing. For instance, I got really interested when she related that an inmate who had just gotten his GED came into the library, all excited to finally read some books that he'd missed in high school. She said, What would you like? He said, You pick! So she thought and then she said, "I have JUST the book for you!" and she went and got "The Great Gatsby". (personally I hate The Great Gatsby, but that's not the point). I would have gotten a new reader a "guy" book, an adventure, even if it wasn't strictly a classic. Something like Horatio Hornblower! Or even a John Grisham. He took the book. And that's the last we ever heard about him. And it wasn't just days before she left, either.

I found Jill irritating. She was self-centered and self-indulgent and whiny. Yes, apparently she's read the classics, but she really loves Harry Potter and Star Wars and Sophie Kinsella.

She was repetitive about her commute, about having to get up early, about the place being in the middle of nowhere, about being an introvert, and being socially awkward. She did use casual bad language, which several reviewers commented on in surprise. I don't like it, but you find it everywhere, so I didn't find it noteworthy. Maybe they meant as a professional or a librarian, they didn't like to hear such language from her. I concur that she swore more than the inmates.

Was she using the real inmate's names? I didn't see any disclaimer that said she was changing the names of either inmates or workmates. I don't think I'd want my name in this book, even if it was only a last name, partly because the prison is identified, as well.

As I said, I have had a relative in prison for many years and he loves to read. I know he uses the library, both to get books and to use the Law Library, but he also gets many more books from home. At different times, the prisons have different rules; sometimes you can send in used books from home, sometimes they have to be new from a legitimate vendor. You never know. They definitely CAN have hardbacks, even in maximum security prisons---many people incorrectly stated that inmates can't have hardback books---Jill said it was in SEG (or Segregation) that they couldn't have hardbacks, not the general population. I send hardbacks in all the time. My relative reads them, shares them with his friends of like taste and then donates them to the library. He can keep up to 20 books at a time in his cubicle, so he keeps his favorites to reread, but they rotate. He also orders book from the InterLibrary Loan service, if it is up and running. Sometimes libraries have no librarian and are not really in operation, and some are barely running, with few books. His state is a big state and I have never heard that he can get his local newspaper there. (He's on the other side of the state)

One Story----One series that my whole family liked was the Bloody Jack series by L.A.Meyer. It's a YA series about a plucky young orphan in early 1800's London who dresses up as a boy to get on a ship (as a ship's boy) because she will be FED regularly. She's a blast and the audio books are even better. She has so many adventures! And she's something else!! Everybody in my family, of all ages, loved this series, so we sent one to our relative. HE LOVED IT. He shared it. Pretty soon, at least 10 guys were clamoring and fighting and begging to read the next book. At one point, they started writing letters to the author and he responded. He even dedicated one of the books to "the boys on the Hill, you know who you are!" That Hill was the site of a maximum correctional facility. These guys were, some of them, hardened criminals who had done terrible things or ruined their lives and lost everything. But they found joy in Jacky Faber, the girl heroine of these books, and they found hope and laughter and decency. She made them forget their troubles. I have seen many of the letters they wrote (we got to be friends with the author, he lives in our state) and they are so heartfelt. THIS was the kind of thing I expected Jill Grunenwald to write!! I didn't realize she was so immature.

So, no, unless you just want to know the facts about working in a prison, don't read this book.

[Rachel B · Rating 1 out of 5]

I should have just abandoned this one. Grunenwald spends 350 pages on the unimportant details of being a prison librarian. I was hoping to hear about the inmates and the impact that the library had on them, but very little is actually written about them.

The author repeatedly references Harry Potter, uses the word well to the point where, well, the point where it drove me nuts. She mentions a class in high school that gave a spoiler for a classic, then proceeds to spoil said classic herself. There's a fair amount of profanity, mostly from the author, rather than the inmates.

There was also an incredible amount of typographical and grammatical errors, which were very distracting.

The book was rambling and repetitive and could have been condensed to a third of the size, if only a proper editor had taken hold of it.

[Erika · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

to be brutally honest, the author notes themselves as having a creative writing minor yet cannot get more creative than making Harry Potter analogies every 10 pages. The writing became more tolerable towards the end, but /my god/. We get it, you're not like other girls!!! you're a ~slytherin~

I wish the author could've gotten into more of the meat of library prisons and their deep rooted issues, but this was written more as "this was my job for 20 some months". As someone in their MLIS program and was looking for more substantial readings on prison libraries, this just fell short.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this to be an incredibly enthralling read. I read almost all of it over the course of a weekend. I simply couldn’t put it down.

I'm a big library nerd. I've always been pretty active in my own libraries. One of the first steps I take when moving to a new town is getting my library card. I just love being in libraries.

But prison libraries are something that I never really gave much thought to. Neither did Jill prior to landing a job at one, it turns out. Throughout the book, you’ll learn about Jill’s experiences – both the good and the bad – as a prison librarian at a low-security prison.

I learned a lot about prisons in this book. There are a lot of aspects surrounding prison life that I never even considered, and it’s interesting to read about them from the perspective of a staff member who isn’t a correctional officer.

In the prison Jill worked at, the library was unique in that it was the only space in the prison where inmates could go that didn’t have an on-duty guard. Because of this, it was the one space where inmates could go and almost forget that they were prisoners while they were inside it.

Because of my fascination with libraries, I will read literally anything about libraries or librarians. But this book is about more than just a library, it’s about the patrons and the value that the library brings them.

[Allison Carmola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for this advance copy.

I enjoyed this book. Full disclosure, I am a librarian so I like reading about librarians, but I do think this book has a wider appeal. It starts a little slow, and especially near the beginning there were things about the writing style that annoyed me. But the characters and situations are interesting, and I was fully engaged by the end.

[Irene · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a memoir of working as a librarian in a minimum security prison for men. The tone is light and positive. But don’t expect any inspiring stories of individuals with life-changing encounters with literature or new insights into classic texts emerging from this context. Although the author does not have a bad experience, she leaves the position in less than 2 years.

[Lisa Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Mixed thoughts. on this one. On the positive side, I liked learning about the library within the prison system. That was interesting. As others have mentioned, it makes you want to donate to the prison libraries. On the minus side, I was expecting a lot more "human interest" and there didn't seem to be much of that. The author came across (to me) a bit holier-than-thou and maybe that is the attitude you have to have in that situation, I just don't know. I guess I was hoping for a little more compassion and I didn't feel it. It did keep me interested though, so rounding up.

[Kelly K · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a public librarian, I found this surprisingly tame. We've had all of these characters in and more on a daily basis without a panic button or correctional officer at our beck and call. When I worked at our main branch directly down the road from the police station, it would still take them 20-30 minutes to arrive if we called.
Anyways, back to the book. It was definitely entertaining and I enjoyed the insight as to what it was like working in a prison library, especially one I could easily picture since it's so close to me.

[Ruby Grad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. The author has an appealing, personal and engaging writing style. Having volunteered in a jail myself, I can appreciate her description of the environment. Although she was in a less restricted institution than I, the bottom line is incarceration itself, the fact that the inmates cannot leave, and their lives are governed by a comprehensive set of rules and regulations that governs every aspect of their lives. She also did a good job of conveying the limitations inherent in the inmate-staff relationship.

[Alexandra Robbins · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is not enough literature representing librarians – the guardians of books – or the incarcerated, who are under constant guard. Grunenwald amiably gives voice to both in an important, interesting memoir that celebrates the liberating power of literature and the right to the freedom to read.

[Kelly Magro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Satisfied my curiosity of what a prison librarian's job might entail. Interesting behind the scenes look at a low security prison. Definitely not a page turner and was slow and boring in a lot of areas. I wanted more from this.

[SKP · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 strictly because of the theme, but low score for execution of the theme. Rather disappointing. I struggled to finish this and was glad I didn’t spend the $17 ridiculous price of the Kindle for this book (more than James Patterson books, for Heaven’s sake) and borrowed it from the library instead. The writing was really bad, and I’m not sure anyone but an actual librarian like myself could appreciate the random literary references and the actual challenges of running the library itself. I had hoped for a little more interesting storyline on actually working with prison inmates, but whenever it appeared that the author was about to work up to some actual interesting storyline, it seemed like the story suddenly took off into another direction, or just plain fizzled out. Maybe I was expecting more of a true crime level of intrigue, but this just made it sound like a stressful yet tedious place to work. She didn’t even work there a full two years, and seemed to have a lot of absences in a short time. There was way too much info about her own personal problems, depression, loneliness and apparently a lot of time spent on personal drinking. Yes, I get that this was a biography, but when you bill it as being about a prison librarian, I think just focusing on the actual job is biographical enough. If you had cut out all the boring personal info, and time spent on things other than the parts within prison walls, it would have been much more concise and probably a much, more quality book. Quality is much more important than quantity. A good, quick read is much better than a longer, more tedious read. I’m guessing the only ones who actually finish this book are ones that were just thinking “surely it will get better as we go along”, or those who just hate NOT to finish a book. I was kind of in both those categories which is why I finished it, but while I usually read my books in about a day or two, this took me weeks. I was thinking of reading her other book, but there’s no way I will waste my time.

[Kellie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book but I felt like at times (a lot if times) her stories were padded with words. The topic, while interesting, was covered very flatly. I nearly snapped the book shut twice when she described in detail how she was wheeling a cart with punch on it in great detail down a hallway and then again when she had to describe how her co-worker parked the van they took to a conference in the prison parking lot (she left space behind the van so they could maneuver it when they left?!?! ). Oh my...at that point I started skimming like crazy. Many of the antidotes she describes were mundane and not interesting. Again, I really wanted to like this book but just not that interesting. I wish her the best as an author, I think she has potential!

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Grunenwald's first book on running (Running with a Police Escort: Tales from the Back of the Pack) for her great sense of humor and just down to earth realness. I may have enjoyed this even more as I am not a runner, but I have worked in libraries for all of my adult life. Although I have never been employed in a prison library, it was really fascinating to see the ways that type of librarianship was the same as and different from my public and academic library experiences.

[sonja Kreshel]

Awful. Skip it

[Gisela Hafezparast · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting read about the experience of a timid librarian with plenty of her own issues working in a prison. Would have liked to know more about the prisoners.

[DD · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love a library memoir, but this wasn’t it.
While technically the memoir of prison librarian, this was actually that of a prison librarian blinded by her own privilege. Each time I thought about DNF’ing l, I’d convince myself the author was about to share the moment she began to see outside of herself. But that moment never came.

So instead, this memoir is nothing more than the mundane work-life of a librarian who has done absolutely zero self-work on anti-oppression and/or hasn’t had a friend or loved one in the prison-industrial-complex.

The blind privilege made me sad on several occasions. Be it her inability to fathom am angry and aggressive letter from an inmate to a judge, or deftly shrugging her shoulders when her patrons were dying to get their hands on a certain recent release because of “budget.”

I kept wondering how it never once crossed her mind to find a charitable organization to help stock the library.

So on that note, I’m off to find local prisons accepting book donations, and grabbing fresh copies of books that, based on what Ms.G shared, patrons of a prison library would actually want to read, instead of Frankenstein, or whatever else was never checked out. Take that, Ms. G.

[Eugenea Pollock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Within the confines of a prison, even a minimum security one, a library can provide a completely legal escape route. The conductor along the way is the librarian if, as Jill Grunenwald does, she sees herself as more than simply a custodian of printed materials.

Covering her first two years out of grad school, this book describes many experiences which are probably common to all librarians, be they academic or municipal. However, since these patrons are inmates, there is an added layer of security, censorship, and risk. To serve such a population successfully is a challenge that the author strives to meet and seems to do so.

Of particular interest are the books she mentions that are requested by various inmates and why they are: “The Brothers Karamazov” by Dostoevsky, “Twilight” by Stephanie Meyer, and all books by Nora Roberts, to name a few. Only paperbacks are allowed in the prison where she works, and her budget is nonexistent, which makes her library totally dependent on donations.

I like this book. However, its organization seems somewhat haphazard. For that reason, I give it merely a satisfactory (“3”) rating.

[Marie Michaels · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those memoirs where I love the subject matter and could have read so much more on it... but not necessarily from this author. It was legitimately interesting, but the style was a bit heavy-handed, a bit college admissions essay on my voluntourism trip painting murals on orphanages. If someone had written this for a college admissions essay and asked me to proofread it, I would have taken out all the Harry Potter references. Because there were a lot of Harry Potter references, and even though I enjoyed the books fine, yikes, it was way too many. I suspect I would actually really like the author in real life, but the prose style just didn't work for me.

[Karla Kuhn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wasn't very impressed with the book. The writing was all over the place and was more about her life then actually working in a correctional library. I feel like a lot more could be of been explained or told to enhance the actually purpose of the book of reading behind bars and not needing to know about her breakup with her boyfriend or her issues. She builds up each chapter with her life/issue and then mentions something from the camp on the last page which doesn't really help correlate. Could be much better.