From the Bookshelf of Bound Together…

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

Jill Grunenwald

Start date: January 1, 2022

Finish date: February 28, 2022

Discussion: If the Truth be Known...

Why we're reading this: Non-fiction Book for Jan/Feb 2022
Jan1 thru Feb 28, 2022
Thanks Diane
[close] Non-fiction Book for Jan/Feb 2022
Jan1 thru Feb 28, 2022
Thanks Diane

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If the Truth be Known...

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* Non-fiction Selections
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last updated Dec 27, 2019 06:56PM

2025 Sept/Oct Nonfiction ~~ Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown
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What Members Thought

Feb 20, 2022 Diane S ☔ rated it really liked it

Shelves: nf2022

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 ...more

72 likes · Like · see review

Feb 18, 2022 ♥ Sandi ❣ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: bio-auto-memior, contemporary, 351-more-pages-or-more, z2022-3500-books, books-on-books, cultural, non-fiction, debut, author-under-35, large-print

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 o ...more

19 likes · Like · see review

Feb 04, 2022 Christine rated it liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, memoir, atw80, nfbc2022, usa-road-trip

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.

10 likes · Like · see review

Jan 23, 2022 Irene rated it liked it

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.

6 likes · Like · see review

Feb 10, 2022 Ruby Grad rated it really liked it · review of another edition

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 th ...more

5 likes · Like · see review