Abstract:
This research into the use of Sri Lankan prison libraries in rehabilitative process is being undertaken
as part of PhD study at Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Colombo. Information poverty is
one of biggest issues faced by incarcerated people. As they do not have the same level of rights as
normal citizens they have limited access to libraries and information sources. Incarceration itself
creates need for certain information related to their new life in prison as they are deprived of freedom.
As their information needs cannot be met easily and quickly they are always information poor. Illiteracy
among prisoners make this issue more critical. Understanding these needs, their perspectives on prison
libraries and role of the library in prison correctional programmes offer insight for librarians and
libraries and library associations as well as prison authorities seeking to better serve incarcerated
populations. The poorly managed libraries are not funded and are not staffed by library-trained
personnel. Therefore, their information needs remain unmet as other prison staff focus only on custody,
care and correctional programmes. In addition, no formal research has been undertaken to evaluate
prison rehabilitation programmes and to understand the role of prison library or on user experience.
Following an in-depth qualitative analysis of the transcripts of interviews, several aspects were
identified to describe the experience of using a prison library. Not only prisoners, majority of prison
staff have no understanding of how they experience their libraries, or of the role of these libraries play
in rehabilitative process of the prisons and quality of prisoners’ lives. In this study several implications
for practice are identified that may be of interest to prison administrators and library professionals,
both in Sri Lanka and overseas
