IFLA Guidelines for Library Services to Prisoners (4th Edition)

Abstract

This fourth edition of the IFLA Guidelines for Library Services to Prisoners provides a tool for the planning, implementation, and evaluation of library services to prisoners in all kinds of places of incarceration, including adult and juvenile prisons, detention centres, and jails. It serves as a model guide for the development of national guidelines for prison libraries and can be adapted to reflect local circumstances and needs. A section of minimum standards is included in recognition that many countries will not be able to comply with these broader guidelines. The guidelines provide a tool for planning new libraries and for the evaluation of existing libraries and can be used in the absence of any local guidelines or standards. In addition, they serve as a general statement of principle for the fundamental right of prisoners to read, learn, access, and acquire information.