By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
(Editor’s note: This was how the jail library operated before coronavirus hit.)
Every Wednesday, the orange-clad inmates file into the Wood County jail library, looking for an escape.
There they find books, magazines, puzzles and games.
“It’s helpful. Reading helps you get through your time,” said Travis Evans, of Michigan, who was in jail for trafficking on a recent Wednesday.
Evans was checking out “All-American Murder” by James Patterson.
“He’s a good author,” the inmate said.
Wood County jail is one of the few county jails in Ohio with a library that is part of the public library system – in this case partnering with the Wood County District Public Library. In 2018, inmates checked out more than 22,000 items.
The magazine section offers copies of “Time,” “Street Rodder,” “Reader’s Digest,” “Oprah magazine,” and “National Geographic.” The puzzle selection offers scenes of birds, winter landscapes and “Star Wars” for the inmates to piece together.
The self-improvement section features books on mindfulness, meditation and religion. There are also books on self-representation in court, Alcoholics Anonymous, and “How to be Anti-racist.”
The classics shelves hold the likes of “Paradise Lost,” “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and “Gone with the Wind.”
Patterson is a favorite among the inmates – and library volunteer Dolores Black was able to snare a lifesize cardboard cutout of Patterson, that now stands in a corner of the library. Some inmates have read the entire series of Patterson’s books, Black said.
On a recent Wednesday, Gregory Kamer, of Toledo, was looking for some new novels to take back to his cell.
“I love James Patterson,” he said. “If it weren’t for books, I don’t know what I’d do.”
Kamer, who is in jail for rape, said he would be behind bars “probably for awhile.”
Joseph Flores, in for violating a protection order, had selected a New York Times bestseller by Celeste Ng.
“It seems like everytime I come to jail, it’s the only time I read,” Flores said. “You have to stimulate your mind or else you go crazy.”
Harold Simpson was looking for some lighter reading in the magazine section.
“Oh wow, there are some new ones,” he said as he checked out the “Street Rodder” magazines. “It helps the time go by.”
Simpson, who was in jail for rape and gross sexual imposition, has picked up the habit of doing puzzles in jail – completing a 1,500-piece puzzle in two days recently.
“I didn’t used to do puzzles, but it passes the time,” he said.
Some of the inmates’ completed puzzles have been sealed and hung on the library wall. There are also postcards on the wall from Black, who mails them from her travels.
Black, who has been volunteering at the library since 1993, is a true believer that everyone deserves to read. She and Bonnie Schurk, who has volunteered at the jail since 1991, are the senior “staff” at the library.
“There are a lot of people in here who have not experienced reading,” Black said.
“They don’t understand these are people,” she said of those who question the need for a jail library.
Black greets all the inmates when they enter the library, and tries to get to know them a bit.
“You got your hair cut,” she commented to an inmate on a recent Wednesday.
“You’re new here,” she said to another.
“Sometimes I tell them if they cut their beard, they would look better,” Black said. “When they come back in, their beard is cut off.”
Black knows the books make a difference. She recalled eating at a restaurant in Toledo, and being visited by the chef. He was a former patron of the jail library.
“He said, ‘I never read a book before. But now I can’t wait till the new Balducci (crime thriller) comes out.’”
Two letters from former inmates are framed on the jail library wall.
One wrote “An Ode to the Librarians”
Mysteries and westerns and books that are scary. You can find them all here in our jail house library.
“An Ode to the Librarians” is the name of this rhyme. Through their caring and giving, they help us pass time.
Going out of their way to help us find books – is especially nice, considering we’re crooks.
To take our thoughts from this world, or to keep us in touch, for these acts of kindness, we thank you so much.
Another inmate recalled his joy in revisiting his old favorites in the classics section – Jack Kerouac, John Steinbeck – and discovering new favorites like the Lebanese poet and writer Khalil Gibran and Brazilian lyricist and novelist Paulo Coelho.
The inmate wrote of how the heart-wrenching prose of Mitch Albom, and page-turning fury of a political thriller by Vince Flynn helped get his through his jail time.
Rosie Minnick, who does outreach programming at the Wood County District Public Library, handles the computer check out of books and magazines in the jail.
“They are learning a lot of different material while they are in here,” she said. On the recent Wednesday, she was pleased to see a few inmates checking out the classics section.
“It’s nice to see someone who appreciates that kind of literature,” Minnick said.
Gayle Schmitz has earned the role of an inmate worker in the library, cataloging the books. She is currently rereading some Harry Potter books.
“I love books, this is right up my alley,” said Schmitz, who compared the library with accommodations at the Cleveland jail where she previously served time.
“I was just amazed when I saw it. Cuyahoga County has nothing like it,” she said.
Wood County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Jamison Rose stood guard as the inmates selected their books.
“This is the only facility that I know that is part of a public library,” Rose said. “This is very beneficial.”
“The inmates comes in here and they don’t read. They leave here as readers,” he said.
The library also functions as a reward for inmates who behave, according to Wood County Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn.
“It is a positive thing for inmates who follow the rules,” he said.
And access to reading materials helps quell mental health and behavioral issues, the sheriff said.
“Idle minds is where we run into trouble,” he said.
All jails must offer items like Bibles, the Koran and legal books – and most are delivered on carts to inmate cells. But Wasylyshyn supports the expanded library program.
“Not all are guilty,” he said of the inmates. “The majority are good people who have made bad decisions.”
