University Of Alaska Anchorage: Book Drive For Goose Creek Correctional Facility

Press release from the University of Alaska Anchorage:

June 30, 2021

UAA Assistant Professor of Writing Shane Castle has teamed up with several Client
Service Navigators working for AmeriCorps and the Alaska Public Defender Agency to
collect books for the largest prison in the state, Goose Creek Correctional Center.

People who are incarcerated have very little to do, but this has only become worse
during the pandemic. Many have been cooped up in their cells for 23 hours a day, and
many programs that are lifelines for those inside have been canceled or greatly reduced.
We’ve heard from a lot of clients who say they are going stir-crazy, and we want to
give them something productive and beneficial to do, to help them keep busy and expand
their minds.

Alaska’s prisons have libraries, but collections are typically limited and deteriorating
from years of over-use. Education staff are usually at the mercy of donors. That is
where the UAA community can come in. We need books in good condition!

Between now and July 31, we will be collecting books at the Public Defender Agency
office at 900 W. 5th Ave., Suite 200. Please take donations to the second floor, Monday
through Friday, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

As the List of Requests at the end of this announcement suggests, preferred genres include science fiction,
mystery and thrillers, but we are open to many other fiction and nonfiction genres
as well, preferably those written for lay audiences. Alaskana is also greatly appreciated.
Some content may be rejected by prison staff, so please use your best judgment.

AmeriCorps members serve as Client Service Navigators in Public Defenders offices,
working one-on-one with clients referred by attorneys, helping them to access resources,
apply for benefits, enroll in substance use disorder treatment and increase their
financial literacy. These interventions have the long-term objective of decreasing
recidivism, decreasing incarceration rates, and increasing clients’ day-to-day stability
and ease of community re-integration. The local CSNs working on this project are Lily
Braunstein, Thomas Nielsen and Nicole Keenan.

If you have questions, please email Shane Castle at sdcastle@alaska.edu or leave a voicemail for the CSNs at (907) 310-8138.

Thank you for your time, consideration and hopefully some of your books.

Sincerely,Shane, Lily, Thomas and Nicole

List of requests

The Goose Creek library is missing the first book from each of the following series,
and they would greatly appreciate donations to complete their collections. If you
would like to purchase and donate one or several of the following books, please email
Shane Castle at sdcastle@alaska.edu to coordinate in order to avoid duplications.

This press release was produced by the University of Alaska Anchorage. The views expressed here are the author’s own.