Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation

The Free Library of Philadelphia will develop Prison Services: Expanding Opportunities for Incarcerated Parents and Their Families at Neighborhood Libraries. Prison Services focuses on meeting the immediate needs of incarcerated parents, returning citizens, and their children and families by connecting them to critical resources, literacy and workforce development programs, and supporting family connectedness. The goal is to forge long-term relationships between inmates and libraries. This one-year pilot will broaden the Free Library's relationship with the Philadelphia Prison System to incorporate two new services: Stories Alive, a family televisiting and shared reading program hosted in libraries close to participants' homes; and the dissemination of temporary library card and reentry resource packets to returning citizens on the day of their release, making the full range of library resources immediately accessible.��