Behind prison walls, there aren’t many places that feel like a safe haven. But for Scott Smith, who served five years in Nebraska correctional facilities, the library was his salvation.
“That’s how you get out of prison for the day, by picking up a book and reading,” said Smith. “It’s vital. It’s absolutely vital.”
Five of Nebraska’s ten correctional facilities have formal libraries: Omaha Corrections Center, Tecumseh State Correctional Institute, Nebraska State Penitentiary, Lincoln Corrections Center and the NDCS Diagnostic and Evaluation Center.
Smith said the libraries offer a mental escape.
“These books, by the time they’re done, the pages are falling out,” said Smith.
There’s also the law library, where inmates have the chance to read up on their cases, and even learn to represent themselves.
“It changed the whole trajectory of my life,” said Smith, adding the law library is where he decided to start a new chapter after his release in 2018. “I spent countless hours in the law library.”
However, these days, not everyone in the corrections system has the chance to spend countless hours studying up.
“These kinds of services are shrinking. They’re constantly under the chopping block,” said Jane Skinner, a librarian at Omaha Correctional Center.
Skinner is one of just seven librarians in all of Nebraska’s corrections system.
