CSNSW helps offenders turn a new leaf in Library Week

Corrective Services NSW is celebrating Library and Information Week, with around 43 individual libraries in correctional centres state-wide proving to be one trick in the rehabilitation book.

Library Services manager, Rebecca Bollen Manalac, said library facilities help reduce idle time while promoting education.

“Books help keep offenders engaged to encourage good behaviour but can also inspire learning, goal setting and positive communication,” Ms Bollen Manalac said.

“Access non-fiction and legal texts is also important for inmate rehabilitation to improve literacy, keep them in touch with society and provide them with skills to prepare for life on the outside.”

The most popular genres in fiction are fantasy, science fiction, mystery and crime thrillers. For non-fiction, it’s self-help, health and fitness, popular psychology, biographies, travel and cooking.

The Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre Library in Silverwater maintains a central collection of books in languages other than English, lent to other centres as required.  

The most borrowed multicultural book, Hayatus SahabahI, is among the collection, which contains 20 languages including Mandarin and Cantonese, Vietnamese, Hindi and Arabic.

CSNSW Commissioner Kevin Corcoran PSM praised the modern library service reflects the theme for Library and Information Week: Rewrite. Renew. Reimagine. 

“We’re proud to provide a regularly refreshed and widely accessible library as a tool for learning and rehabilitation,” Mr Corcoran said.

“We have a significant library collection for information and recreation, which can guide offenders to live life by the book post-release.”

Top five most circulated fiction books:

• The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson
• Tripwire, Lee Child
• Shantaram, Gregory David Roberts
• Night School, Lee Child
• Blue Moon, Lee Child

Library and Information Week runs from 25-31 July and encourages re-engagement with reading. Learn more about CSNSW library services here.