Reform and Revolution: Juvenile Detention Center Libraries in the 1970s

Abstract

ABSTRACT Librarians working with incarcerated populations during the 1970s drew from and contributed to ongoing movements against oppression based on race, gender, and sexuality. These movements shaped the ideologies and actions of librarians working with incarcerated youth. Librarians' ideological approaches were not always articulated through publications. This article examines publications in special issues of library journals during this period alongside associational archives and the revolutionary newsletter Inside-Outside to interrogate how ideologies of reform or revolution shaped library practice in juvenile detention facilities during this time. Inherent in this undertaking is an evaluation of how mainstream avenues for publication and association proceedings may have favored reformist positions. Available publications and records that relate to juvenile detention center libraries in the 1970s are framed in a larger discussion of youth incarceration.