Restorative justice as a tool to address the role of policing and incarceration in the lives of youth in the United States

Abstract

Disciplinary practices utilized in public libraries in the United States carry echoes of the ways in which youth of color and/or LGBTQ and gender non- conforming youth are policed and incarcerated. This research includes interviews with librarians and staff engaging in relational disciplinary practices, namely restorative justice, to gain understanding of how altering approaches to discipline may create cultural shifts that lead to more culturally conscious services to youth made vulnerable by the state. Individual, open-ended interviews with librarians and staff at an urban library system in California addressed the implementation of restorative justice practices, individuals’ approaches and understandings of restorative justice, and the process of institutionalizing restorative justice throughout the library system. This research reveals that restorative justice offers one approach to creating social change through increased access to library services and resources.