A living example of democracy
The Bremen Prison Library was
awarded the VGH Foundation Library Prize 2016 today (January 12, 2017).
the prize, the Library Prize jury recognized the model character of the
institution: in Germany it is the only regular branch of a
Stadtbibliothek behind prison walls. this way, the Bremen Stadtbibliothek
fulfills its legally defined task
in of ensuring the population unhindered access to information and participation.
The fact that this also applies to the imprisoned part of the population is expressly
confirmed in Article 28 of the European Prison Principles.
At the award ceremony on Thursday, January 12th in the prison, Mayor
and Senator for Culture Dr.
Carsten Sieling described the award winners with the words: “Access to cultural and political education in Bremen does not stop at the prison walls.
Reading is a human right that
has been implemented here for many years by numerous committed employees.
My heartfelt thanks for that.” Justice Senator Martin Günthner: “We are happy and grateful for
the prisoner library’s excellent contribution to integration through culture and
education, especially under the very special conditions and tasks
of the prison system.”
Library director Barbara Lison accepted the award from Frank Müller, member of the
VGH board, and thanked her: “My employees
are happy about this recognition of their work and commitment.
We also see this award as an invitation to
continuously develop the services of this library to meet current and future needs
.”
Bremen prisoners can
choose from 8,000 media units in an open access area, as well as unhindered access to the network of Bremen libraries.
The jury was particularly impressed by the intensity of use of the prison library
: with 450 prison spaces, it records around 10,000 visits annually.
From the jury's point of view, this impressively proves the educational policy potential that
is being used in Bremen.
The award of the prize is therefore linked to the hope that the Bremen example will also receive attention elsewhere.
Henning Bleyl, culture editor at taz nord and member of the jury for the
VGH Foundation's library prize: “In my view, prison libraries can
be described as the 'stepchildren of public libraries' - even though they are
dedicated to a clientele for whom reading is important to a degree not found anywhere else
, it has all the qualities that are always attributed to it: reading as
self-empowerment.
Reading as an exit from self-inflicted immaturity. Reading as an escape from everyday life.
If prisons are supposed to accommodate 'intellectual freedom', then the prison library fulfills this requirement to a particularly high degree.”
The jury also praised the exemplary cooperation between the justice and
cultural departments, which the Bremen model makes possible.
While the cultural center, as the sponsor of the Stadtbibliothek
, covers
the costs of specialist staff and professional responsible for material and acquisition costs.
In this way, qualified jobs are also created within the prison.
, three prisoners and another from the pre-trial detention area work in the prison library
The library prize is awarded annually by the VGH Foundation in collaboration with the
Lower Saxony Regional Association in the German Library Association
.
The prize winner is named based on a jury recommendation. The award recognizes top achievements in various areas of library work.
This is intended to emphasize the importance of libraries for society.
The VGH Foundation's library prize is endowed with 5,000 euros and is intended to
support library projects. In 2015, the Stadtbibliothek
for its convincing concept of integrating immigrants
.
Jury members 2016
Günter Bassen, managing director of the
Lower Saxony
Henning Bleyl, journalist, taz nord
Felicitas
Hundhausen, director of the Osnabrück University Library
Ellen van
der Loos, Lower Saxony regional association in the German library association
Dr.
Sabine Schormann, Foundation Director of the VGH Foundation