Beyond the police: libraries as locations of carceral care

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to make visible the connections libraries have to carceral systems and how library workers replicate carceral behavior through care.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses interdisciplinary research methods in the fields of library science, criminology, feminist studies, Black studies and abolition to examine the role of libraries as locations of carceral care.

Findings

Libraries, through their history and funding as well as their roles within society as educators and social service providers, have the components necessary to act out carceral care; libraries by extension can and do participate in forms of carceral care.

Originality/value

There has been much work on carceral care in the fields of social work and education, but to date, there has been little to no scholarship on how libraries work within the landscape of carceral care. This article builds upon the work of others to help understand how it applies to libraries.

Citation

Moreno, T.H. (2022), "Beyond the police: libraries as locations of carceral care", Reference Services Review, Vol. 50 No. 1, pp. 102-112. https://doi.org/10.1108/RSR-07-2021-0039