Volumes Behind Bars

The library of the Watauga County jail has experienced exponential growth over the last two months. Extra space has been designated to the literacy cause of Mary Belanger and Sue Shoemake thanks to community and intrastate support.

Members of the Bartram Trail High School dance team work to sort books collected for donation.

According to Belanger, an article published in late August in the Watauga Democrat caused a surge of library growth. "Before the article I was shopping and spending $20 a week on books; since then, the community has been supporting our efforts,"� Belanger said.

Since August, the number of books available to inmates has grown by ten fold, though the program still has need of more.

Belanger, a retired Green Valley School teacher, and Shoemake, retired Blowing Rock Elementary librarian, began the program two years ago. Belanger was visiting a former student who was incarcerated, and the topic turned to reading. There were no books readily available to the inmates at the time.

The passion for sharing knowledge took over. Belanger asked then sheriff, Mark Shook, for permission to bring in books and distribute them to the jail population. The program excelled. The only limitations being paperback editions only.

When Sheriff Len Hagaman took office, Belanger met with him to obtain permission to continue the library's mission of literacy. "He, along with the entire staff of the detention center, have been very supportive,"� said Belanger.

The community has stepped up in support of the inmate literacy program. Businesses such as the Red Carpet Inn have set up drop off points. Two churches in the area have also offered their support. The First Baptist Church of Boone has collected books, bought shelving and offered a monetary contribution to help cover the cost of book repair. Shoemake re-covers the paperbacks that suffer the wear and tear of circulation.

The First Presbyterian of Boone donated a new cart to help in the delivery of reading material to the inmates.

The intrastate support has come in hundreds of books collected by Bartram Trail High School in St. Augustine, Fla.

The support of education runs in the family. Belanger's daughter, Patty Adams, is a teacher at Bartram Trail High School and shared the program information with her colleagues. Two clubs at the school took on the program as community service projects.

The dance team, coached by Adams, proved they offer more than just award-winning dance, holding a few national titles for performance and choreography. The team collected and categorized hundreds of books. Each teen on the team read several books, then together they met and discussed each book in order to label them by genre. "The effort by these girls has been incredible. They not only collected books, but learned about the topics and genres. They took the time to label them, which will save hours of work for us [Belanger and Shoemake],"� said Belanger. "It has been a learning experience for them as well."� The Spanish club of Bartram High also helped in the cause. There were very few books available for the Spanish-speaking population of the Watauga County Detention Center. The Spanish club gathered several boxes of books specifically for them, including Spanish translations of the Harry Potter series.

Belanger went to Florida last week to collect several boxes of books. During her visit to Florida, Belanger visited the students and answered questions about the program. "More than just inmates benefit from this literacy program,"� said Belanger.

The Spanish books are in the process of being reviewed and categorized for Belanger and Shoemake. The Spanish club and one teen from the dance club, who speaks fluent Spanish, are working on this community service project. The books will be picked up at a later date by Belanger.

Content is monitored so those deemed inappropriate, such as romance novels, are not distributed. The purpose of the library is to promote literacy and conversation amongst inmates that is not related to their previous experiences concerning illicit activities.

Books that don"�t make the cut are re-distributed to the Salvation Army to be sold.

Shoemake and Belanger volunteer hours to label and organize books. Every other Wednesday they push a cart through the various pods, or sections, of the jail allowing inmates to check out up to five books at a time.

In the beginning, the library had hardly enough books to meet the demand of the population, which runs at an average of 90 prisoners, each allowed five books at a time. With the surge of books, there are many more to distribute, the demand by inmates is still not satisfied. Western novels in particular are requested frequently, but there are very few in stock.

Belanger and Shoemake are enthusiastic about inmate response to the program. "It is wonderful to see them line up around the cart to choose the next week's reading,"� said Shoemake.

Anyone wishing to donate paperback books, hard cover is not accepted, can drop them off at the Red Carpet Inn, Highland Hills Motel, or email Belanger at [email protected] or Shoemake at [email protected].

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