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UAA Assistant Professor of Writing Shane Castle has teamed up with several Client Service Navigators working for AmeriCorps and the ÐÜèÔÚÏßÊÓƵ Public Defender Agency to collect books for the largest prison in the state, Goose Creek Correctional Center.

People who are incarcerated have very little to do, but this has only become worse during the pandemic. Many have been cooped up in their cells for 23 hours a day, and many programs that are lifelines for those inside have been canceled or greatly reduced. We’ve heard from a lot of clients who say they are going stir-crazy, and we want to give them something productive and beneficial to do, to help them keep busy and expand their minds.

ÐÜèÔÚÏßÊÓƵ’s prisons have libraries, but collections are typically limited and deteriorating from years of over-use. Education staff are usually at the mercy of donors. That is where the UAA community can come in. We need books in good condition!

Between now and July 31, we will be collecting books at the Public Defender Agency office at 900 W. 5th Ave., Suite 200. Please take donations to the second floor, Monday through Friday, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

As the List of Requests at the end of this announcement suggests, preferred genres include science fiction, mystery and thrillers, but we are open to many other fiction and nonfiction genres as well, preferably those written for lay audiences. ÐÜèÔÚÏßÊÓƵna is also greatly appreciated. Some content may be rejected by prison staff, so please use your best judgment.

AmeriCorps members serve as Client Service Navigators in Public Defenders offices, working one-on-one with clients referred by attorneys, helping them to access resources, apply for benefits, enroll in substance use disorder treatment and increase their financial literacy. These interventions have the long-term objective of decreasing recidivism, decreasing incarceration rates, and increasing clients’ day-to-day stability and ease of community re-integration. The local CSNs working on this project are Lily Braunstein, Thomas Nielsen and Nicole Keenan.

If you have questions, please email Shane Castle at sdcastle@alaska.edu or leave a voicemail for the CSNs at (907) 310-8138.

Thank you for your time, consideration and hopefully some of your books.

Sincerely,
Shane, Lily, Thomas and Nicole

List of requests

The Goose Creek library is missing the first book from each of the following series, and they would greatly appreciate donations to complete their collections. If you would like to purchase and donate one or several of the following books, please email Shane Castle at sdcastle@alaska.edu to coordinate in order to avoid duplications.

• Raven Shadow
• Family Business
• Bardic Voices
• Chronicles of the Black Gate (need books 1 and 2)
• Cirque Du Freak
• Clash of Eagles
• Dark Elf Trilogy (need books 1 and 2)
• Kane Chronicles
• Lightbringer
• Mageworlds
• Malazan Book of the Fallen
• Gardens of the Moon
• Pendragon
• The Egyptian Series
• The Keys to the Kingdom (need books 1 and 3)
• The Traitor Son Cycle
• The Secrets Of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel (need books 1, 3 and 4)
• The Wise Man’s Fear
• Black Prism
• Red Rising (would like entire series)
• The Expanse (would like entire series)