By Janis O’Driscoll
Collaboration is at the heart of the work of the Friends of the Library. In June 2024, a new library opened at Juvenile Hall as a result of partnerships between the Santa Cruz Public Libraries’ Jail Reach team, the County Probation Department, the County Office of Education, and the Friends of the Library. Here’s how it happened.
For many years the Jail Reach staff has worked with Juvenile Hall to provide opportunity and inspiration to youths in the justice system. In the fall of 2023, the Friends of the Library initiated a fundraising campaign called Boundless Minds to support this work. The Friends’ proposal was accepted by Santa Cruz Gives and the community was invited to contribute through their auspices. Over $19,000 was raised and given to the Library to support its work at Juvenile Hall.
Boundless Minds planted the seed that would grow to become a library. As the Library’s Jail Reach team met with their partners at the County Probation Department Probation and the County Office of Education, the idea of a library began to form and what began as a class/meeting space developed into a full-fledged library.
The Probation Department and the Office of Education installed new bookshelves, furniture, and a media screen. They painted the walls, put in new floors, and added potted plants. Boundless Minds funding purchased posters to hang in the library and new books for the Juvenile Hall collection and there is funding left to develop library programs for the students and continue to build the collection.
Jail Reach Supervisor, Jesse Silva (pictured above) and Jail Reach Librarian, Susan Nilsson, curated the JH collection in collaboration with the students. The students helped select the book titles and got them sorted and organized on the shelves. They also selected the posters for the library. Jesse says “This is their library…built with their invaluable input.”
The Juvenile Hall Library provides books for the students who are incarcerated there, in hopes that it will help them gain a deeper understanding of their own inner world and the wider world all around them. It also opens the doors for Jail Reach to begin providing library programs for the students — a goal they have worked towards for 8 years.
Chief Probation Officer Fernando Giraldo applauds the collaboration that led to a library “curated with guidance from the youth it serves, as well as programming that allows youth to connect with one another in creative ways.” Santa Cruz County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Faris Sabbah agrees: “At every step, the library was built with the active involvement of the students it serves – offering not only reading material but a space for creativity, connection, and wellness.”
The Probation Department and the County Office of Education invited the public library inside Juvenile Hall. Through the Friends of the Library the community provided the financial support to make this reading sanctuary a reality. Teamwork creates success.
Janis O’Driscoll is President of the Friends of the Santa Cruz Public Libraries Board of Directors. Janis previously worked as Deputy Director for the Santa Cruz Public Library system and retired in 2019. Inspired by an enthusiastic Friends Board, she continues to call attention to the power of the public library. Janis is also a printmaker who remains active as a member of the California Society of Printers and by making art with the Printmakers at the Tannery Arts Center.