Prison libraries to be run by inmates

Long-term prisoners are being trained to become librarians to cope with staffing shortages in the country’s prisons.

Prison libraries, seen here in the film The Shawshank Redemption, are a resource for inmates.

Long-term prisoners are being trained to become librarians to cope with staffing shortages in the country’s prisons.

The library service is currently provided by a mixture of council librarians, prison officers and some prison inmates.

But there are no regular opening hours for the prison library in Mountjoy, Arbour Hill and the Dochas Women’s Prison in Dublin. And staff shortages mean that the library in Limerick Prison is only open for ten out ...