The Daviess County Detention Center is hoping to add a permanent library on site, as Jailer Art Maglinger said the jail is considering changing its policy on books that are mailed in. DCDC is partnering with the Daviess County Public Library for the venture.
Maglinger said DCDC currently allows books to be mailed in from Amazon for inmates to read during their downtime. While the books are thoroughly scanned, he said some undetectable contraband has still entered the facility.
“Books that are being mailed in is what the issue is. [People] are changing shipping labels and doing a lot of creative stuff with that to sneak contraband in, and it’s just getting hard to detect. You sort through hundreds of pages, and it’s really difficult,” he said.
Maglinger is considering stopping all incoming books from entering the jail, though he doesn’t want to remove inmates’ reading options. Instead, they will replace the inventory in each building’s recreation room with books sourced through DCPL.
Maglinger and DCPL Director Erin Waller said it is still early in the process, so specific details of the plan have not yet been solidified.
During DCPL’s February board meeting, Waller said they would start with a small order of books based on what the inmates would like to read.
“A lot of those books are going to be donations. Some of them are going to be certain things we’re just going to order,” Waller said.
Maglinger said if DCDC decides to cease all incoming books from Amazon, there would be a monthlong grace period to ensure the new library program was in place so that inmates have an option for reading materials.
He noted that other jails already do not accept books, yet that’s not how Maglinger wants the jail to function. He noted it does bring a risk of contraband entering the facility, but allowing the inmates to have too much idle time due to lack of entertainment could be worse.
“Any idle time can be bad, so I want them to fill their time with productive things. They can redeem their time and become more educated,” Maglinger said. “The chaplain, for example, passes out Bibles and Christian books that keep them focused. The redeeming time is an important part to avoid idle time.”
