San Francisco's jail library service program serving as a national model

In downtown San Francisco, there's a library even the most devoted bookworms would hope they never had to visit.

It has many of the same things you would find at your neighborhood branch. But here, the readers can't come to the books, so the books have to go to them.

Jeanie Austin is a librarian for the San Francisco Public Library, but her branch is a bit different. It's smack dab in the middle of the county jail.

"I think when people envision a jail, they have an idea that people just have access to books, but actually what we've done here in San Francisco is pretty rare," Austin said.

Every jail was required to provide access to legal texts. San Francisco went a step further, offering a recreational library curated by a city librarian. For the people inside, the books helped break up the long days.

Leon Sweeting, 50, had been in jail for three months on burglary charges. A good book, he said, was one of the few things that helped the time pass.

"Reading helps my days go by a lot faster, helps keep my mind at ease," he said.

Research has suggested that programs like this can have long-term benefits. A recent report from the American Library Association found that every dollar spent on prison education programs yields about $5 in savings on future incarceration costs over three years.

San Francisco's model has drawn national attention. The Mellon Foundation recently awarded the program a $4 million grant to help build similar library programs in other jails.

Captain Sara O'Malley, commander of County Jail Two, said she had seen firsthand what happens when people inside have something meaningful to reach for.

Asked whether books are a form of escapism for the inmates, O'Malley said, "Yes." 

"We don't like to use the word escape, but it's a window into what is possible into the world," she said.