EVERETT — On the shelves are titles by Tom Clancy, Stephen King, Charles Dickens, plus romances, science fiction and books on pregnancy, too.
Faith and Christianity books fill up an entire wall of the small library inside the Snohomish County Jail. Most inmates can borrow up to three books at a time. They choose from carts that are rolled through the housing modules.
Only inmate workers assigned to the library, such as George Bazan, 36, are allowed inside the 288 square foot room. He’s serving a year-long sentence for repeat drunken-driving convictions.
The jail always needs donated books, and only paperbacks are allowed, said Terry Bloss, a specialist who works with inmates on housing, safety and religious needs.
The jail especially needs more literature, nonfiction — including self-help and high-school equivalency books — and titles in Spanish, she said.
Bazan makes sure each book is clean, and he tapes any rips or tears. He stamps each side of the newly donated books with the jail’s name.
Bazan reviews inmates’ requests for certain titles or genres to be put on the carts.
“We send carts in and out every day, Monday through Friday,” he said.
He’s also been organizing the library, something that hasn’t always been done before. He works an hour or two each day.
“I like it very much,” he said. “This is my home away from home.”
Bazan sometimes gets first dibs on the books that come in. On Sept. 16, new donations included a box of Clancy titles, a set of the “Twilight” series and a children’s picture book, “All About Your Kitten.”
Sometimes Bazan gets lost in thought picking up random books while he works. He likes that the library helps those “trying to step out of the bad ways of living,” he said.
“I just sit down and start reading,” he said. “I totally forget where I’m at and what I’m doing.”
Books are one of the few activities available for inmates, Bloss said. The way she sees it, offering books promotes the value of education.
Many inmates she meets have not completed high school and they’ve never learned fractions, she said. They are hungry to read and learn from books on topics such as history and science.
“The more books we have, and the more diverse we have, the more we can engage these folks, like we have a GED program,” she said.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.
More books are needed
Paperback books can be dropped off during business hours at the Snohomish County Jail, 3025 Oakes Ave. The books cannot contain pornography or promote gangs, weapons or drugs. No magazines are allowed. Tax receipts are available for donations. More info: 425-388-3411, push 5, then 2846.
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