CONDUIT FOR RESTORATION: THE PRISON LIBRARY

At first glance, the collection of beige sandstone cottages assembled neatly in a pristine meadow seems like a unique hide-a-away college campus, or perhaps an exclusive retirement community. Every morning you can hear the sound of wild geese escaping the nearby game reserve as they soar in sorties that collidein the sky in disarray and look like tealeaves swirling against an invisible spoon. What provokes this early morning aeronautical protest? When the birds quiet down, and if you listen, you may detect the hum of an electrical fence. It stands in close proximity to a perimeter road, a road where state cars routinely prowl under the steely eyes of white and blue shirted officers, watching, observing, and guarding. Here, the birds are free, and as in any prison experience, this is a place where men struggle to control the stress created by time, dislocation, apathy, and a lifestyle ofcareless decision making. (...)