Inmates put shine back in library furniture

When Mary Elizabeth Colombo was looking for a company to refinish antique furniture at Aliquippa’s B.F. Jones Memorial Library, she turned to inmates employed by Pennsylvania Correctional Industries.
Colombo, director of B.F. Jones, has not regretted the decision.
“They did some wonderful things,” she said. “Things came back, and it was just amazing how good they looked.”

April 10, 2008 by Uncategorized 1

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1 Response

  1. mdoneil says:
    April 11, 2008 at 3:31 am

    The PL where I worked…
    The PL where I worked needed CD & DVD shelves for the children’s department. Short for space they wanted a single shelf that would hold both types of materials – taller shelves for DVDs and shorter for CDs.

    They attempted to source these from the various vendors without success. I suggested the Florida prison industries (PRIDE). We spoke with some inmates and they submitted a design and price that were most agreeable.

    Several weeks later a wonderful hardwood shelf that matched our exact request was delivered. We could not have been more pleased.

    Sevearl states prison industries will ship things out of state. The Iowa Prison industries made us 25 hardwood pencil cup/ scratch paper holders for only $20 each including shipping.

    These industries are limited in their markets are customers must be government or non-profit agencies so as not to unfairly compete with traditional sources.

    I think these are wonderful programs as they allow those in prison to perfect a marketable skill while providing schools and libraries with affordable furniture, printing, and other services. Prison should be more rehabilitative than punitive. These programs help achieve that goal.

    Reply

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