where do you see yourself in 5 yrs? 10?

[LucifersChild]

where do you see yourself in the future? the same place youve been the past 5 yrs? or are you moving forward. i can see a dramatic change in myself over the past 5 yrs, and i hope to continue to grow forward. go to school and finish, get the job ive always wanted. make it big in my rocknroll band :D what about you guys. any dreams, aspirations?

[Jennafer]

I see myself getting married, living in a nice home, with all my kitties, maybe a dog and of course my husband to be. I want to have a big garden. Maybe get a part-time job doing something low stress, but helpful to the community. I want to take classes in self defense, photography, or art. Or gourmet cooking. Or all of the above. I need to kick the smoking habit, and cut way down on the drinking. I want to be healthy. 10 yrs....I'm scared. I don't want to think that far ahead. :confused:

[Redallnite]

A GRANDMOTHER!!! Not in 5 yrs. but in about 7-10 yrs.

:p :) ;) :D

[James]

In 5 years I see myself as a crazy person who lives under a bridge... of course it would have to be one of those nice bridges with electricity and Broadband access so I could bring my comps with me.
In 10 years I see myself as a Drunken Politician who spent 5 years living under a bridge, but managed to make millions on the internet which was used to pay for my political campaign and drinking habbit.

[Jake]

Fishing. A little lady beside me. And cold beer in a cooler.

[Amaurote]

In prison. Having said all that, I'm probably being wildly over-optimistic, because I continually fail the interviews...

[aussie]

Better take the KY lube withyou pretty boy. dem boyz gun lub yoo

In five years who knows same job different job different car maybe no longer needing oxygen. A new ISP now that would be nice
After ten years...........................

[Amaurote]

It's a strange coincidence, but one of the hypothetical questions at my last prison library interview was "What would you do if one of the inmates made sexual advances towards you?"...I was seriously tempted to give a shamelessly false and flippant answer like "Demand cigarettes/phone card for services rendered", or "Retreat in face of inmate advance, all the way to the safety of a decent, law-abiding, asexual pub", but I ultimately surrendered and proffered a sensible, psychologically-plausible answer.

But it was damned close, I can tell you.

[Diva]

You'd scream like a girl. Admit it.

[Amaurote]

Originally posted by Diva
You'd scream like a girl. Admit it.

I confess. The prospect would terrify me in a low-Category female prison or a YOI, let alone a Maximum Security facility with a Close Supervision Centre...

[Jake]

Originally posted by aussie
the conversation over a shared cigarette in the dark afterwards would be interesting though wouldnt it. Bubba would need dictionary.com just to keep up

You know, Aussie, with that kind of lovin... the words just don't matter. It's the grunts and the hollering that shows where the heart is.

So, Amaurote. I've been dying to ask. You're extremely intelligent [even this seems to lessen you, sorry] You've got wit that will do a fly by and smack the best of them upside the head... And you are a 'pretty boy' by US prison standards at least. Why a prison library? Those goons don't have the coping behavior to accept what they do not understand. It took me a couple of threads to really start to see the witty and fascinating dialogue as the true you... not someone trying to be a braggart, if you will. Those guys wouldn't give you a chance to say hi in some institutions. They'd view you as 'superior' and loath you for it. Why not a college? Highschool? somewhere on the same playing field as yourself?

[Diva]

hey! I'd love to know that, also. Wouldn't you love to put some of that in the 'Getting To Know You Section', Ami?

No *cough* pressure, of course.:D

[Diva]

Poor Jake, being completely ignored by that bad ole Amuarotten. *cough*

[Amaurote]

Originally posted by Jake


You know, Aussie, with that kind of lovin... the words just don't matter. It's the grunts and the hollering that shows where the heart is.

Why a prison library? Those goons don't have the coping behavior to accept what they do not understand. It took me a couple of threads to really start to see the witty and fascinating dialogue as the true you... not someone trying to be a braggart, if you will. Those guys wouldn't give you a chance to say hi in some institutions. They'd view you as 'superior' and loath you for it. Why not a college? Highschool? somewhere on the same playing field as yourself?

I'm sorry I didn't respond to this earlier, Jake: I was going to respond yesterday but I got dragged out by Hollowearth and his girlfriend to watch Julius Caesar, during which Hollowearth et al became quite disorientated by (A) an extraordinarily large fat bloke dressed in Sumo accoutrement, masquerading as Julius Caesar, and (B) A highly effeminate bloke masquerading as Brutus. As a result I completely missed this post, and I now redress the balance...I am, however, slightly inebriated, and it is 1:30 am in the morning my time, so bear with me...!

You probably know the answer better than I do; you've worked with troubled children, which is, I suspect, a much harder task than working with adult inmates - indeed, it's a job which I would never willingly tackle, because I know that I would never cope.

One of my weaknesses is morbidity; I know it; its indisputable. Librarianship is not a 24/7 vocation like teaching, or medicine; that is part of its attraction. However, it is about promoting literacy and continuous learning and combating social exclusion; what better arena than prison librarianship? Public libraries are essentially vehicles for recreation these days; they are admirable in some ways, but - speaking personally - I prefer to own books, and I've rarely if ever used a public library to obtain one; academic libraries are fine, but they aren't fighting social exclusion or eliminating educational deficits. Prison libraries are able to do this, at least theoretically. I agree that it would be an unlikely permanent profession, but it always seemed very worthy to me: ideal in itself, and morally vital. The reality is more sordid, more putrid, more disappointing; but I'd like the chance to see for myself, and to work idealistically to an end I believe in, regardless of any putative ingratitude, mockery or indifference I might face. The ultimate reality is the dollar, or the shekel; but I prefer to avoid the ultimate reality for as long as is reasonably possible.

One last question: what is your experience of dealing with adolescents? Why did you get involved? I remember reading Mrs Rios' Me...Teach Criminals? (about problems with Latino youth in Texas) and being very impressed with her emphasis on societal, rather than individual solutions. Do you have any tips on dealing with educational problems? I'd be very interested to hear from someone with the profundity of experience you've clearly had.

[Diva]

Hon, what about Juevinile prisons? Where you might have a better chance of reaching someone? Turning them around and giving them a different view?

I guess my concern would be for the backlash you may get from some of the harder criminals.... Do they teah you self defense? What protection do you have? I mean besides a condom... What sort of interactions are you allowed? Is there an oportunity to teach?

[Amaurote]

Originally posted by Diva
Hon, what about Juevinile prisons? Where you might have a better chance of reaching someone? Turning them around and giving them a different view?

I guess my concern would be for the backlash you may get from some of the harder criminals.... Do they teah you self defense? What protection do you have? I mean besides a condom... What sort of interactions are you allowed? Is there an oportunity to teach?

Juvenile prisons - Young Offenders' Institutions (YOIs) - are very worthwhile, and I applied for a post in one only last week. They're interesting places, but the rehabilitational possibilities of the library are severely circumscribed by the extremely short sentences: the inmates are 17-21, and their Detention Orders last no longer then 4 years; 4 years is fine for the work of a prison library, but the reality is that the average sentence is 14 weeks - which renders any rehabilitational or literacy work ineffective.

Many thanks for your concern, Diva, but I'm not as weak or timorous as I appear: in any event, the higher category prisons retain Prison Officer Librarians (POLs - a dying breed) who continually monitor the library inmates. The role of the librarian is to inculcate a civilian ethos, rather than to buttress the ethos of the prison service itself; in that sense self-defence would be unhelpful, perhaps even counter-productive. You have to remember that library access is regarded as one of the most valuable rights a prisoner enjoys, so the possible loss of that right through acts of violence is a powerful deterrent for most inmates.

Teaching - yes; prison librarians were once despised, but the active prison librarian can involve himself in literacy, bibliotherapy and reading group activities. The possibilities are considerable.

[Diva]

Sorry, hon. I didn't mean to make you seem like a woosie. ;) I guess when you don't know the environment from the inside it's hard to form an opinion based on anything but stories and movies. I think that you would be a wonderful Librarian. Any one of the prisoners would be lucky to have you as a teacher. How limited is your interactions? How much teaching rights are you given? What are your limitations?