Want to learn more about prison abolition? Looking to explore the role of information in the prison industrial complex? Excited to discuss ways we can collectively offer resources to address violence caused by mass incarceration? Join us! The Prison Library Support Network is collaborating with METRO to host PLSN Presents: Abolitionist Futures Series, which will meet quarterly on the second Monday of the month in the evening.
In June, join us to learn about Brooklyn Public Library’s Justice Initiatives (JI) group, which supports currently and formerly incarcerated New Yorkers through a range of direct services and programs. This presentation focuses on TeleStory, a video calling service that connects families with their incarcerated loved ones through free, hour-long video calls. The service is available at 12 BPL branches and 10 New York state prisons.
This presentation will cover how the service began, how it provides vital connections for families in a welcoming environment, and how it provides a free and supportive alternative to exploitative for-profit video calling and other “services” in the carceral system. The presentation will also cover the operational basics of TeleStory as well as the work JI does to develop and sustain a community of support for families experiencing the incarceration of a loved one.
The impact of familial incarceration is exacerbated by considerable barriers to communication such as distance, accessibility, and expense. TeleStory exists as a direct response to the need for family connection during incarceration and is supported by research that suggests family members, particularly children of incarcerated parents, benefit greatly from consistent contact during separation.
Presenters:
Sadie Petraitis has been the TeleStory Associate at the Brooklyn Public Library since October 2023, establishing this program in the NYS DOCCS system. Prior to that, she worked on BPL’s Welcome Home reentry program, contributing to its design and implementation.
Michael Carey is Coordinator of Justice Initiatives at Brooklyn Public Library. From 2009-2015, Michael was Executive Director of College Initiative, a community-based organization committed to creating and sustaining pathways to and through postsecondary education for formerly incarcerated and court-involved New Yorkers. He was involved in the program from its founding in 2002 and has extensive experience in the design and implementation of reentry education programming, including a nationally recognized peer mentoring program. He co-founded the New York Reentry Education Network and the Interdependence Prison Project and is currently a Studio Associate with the Studio at The Edge of the World, an Australian-based design think-tank, and a former Subject Matter Expert for the Department of Education’s national Improving Reentry Education project.