The right to read behind bars: access to books and libraries in the prisons in Bulgaria

Abstract

The actuality of the research is justified by the lack of serious scientific, social and politically engaged interest in the subject of books and reading among prisoners, which could reflect on the whole society, with negative consequences. This topic has been neglected even at state level in the former socialist camp. A comprehensive picture of the reading in the penitentiary establishments in the world is absent. There is no empirical study on the reading in the places of imprisonment in Bulgaria after the end of the totalitarian period (after 1989). A research interest of the library keepers and of the experts from the public libraries to the problems of the reading in the prison libraries is absent. The aim of the study is to answer the question what is the level of the readers activity in the prisons in Bulgaria and what are the perceived material needs of the prison libraries to meet the reading right of the prisoners. The subject of the study is the access to books and libraries in Bulgarian prisons and the accompanying risk of information discrimination of the prisoner – the feeling of intellectual isolation from the books, the world is reading. Subject of a direct interest is the right of happiness through reading and the opportunities for the welfare of the imprisoned reader. For the first time, a recap of the status of the prison libraries and the readers activity among prisoners in Bulgaria after the democratic changes of 1990 to 2015 is presented.