LIHNN visit to HMP Manchester
On a glorious day in mid-July with not a cloud in the royal-blue sky it would have been hard for any building to look lowering, but if any of them were up to it, it would have been HMP Manchester. Following the riots in 1990 new buildings overlie the original Victorian prison and whilst it’s always nice to see blind architects get a bit of work now and then it’s difficult to imagine the new constructions would have got planning permission in any other context.
Getting into the building proved reassuringly hard with photos and fingerprints being taken, ID presented, and airport-style security to get through. Fair to say that anyone losing a set of keys thereabouts would be long odds to win employee of the month. Prison librarian Bridget McKeown met us at reception. Bridget got into the job via a rather roundabout route featuring a spell as a nursery nurse among other things. One imagines she would provide a comforting presence to those prisoners in need of one whilst not putting up with much nonsense from the rest. Bridget talked us through a scale model of the prison in the visitors’ foyer; what struck me was how much of the estate was devoted to ancillary services such as kitchens, workshops, and laundries. I would guess that fewer than 50% of it is made up of accommodation for the prisoners. There are around 640 of them at any one time, down from 1,100 when they used to have to share a cell. After the 1990 riots the process of slopping out was ended and all the cells have their own toilet, although showers are still communal.
The library is in F wing, now devoted to “admin,” – education among other things. This is in the old Victorian part of the prison with a central atrium and wings coming off it. Music – or at least amplified sound – proceeded from somewhere and the acoustic, ideally suited to a concert hall or church, was anything but restful. A smell of men, with an undertow of drains and cabbage added to the sensory melange.
The library is on the second floor. Prisoners can visit it by appointment and books are taken out to the wings for high-security, sick, or vulnerable prisoners. The prisoners are always accompanied by a guard; tact forbade me from asking what Bridget’s policy on fines was. The stock was mostly fiction and often bought in response to requests for prisoners. True crime and thrillers are very popular although prisoners can be refused books if they are too close to the bone as far as their offences go, and there is a list of banned books. Bridget has about £20K a year to spend and has a KPI of buying a set number of books a year. She is employed by Manchester Council and has two librarian colleagues all of whom have been there for years. As Bridget said “you very quickly realise if it’s for you or not.”
The library also supports people doing educational courses which range from basic English and maths all the way up to Open University courses. Prisoner who are better at reading help those who find it a struggle and a scheme called StoryTelling Dads allows them to make videos of themselves reading books for their children. As you might imagine Covid threw up all sorts of difficulties for Bridget, but it did have the benefit of getting the library’s services added to the prison’s Unilink System which is used for all sorts of life admin. This allows prisoners to order books and make appointments to come to the library and has given the service a much higher profile.
The library overlooks the exercise yard. Unfortunately for the inmates the summer heatwave coincides with the peak time for the prison officers to get some much-deserved leave, so they tend to spend more time in their cells during the summer, rather than less. Smoking is not allowed, although they can vape.
I left with mixed feelings. The sound of laughter came up from the exercise yard as we sat in the library and people can get used to many things but the heat in summer, the constant noise and clanging of locks, and forced proximity with others must be nigh-on-unbearable for many. We have to let some people go at the end of their sentences and how many are in a worse state when they come out than when they went in? On the other hand, Bridget’s obvious care for their prisoners and her sense of mission were inspiring both in the way she works to keep them – and the service – connected to the outside world and in the way she tries to improve their lives through education and providing a safe space for them. What’s most important perhaps is that the library space – and the pages of fiction – might give the prisoners somewhere they can (almost) escape to.
John Gale, Trust Librarian at the JET Library, Mid-Cheshire NHS Foundation Trust
