Durland Alternatives Library Website

Mission

The Durland Alternatives Library is located on the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, NY. It was founded in 1978 as a project of the Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy (now the Center for Transformative Action) and was dedicated by Lewis H. and Margaret C. Durland as a living memorial to their daughter Anne Carry Durland. The Durland family gift has been a living legacy to further the work of addressing social and ecological concerns which were important to Anne. Since its founding, the library collection has been providing contemporary, issue-oriented, alternative media resources often unavailable in research and public libraries.

The Durland Alternatives Library is dedicated to providing free and open access to materials expressing viewpoints and information not readily available through mainstream publications and mass-media sources. The DAL is committed to providing materials to underserved and incarcerated people both locally and globally.

Description of Work

The Durland Alternatives Library is free and open to everyone. The collection is comprised of books, periodicals, audio and video tapes, DVDs and CDs. Our collection is available at the library or through the Interlibrary Loan Department of the Finger Lakes Library System. The catalog can be accessed by going to our web site and clicking on the "our collection" and "searchable database" links.

The library has two programs for prisoners--a local program for young men in juvenile corrections and a national program, Prisoner Express, for adult prisoners. We work with youth by providing information to help them in making activity and educational choices while incarcerated and in planning for their community re-entry upon release. The library has established a scholarship fund for incarcerated youth at MacCormick Secure Center in Brooktondale, NY, in order to help them take online, college courses through Tompkins-Cortland Community College. The fund is also used for on site enrichment programs including art, yoga and gardening. It is our hope to introduce the young people to a variety of experiences that show them the possibilities available to them.

This year, the library added a transformative action section to its collection. With the help of a grant from the Center for Transformative Action, we'll be able to create a collection of cutting edge materials that can assist our community in addressing the social issues of our time.

The library is a Project Partner of the Center for Transformative Action.

Prisoner Express Program

Prisoner Express, a project of the Alternatives Library, promotes rehabilitation by offering inmates information, education and the opportunity for creative self-expression in a public forum. Participation in this program fosters self-exploration, enrichment and knowledge. Visit the official program website at www.prisonerexpress.org.

• Books

  Prisoner Express began as a program for sending books to incarcerated individuals throughout the United States. This is still the largest part of our program. Each month, hundreds of packages are prepared by volunteers for mailing. Prisoners can specify the types of books they are interested and we fulfill these requests to the best of our ability.

• Writing Projects

  Writing provides a great tool for introspection and expression. We encourage prisoner self-expression through a variety of writing projects. Every month Prisoner Express suggests a writing topic for the participants in the theme essay program. Another mode of expression is found in the Journal Project, where prisoners are invited to keep a journal which is sent to us for publishing on the web site.

• Other Projects

  Currently, Prisoner Express coordinates a pen pal program, distance learning programs, as well as a prisoner art program. Through a generous grant and the help of an enthusiastic volunteer, a distance learning program on World History has just started. Other distance learning programs include a Human Development module developed by a Pittsburgh teacher, a US History reading group (reading Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States), and a Math Education module developed by an associate professor at Ithaca College.

About Us | Our Work | News | Resources | Get Involved