If you’re on your way to prison and want to know how to stay out of of trouble or away from drama, then the library is the best place to be. It’s filled with informative books, televisions, cds and dvds, and more. It’s where I wrote my daily journal entries which turned into this blog as well as my novel, Subprime Felon.
At Herlong Prison Camp, I spent most of my time in a room called “the Leisure Library.” This room had five large desks with very comfortable red chairs. There was a bookshelf against the wall with tons of religious material. Every religion from Witchcraft, various forms of paganism, Egyptology, Islam, Judaism and of course Christianity was in there. I even looked at a few Eastern religious books such as Buddhism and Hinduism.
Next to that bookshelf was another shelf that had self help books and more religious books. There was another shelf close by that had three desks and two had thirteen inch television/DVD combos locked in cages and on with nothing on it. (Sometimes the COs would unlock the cages to allow inmates to watch television in other rooms).
On the opposite wall were two more desks with television/DVD combos in cages and a shelf with DVDs. Most of the DVDs were educational, religious, or PG-13 movies or lesser. We were never allowed to watch R rated movies or porn in prison. Although I did hear rumors that people were watching them in the equipment room—again that’s just a rumor. On the back wall, the administrators and COs put up their advertisements and announcements. There was also a schedule of events for the day as well as the month.
I tried to get there at about 6:30 am if I wasn’t working at the Power House. When I finally quit the Power House, I would go into the library after my morning workout or after lunch. I would usually be in there seven days a week.
I have to admit, sometimes the library would get crazy because people wanted to come to watch movies and talk loud. However, for the most part, my time FLEW in the library. Maybe it was because I was away from the inmate population, thus away from all the drama. It also could have been because I was so busy doing my own thing that I lost track of time, probably both. if you’re going to prison camp, I recommend you keep yourself in the library. It would keep you out of a lot of trouble.
Although there is a classroom where inmates can use and achieve the same purpose, it is also a room with television in it. This means that other inmates may come in and watch it since it had a very nice tv and also had cable. This would sometimes cause problems if I was in there writing or reading. The inmates felt that I could write or read literally anywhere else. However, you can just say that you are studying for some religious purpose and they would have to leave (more on that in a later blog).
Have you been to prison or a prison camp? What kept you out of trouble? Let me know in the comment section.