Mission Statement
Books Beyond Bars (formerly the Nidorf Collective) consists of graduate students, faculty, and alumni from UCLA's Department of Information Studies that are committed to bringing high-interest books to young people living at the Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Detention Center. Our volunteers organize book drives and conduct weekly book-talking groups where they lead discussions about books and give out reading materials for the youth to keep.
About
During the 2004-2005 school year, YALSA-UCLA (now YACS) began student involvement at the Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Detention Facility in Sylmar (in the north San Fernando Valley). That involvement has grown into an ongoing volunteer project.
As of 2014, the Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Detention Center houses approximately 250 children and teens ages 12 to 17. Some stay as little as a couple of weeks, while others are there for a few years. However long their stay, it is both stressful and boring. It is also the perfect opportunity to reach kids who may never have read a book cover to cover, to offer them something in the guise of entertainment that can help them make a different life, inside or outside.
Since there is no library from which the residents can obtain books, Books Beyond Bars, a group of students and librarians from the UCLA Information Studies graduate program, solicits book donations from friends and family, libraries and schools, and delivers them to the living units at Nidorf. The group has created the Books Beyond Bars on Amazon.com to collect books the kids at Nidorf actually want to read. They conduct weekly book talking groups, at which they talk about books, listen to the kids talk about books, and give books away. Books donated and purchased for Nidorf are now housed at the facility, in the visitor's center in special cabinets purchased with the grant money we received last year, improving access to the books we need, when and where we need them, and decreasing the amount of materials we have to bring with us each visit.
The group is always looking for more volunteers, to continue their present activities and expand their service. The work at Nidorf is amazing in its effects—on the kids and on the volunteers. It is also a learning opportunity unlike any experienced in graduate school. The group also welcomes participants from other graduate schools and from the library community, so spread the word.
As of 2014, the Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Detention Center houses approximately 250 children and teens ages 12 to 17. Some stay as little as a couple of weeks, while others are there for a few years. However long their stay, it is both stressful and boring. It is also the perfect opportunity to reach kids who may never have read a book cover to cover, to offer them something in the guise of entertainment that can help them make a different life, inside or outside.
Since there is no library from which the residents can obtain books, Books Beyond Bars, a group of students and librarians from the UCLA Information Studies graduate program, solicits book donations from friends and family, libraries and schools, and delivers them to the living units at Nidorf. The group has created the Books Beyond Bars on Amazon.com to collect books the kids at Nidorf actually want to read. They conduct weekly book talking groups, at which they talk about books, listen to the kids talk about books, and give books away. Books donated and purchased for Nidorf are now housed at the facility, in the visitor's center in special cabinets purchased with the grant money we received last year, improving access to the books we need, when and where we need them, and decreasing the amount of materials we have to bring with us each visit.
The group is always looking for more volunteers, to continue their present activities and expand their service. The work at Nidorf is amazing in its effects—on the kids and on the volunteers. It is also a learning opportunity unlike any experienced in graduate school. The group also welcomes participants from other graduate schools and from the library community, so spread the word.