Arkansas Libraries
Delbert O. Lewis Memorial Library Project
Each year Drug Policy Education Group, Inc. donates materials to fifty Arkansas libraries---small and large communities, colleges and universities. These important additions to library collections are listed below starting with the most recent donation. Check with your local library today!
Women Behind Bars: The Crisis of Women in the U. S. Prison System, by Silja J. A. Talvi. Seal Press 2007.
Lies, Damned Lies, and Drug War Statistics: A Critical Analysis of Claims Made by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Matthew B. Robinson and Renee G. Scherlen; 2007: State University of New York 2007 donation
An Analytic Assessment of U. S. Drug Policy, by David Boyum and Peter Reuter; 2005: AEI Press
Why the Drug War Has Failed and What We Can Do About It: A Judicial Indictment of the War on Drugs, Judge James P. Gray; 2001: Temple University Press.
Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts, Lynn Zimmer, PhD & John Morgan, MD; 1997: Lindesmith Center.
Cannabis in Medical Practice: A Legal, Historical, & Pharmacological Overview of the Therapeutic Use of Marijuana, Mary Lynn Mathre, Editor; 1997: McFarland & Company: Jefferson, NC
Is Marijuana the Right Medicine for You? - A Factual Guide to Medical Uses of Marijuana, Bill Zimmerman et al; 1998: McGraw Hill - NTC.
The Marijuana Conviction: A History of Marijuana Prohibition in the United States, Richard J. Bonnie & Charles H. Whitebread; 1974: The University Press: Charlottesville VA.
Shattered Lives: Portraits from America's Drug War, Mikki Norris et al; 1998: Xpressions.
Drug Crazy: How We Got Into This Mess and How We Can Get Out, Mike Gray; 2000: Routledge.
Drug War Facts, 4th Edition; Douglas A. McVay, Editor; Common Sense for Drug Policy 2004.
Prescription Pot: A Leading Advocate's Heroic Battle to Legalize Medical Marijuana; George McMahon and Christopher Largen, New Horizon Press 2003
Legalize This! The case for decriminalizing drugs; a book by Donald Husak. A Practical Ethics Series edited by Colin McGinn. 2002. Verso: New York.
Video:
"Illegal Healthcare: Medical Marijuana and Arkansas," 2002: Drug Policy Education Group, Inc.
"Hemp and the Rule of Law," a 2004 documentary film (55 minutes - DVD) by Kevin Balling and produced by Tin Roof Video.
"Busted! A Citizen's Guide for Surviving Police Encounters," a 45-minute instructional video by Flex Your Rights Foundation, 2005.
"Speaker Presentations by Members of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), 12-minutes 2005.
Booklets:
"Jailing Communities: The Impact of Jail Expansion and Effective Public Safety Strategies"
Explores the impact of jail expansion on communities. (April 2008)
"The Vortex: The Concentrated Impact of Drug Imprisonment and the Characteristics of Punitive Counties" Explores racial disparities in drug imprisonment at the county-level and the characteristics of counties that send people to prison for drug offenses (December 2007)
"Gang Wars: The Failure of Enforcement Tactics and the Need for Effective Public Safety Strategies" Groundbreaking report which debunks pervasive myths about gang crime. More police, more prison and more punishment have not stopped gang violence... (July 2007)
"Drug Testing- A Bad Investment," ACLU 1999
"Drug War Facts: A compilation of useful facts with citations from authoritative sources," Douglas McVay, Editor; 5th Edition, 2006, Common Sense for Drug Policy
"Safety First: A Reality-Based Approach to Teens, Drugs, & Drug Education" Marsha Rosenbaum, PhD.; 1999 The Lindesmith Center
"Heroin Maintenance," "Heroin Overdose," "Cocaine and Pregnancy," "Methadone Maintenance," "Syringe Availability, "About Methadone,"and "Safer Injection Rooms," Staff Publications, Lindesmith Center
"The Education Issue," ReconsiDer Quarterly Winter 2001-02; ReconsiDer, 205 Onondaga Avenue, Syracuse, NY.
"Making Sense of Student Drug Testing: Why Educators Are Saying No," a 28 page booklet published in 2005 by Drug Policy Alliance, New York.
Article Reprints:
"The War on Drugs or The New Jim Crow?" Examines African American versus white arrest rates for drug offenses and sentencing disparities. Drug Policy Alliance
"How Did We Get Into This Mess? Race, Class, and the History of U. S. Drug Policy" Overview. Drug Policy Alliance
"Felony Disenfranchisement Laws in the United States" Discussion of topic and list of states and their respective laws regarding felons and voting rights. The Sentencing Project
"U.S. Drug Policy: Failure at Home" by Eric Sterling. Foreign Policy in Focus Nov. 1999; Interhemispheric Resource Center and Institute for Policy Studies; POB 4506, Albuquerque NM.
"Rethinking the War on Drugs from a Quaker Perspective," by Eric Sterling, Friendly Fire Spring 2000; reprinted by Criminal Justice Policy Foundation: Washington DC.
"A Crime Prevention Vision," by Eric Sterling, CJPF
On Balance, a newsletter of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation.
"Going to Pot: The growing movement toward ending America's irrational marijuana prohibition," by Ethan Nadelmann, National Review July 12, 2004.
HISTORY OF THE PROJECT
Delbert O. Lewis was one of tens of thousands of American children stricken by infantile polio myelitis before improved hygiene and vaccinations all but eradicated the terrible disease. His legs and, to a lesser extent, his arms were frozen at a child's size. His life was lived from a wheelchair until his mid-forties, when the ravages of post-polio syndrome trapped him increasingly in his bed. He died in 2001 unexpectedly from complications of treatment for diabetes.
There was nothing wrong with Del's mind, however, and he pursued his education and a career in public service. His voracious appetite for learning led him to advocacy on behalf of all persons with disabilities. His work on accessibility resulted in improved handicap parking, ramp incline, and many other features of public property that previously had constituted an impossible barrier to those who could not walk or climb stairs.
Drug policy advocacy was Del's last cause, which he embraced with his characteristic energy and intense curiosity. He was among the first to join efforts to allow legal medical use of marijuana in Arkansas, having learned from experience that this natural substance was an effective medication for him in relieving the pain and muscle spasm produced by post-polio syndrome. From his bed, surrounded by books, television, and computer, Del pored over research supporting reform and made information available to fellow reformers any way he could.
Delbert O. Lewis explored the extensive literature of drug policy and drug research books. It was his dream that copies of such materials would be made available to the public. In a difficult journey a year before his death, he joined representatives of Drug Policy Education Group to visit Little Rock's Main Library to assist in donating a few books.
Those of us who worked with Delbert found him difficult at times, but remarkably dedicated to his work. He never failed to unearth new bits of important information, new pathways to action, new ideas for projects. With pride in his role among the growing group of drug policy reformers in Arkansas, Delbert encouraged the organization to expand its outreach by providing tools of learning to the people of the state. His review of the literature served as an important guide in our determination of a final selection for the first year of this project.
And so we proudly launch the Delbert O. Lewis Memorial Library Project, providing an assortment of materials to each of Arkansas' regional library systems, the libraries of all its main cities, and the libraries of its colleges and universities. In all, 52 libraries will receive a collection of seven books, a video, eleven booklets, and four articles. With the first round of 2002 paid for by a generous grant from the Tides Foundation, with a project grant from Marijuana Policy Project, and supplemented by donations by Common Sense for Drug Policy, Drug Policy Alliance, and the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation and by contributions from Arkansas people, the Delbert O. Lewis Memorial Library Project will hopefully continue in future years, adding more and more items to the collections, so that citizens in any corner of the state can learn what they want to know about drugs and more effective and humane drug policies.
FOLLOW-UP ON RETENTION RATES:
July 2005 Report on Library Project
Since 2002, DPEG has donated over $8000 in books, video, booklets, and article reprints to 48 libraries across the state. These are: 13 libraries in Northwest Arkansas (Bella Vista, Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale, Fayetteville, Van Buren, Ft. Smith, Clarksville, Russellville, Dardanelle, Greenwood, Harrison, and Mountain Home), five libraries in Southwest Arkansas (DeQueen, Texarkana, Magnolia, El Dorado, and Hope), eight in Northwest AR (Batesville, Paragould, Walnut Ridge, Jonesboro, Newport, Wynne, West Memphis, and Searcy), four in Southeast AR (Monticello, Stuttgart, Pine Bluff, and Helena), eight in Central AR (Morrilton, Malvern, Benton, Conway, Hot Springs, North Little Rock, Little Rock, Lonoke), and ten college/university libraries: Henderson State Univ., Arkadelphia (HSU); Lyon College, Batesville; Univ. of Central Arkansas, Conway (UCA); Univ. of AR, Fay’vl (UA-F); Univ of AR for Medical Sciences, Little Rock (UAMS); Southern AR Univ, Magnolia (SAU); Univ of AR, Pine Bluff (UAPB); AR Tech, Russellville; Harding Univ., Searcy; AR State Univ, Jonesboro (ASU).
This is our first review of those libraries to determine whether they are shelving these donated materials. Materials not shelved are commonly sold at library book sales at extremely low prices, which is not only a waste of our resources but also does not accomplish our goal of making these materials available to the general public.
For the purposes of analysis, we looked at the donation retention rate for 8 books and 3 booklets. We reviewed online catalogs for the majority of our analysis. However, 17 community libraries and one college library did not have online catalogs or the online catalogs were non-functional. For those, we sent a letter, questionnaire/checklist, and postage-paid return envelope. After a three week waiting period, only four questionnaires had been returned.
College libraries as a group had the highest retention rate. ASU retained all eleven items we inventoried. HSU and Lyon College retained ten. UA-F, UCA, and SAU retained nine. UAMS and AR Tech retained six. Harding retained five. We gained no information about UAPB.
The highest retention rates among community/regional libraries were in the Central Arkansas region. Data was obtained for six of eight libraries there. The average number of materials retained was 8, or 75%. Malvern retained 11, Hot Springs 10, Conway and Little Rock eight, Benton seven, and North Little Rock seven, with no data for Morrilton or Lonoke.
The next highest retention rates among community/regional libraries were in the Northeast Region. Data was obtained for six of eight libraries there. The average number of materials retained was six, or 56%. Newport retained 9, Paragould and Searcy retained 8, Walnut Ridge and Jonesboro retained six, and Wynne retained none.
Three libraries out of five reported in Southwest Arkansas, retaining an average of five donations, or 48%. Magnolia retained nine, Texarkana six, and El Dorado one.
In Northwest Arkansas, data was obtained for seven out of 13 libraries. The average donations retained was 4.5, or 42%. Ft Smith retained nine, Fayetteville eight, Mountain Home seven, with Rogers four, Van Buren three, Dardanelle one, and Harrison none. (Springdale and Bentonville were not part of the analysis because we did not have budget to include them in our 2002 donation round. Interestingly, Springdale holds two books from the group that we donated in that round.)
In Southeast Arkansas, data was obtained for only two of the four recipient libraries. Helena held four of the donated items, and Pine Bluff kept three, for an average of 3.5, or 32%.
A variety of analysis methods have been applied in an attempt to understand these results. In one method, we grouped libraries according to the size of the patron base they serve. There seems to be little correlation between the patronage size and retention rate. For example, Jackson County Public Library (Newport) serves only 7811 patrons and retained 9 of the 11 donated items. Arkansas River Valley Regional Library (Dardanelle) serves over 84,000 patrons and retained only one. On the other extreme, Boone County Public Library (Harrison) has a patron base of 10,616 and retained none of the materials, while Ft Smith Public Library has a patron base of 80,268 and retained nine. Clearly there is no simple correlation between the size of the patron base and the number of donated items retained in the library collection.
In another method, we considered rural versus urban patron bases in comparing the retention rates of the donated items. East Central Arkansas Regional Library (Wynne) serves primarily rural patrons and retained none of the materials. Other low retention locations that were primarily rural include Boone County Public Library (Harrison – none) and Arkansas River Valley Regional Library (Dardanelle – one). However, high retention rates were also reported in primarily rural areas. For example, Columbia County Library (Magnolia) retained nine and Northeast Arkansas Regional Library (Paragould) retained eight. As for urban libraries, low retention rates occurred in some of the most urban sites, such as Rogers Public Library which serves 38,839 (retained four) and Pine Bluff – Jefferson County Public Library which serves 55,085 (retained three). It seems that rural or urban patronage alone does not result in a library’s rejection of our materials.
Regional differences were considered another possible contributor to the retention rates of our materials in Arkansas libraries. However, libraries within one region do not exhibit similar retention rates. For example, Northwest Arkansas includes some of the highest and lowest retention rates, with Fayetteville retaining eight and Ft Smith retaining nine, but Crawford County Library System (Van Buren) retaining three and Rogers Public Library retaining four. Similarly, other regions include a wide range of rates. In Northeast Arkansas, Jackson County Library (Newport) retained nine, White County Regional Library System (Searcy) and Northeast Arkansas Regional Library (Paragould) retained eight, and Craighead County Library (Jonesboro) retained six while East Central Arkansas Regional Library (Wynne) retained none. Overall, region of the state did not seem to be relevant to a library’s decision whether to shelve our donated material.
In general, the highest retention rate occurred in the most densely populated region of the state (Central) while the lowest rate occurred in the least populated (Southeast). A primary consideration in tolerance toward reform literature may lie in numbers. Librarians for inhabitants of more highly populated areas may be more likely to feel "safe" in considering topics involving personal behavior viewed as contrary to accepted public norms. Libraries serving greater populations would be expected to provide materials on a broader array of topics.
Limited input from librarians stated that decisions on whether to retain a donation involve the decision of the collection staff, whether the donation fits collection needs, and/or whether the donation fits local criteria. One library director stated that while the decision was up to the collection staff, "drugs" were not a topic they had "put much into." He stated that space restrictions were not a problem. However, a review of this library’s online catalog revealed that while they had retained none of our donations, the library holds 175 entries under a "Subject" search of the word "drug." Out of the first one hundred titles, 67 had to do with abuse, addiction, trafficking, or other issues surrounding illegal drugs and prohibition policies. Another library which rejected all donations has 31 titles on the subject, over half of which were in the category of "drug abuse."
There were no reports (limited data) of patron complaints about the donated materials.
Conclusion:
High rejection rates of our donated materials seem to stem from staff decisions based on personal opinion. Perceptions about our mission or drug policy reform in general are likely factors in those decisions. One library director in a zero retention facility stated that the community was conservative and that drugs (meth) were a serious problem there, causing him to conclude that the public would not accept our materials. He was not willing to risk a public outcry on this matter.
Considerations:
1. All libraries receive copies of DPEG’s newsletter, Drug Policy News. This is a potential method of educating librarians to be more open minded about reform. But only if staff reads them.
2. Subsequent shipments may contain materials perceived as more acceptable.
3. Over time, as libraries receive more of our materials, there may be more acceptance.
Update August 2005:
Feedback from librarians following the release of our report shows that some librarians would be more likely to shelve materials if reviews were included in our donation package. Librarians do not have time to search for reviews to learn more about the donated publications.
In April 2007 a survey was conducted of 35 libraries to determine retention rates for two items donated in 2006: An Analytic Assessment of U. S. Drug Policy, by David Boyum and Peter Reuter (book), and "Busted! A Citizen's Guide for Surviving Police Encounters" (DVD). Libraries not surveyed were those without an online catalog.
Of the 35 libraries surveyed, 25 retained copies of the book and 20 retained copies of the DVD. Libraries not retaining the donated book included
▸ Saline County (previously had retained 7 of 11 items),
▸ Johnson County Library (no data on previous retention),
▸ Faulkner-Van Buren Regional Library in Conway (previously had retained 8 of 11 items)
▸ Arkansas River Valley Regional Library (previously had retained 1 of 11 items)
▸ Ft. Smith Public Library (previously retained 9 of 11 items)
▸ Boone County Public Library (previously retained zero of 11 items)
▸ Lonoke/Prairie County Regional Library (no data on previously retained items)
▸ Columbia County Library (previously retained 9 of 11 items)
▸ Arkansas State University (previously retained 11 of 11 items)
▸ Texarkana Public Library (previously retained 6 of 11 items)
Libraries not retaining the DVD were Saline County, Bentonville, Johnson County, Faulker-Van Buren, Arkansas River Valley, Fayetteville, Ft Smith, Boone County, Central AR Library System, UAMS, Lonoke-Prairie County, Arkansas Tech, Harding Univ., Arkansas State, and Texarkana.
Four libraries earn top honors for an excellent retention rate of donated materials, all retaining 12 out of 13 items: Henderson State University at Arkadelphia, Lyon College at Batesville, Garland County Library at Hot Springs, and Mid-Arkansas Regional Library at Malvern. Additional donated items will be included with the 2007 donation package to these four facilities.
This year two libraries were removed from the donation list. Boone County Library (Harrison) failed to retain any donated items. Arkansas River Valley Regional Library (Dardanelle) retained only 1 of 13 donated items. Two new libraries were added to the donation list: University of Arkansas at Fort Smith and North Arkansas College at Harrison.
Report on Library Project 2008
Four new libraries have been added to the donation list starting with 2008:
Mississippi/Crittenden County Library at Blytheville
Public Library of Camden-Ouachita County
Forrest City Public Library
Ashley County Library, Hamburg
Total patron base of Arkansas libraries receiving our donations are:
Community, county, and regional libraries 2,268,572
College and university libraries: 72,365 average enrollment
In 2007, four libraries were awarded a bonus book in acknowledgment of their high retention rates of twelve items each. These facilities were: Henderson State University at Arkadelphia, Lyon College at Batesville, Garland County Library at Hot Springs, and Mid-Arkansas Regional Library at Malvern. The next award for high retention facilities will be presented in 2011 after assessment of retained donations for 2007 through 2010.
In 2007, a review of library retention rates for items donated so far revealed that Harrison Public Library and the Arkansas River Valley Regional Library at Dardanelle had retained zero items out of eleven donated and one out of eleven items, respectively. These two facilities were dropped from our donation list and two new libraries were added: North Arkansas College Library (Harrison) and Boreham Library, University of Arkansas Fort Smith.
Our 2008 review of library retention rates finds an additional low retention facility, the Cross County Library at Wynne, which has retained only three of thirteen donated items. Wynne will be dropped in favor of sending materials to a new library in that region. Also removed from our list is DeQueen due to duplication with Hope in the Southwest Arkansas Regional Library System.
Retention rates surveyed in 2008 range overall from a low of zero out of three items to a high of 14 out of 14 items. Community libraries averaged 70% retention. Those retaining more than 70% of total donations were: Bella Vista, Bentonville, El Dorado, Fayetteville, Hot Springs, Little Rock, Lonoke, Magnolia, Malvern, Mountain Home, Newport, North Little Rock, Paragould, Searcy, and Springdale.
College libraries averaged 84% retention. Those retaining more than 84% were Arkansas State University (Jonesboro), Arkansas Technical (Russellville), Henderson State University (Arkadelphia), Lyon College (Batesville), North Arkansas College (Harrison), South Arkansas University (Magnolia), University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, and University of Central Arkansas (Conway).
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