by Sarah Evans
for the Burns Times-Herald

With its cheery orange walls, neatly shelved books and magazines, literary-themed posters, and colorful paper lanterns hanging over the L-shaped checkout desk, the Eastern Oregon Youth Correctional Facility library is a place any high school or college would be proud to have.

It’s hard to believe that only a year and a half ago, the space was a former county detention office being used for storage.

After many hours of hard work by staff and youth — who built all of the shelves, the cabinets, and the front desk — Eastern’s library is now a place where they can take quiet time to read and study. A handful of youth are learning job skills as well by working as librarians.

Michael P., a youth who is director of the library, sounds like a trained professional as he describes the room’s different sections. Fantasy, thriller, and manga (Japanese comics) books are popular with the youth, he says, and so are books focused on finance and self-help. He demonstrates how to use the computer database, also designed by youth, for checking out and checking in books. He points toward a long, table-height shelf with chairs that he says is the future site of computers where youth can take their GED tests.

“I think it adds a homey touch, somewhere you can be safe and quiet,” Michael says. “It’s also like the outside, like a normal library. It gives [youth] reasons to turn their books in on time, and they learn how to take care of the books so that others can read them.”

They don’t always do their best, Michael admits, which is why the library has a growing collection of “sick books” with torn pages or broken bindings. But that provides yet another opportunity: the youth soon will learn the process of book repair.

The idea for the library first came from the facility’s reading teacher, Sandy Cargill. Previously, each living unit had its own small collection of books, many of which were duplicates.

As the facility looked at how to revamp a county detention center building attached to its compound — which superintendent Doug Smith says was empty and never used — Cargill asked about turning one room into the library. (Staff transformed the rest of the building into an equally impressive recreation area with games, hangout spaces, a piano, and a driving simulator.)

After youth built the furniture and shelves, Cargill decorated the space and stocked it with about 1,500 books, with the help of Michael and other youth.

“At first, I ordered a bunch of classics, but they weren’t enjoying them as much,” Cargill says. “Then I asked the kids for ideas and ordered the kind of books they would like.”

She paused and laughed before adding, “They even got me reading about zombies.”

Cargill also filled the space with research, educational, and vocational resources. Smith says the library has been “really popular with the guys,” and it shows. For the past three years, youth at the facility participated along with Harney County residents in a million-page reading challenge. In the first year, the youth contributed more than half of the county’s total pages read.

Besides creating voracious readers, the library is helping five youth hone their job skills. Michael earned his position by working hard on building the library — literally and figuratively — from the beginning. The application process for others who wish to work at the library is rigorous.

Michael helps staff review applications and conduct interviews.

“We talk to them about pressures,” he says. “If a bunch of guys are coming up with books to check out, are you gonna freak out and say, ‘Give me space’? We talk about how that’s not appropriate.”

As a team, they decide who to hire. Those who don’t make the cut are encouraged to apply again in the future.

“We bring them in and talk with them about how they can improve their application the next time,” Cargill says.

Despite his successful position, Michael isn’t planning a future in library work — he’s got his eye on fixing and rebuilding big machine engines, something he has learned through Eastern Oregon’s mechanic program.

Still, he acknowledges that directing the library has changed him in ways that will benefit him no matter where he ends up.

“I like the interaction. I have a tough time communicating the way I feel sometimes, so this really helps,” he says. “Whenever I feel myself start to slide back into unhealthy behaviors, it’s nice to have something good like this to bring me back to where I should be.”