Challenges and Opportunities in Providing Academic Library Services to Incarcerated Higher Education Students: A Case Study from a Tennessee State Prison

This case study describes the Belmont University Library’s partnership with a Tennessee men’s prison to provide access to higher education. The program has led to challenges relating to communication, circu-lation, cataloging, and collection development. These library services are necessary to provide students with access to information not only for their academic endeavors, but also for their own well-being and growth. This paper explores possible solutions to the information deficit of incarcerated students and how the library can support the needs of an underserved population.