It started in a small room with only a few books. Now, Pima County’s Juvenile Detention Center library has grown so much, kids request hundreds of books every month that aren’t even on the shelves. They get those books anyway, thanks to a unique program.

The Detention Center gets thousands of young people throughout the year who have done things they shouldn’t have. To help get these kids back on the right track, the center has a library that is unlike any other Juvenile Detention Center library in the country.

The county has a total of 29 libraries, including the one at the Detention Center. The children have a million different titles to choose from, and if a particular book isn’t on the shelf it can be accessed through Pima County’s Public Library System.

Kids staying at the center read as many as six books a week. “In the past year and a half we’ve been checking out about 2,500 to 3,000 books a week,” says Library Associate William Bevill. They can also take advantage of programs that all of the other public libraries have.

“We’ve been very fortunate to have these incredible people – astronomers, poets, activists come,” says Branch Manager John Munoz. Adds Bevill, “We link them (the kids) to the outside world.”

Librarians don’t know yet if it keeps them out of trouble when they leave, but having a public library branch makes them better people while they are at the center. At least 10 library cards are handed out every month. “I had a different idea of what these kids would be before working here but, yeah, I was wrong,” says Munoz.

There is also a public library branch at Pima County’s Adult Detention Center. Like the Juvenile Center Library, only inmates and jail employees can use it.