Prison inmates build shelves for Priaulx Library's old newspapers
OLD copies of the Guernsey Press and its forerunners have been given a smart new resting place at the Priaulx Library after it had new wooden shelves built and installed by inmates of Les Nicolles Prison.
Acting chief librarian Sue Laker said the old Dexion frame shelves had been in place since about 2004 and it was decided to replace them with something more in keeping with the library's newspaper room, which has old local papers going back as far as 1781 and includes copies of The Moon, the Guernsey Gossip and The Comet.
There are existing wooden shelves in the room housing past issues of the Guernsey Press and The Star, so the aim was to make the new shelves look as close as possible to the existing units.
Liaison for the Priaulx Library Council, Hunter Adam, came up with the idea of asking Les Nicolles Prison to construct the shelves.
Mr Adam said that during his time as a deputy he had become aware of the work being done at the prison to give inmates practical jobs while they served their time.
'It was not the best way to store old newspapers,' he said of the previous shelving, 'and it wasn't in character with the rest of the furniture in the room'.
