Bücherecke aus dem Knast

In the organizer's words:

Book presentations by inmates of Siegburg Prison

- a cooperation between the city library and Siegburg Prison

In addition to enforcing imprisonment, the aim of the prison system is to prepare inmates for life after prison and to counteract the negative consequences of imprisonment.

This is precisely where the "Book corner from prison" cooperation project between Siegburg Prison and Siegburg City Library comes in. Giving inmates the opportunity to engage with literature from the library opens up "new worlds" for them. The project gives them a public stage on which they can present their interest in literature to a broad public. The project was initiated by Mr. Gieseking (Siegburg Prison) and makes it clear that, despite their misconduct and crimes, prisoners are people with interests and talents who deserve a "second chance". The project aims to help break down prejudices and support the reintegration of prisoners into society.

With the help of a guideline developed by Ms. Herhaus ("Auf ein Buch...") and Mr. Druwe (head/media educator of the city library), the short book presentations linked below were created in the form of audio contributions in which prisoners present their favorite books.

The "Book Corner from Prison" was positively highlighted as a contribution to social cohesion in the "Library of the Year 2025 in Small Municipalities and Regions" prize awarded to Siegburg City Library by the German Library Association (dbv) and the Deutsche Telekom Foundation. The jury statement said: "[...] This close cooperation with the prison builds a bridge between the prison and the city and is a role model for libraries and prisons throughout Germany. [...]"

The project will be presented again from the end of September 2025 until the end of October 2025 as part of an exhibition in the Siegburg City Library. In addition to being able to access the audio contributions online via knastkuktur.de, interested parties can listen to the works created on site in the library's Sonic Chairs. The works presented are also available to borrow. At the end of the exhibition, a presentation of the project will take place on Saturday, October 25, 2025, including a guided tour of the exhibition, a multimedia reading and a subsequent discussion with the project participants.

Price information:

Registration, tickets and allotments for our events via our ticketing system Vivenu. Please note that the ticket allotment is subject to change due to possible cancellations.