Behind the nondescript classroom door of a grey portable unit nestled within the sprawling Elmwood Correctional Facility in Milpitas lies another world – a bright and colorful place of solace and respite for the female residents who call the locked campus their temporary home.

The new women’s library had its grand opening in December, opening the doors to an allowable form of escape for the patrons who avail themselves of the library’s literary treasures.

“What I see on their faces when they come in here – I see joy, I see delight,” said Jennie Brook, a rehabilitation officer with the County of Santa Clara Sheriff’s Office. “That can be in short supply, but I do see it here – they come in and they just can’t believe that this is all here for them, and they just kind of lose themselves.”

The curated library was a long time in the making. They previously had a donation-based library for the women, a random assortment of readable material that was “haphazardly assembled,” Brook said. But around 2018, an idea sprouted: How about setting up an actual branch of the Santa Clara County Library District – complete with a selection of brand-new books and staffed by professional librarians?

The notion received tremendous support from the library district and top Elmwood staff.

“There was a lot of intention that went in building this library with the purpose of the individuals that would be coming in here and using this space,” said sheriff’s Capt. Rita Roland. “It takes them away and puts them in a place where they can reach places that they've never reached before.”

Roland said that place can be an educational attainment – many Elmwood residents do not have a high school diploma. Or it can be improving writing or speaking skills, learning about history, or reading about far-away places they’d like to see someday.

Clare Varesio, a library services manager with the Santa Clara County Library District, said the women’s population at Elmwood was surveyed and the results guided what went into the collection.

“We asked them – what are your interests?” Varesio said. “Some wanted books on taxes, some wanted kid’s books that they could read to their children when they visit. We really considered what they wanted; every library has different needs.”

There’s a legal section and best sellers, psychology, sociology, self-help and how-to guides, and a wall stocked with graphic novel sets. A nook dedicated to urban fiction is very popular, as are young adult romance titles. Many books are also available in Spanish, and residents can make special requests for titles or authors they are interested in. The library materials – a total of 8,800 items – are available to all 276 women at the jail, with 2-hour visiting windows distributed through the week for each housing unit. No library card is needed to check out materials – it’s run on the honor system and staffed by two librarians from the Library District.

On a recent afternoon in the library, five Elmwood residents amiably joked and joshed with one another, trading off tips on recent good reads as well as critiques of disappointments. Christy settled in to browse the daydreamer antics contained in a “Calvin and Hobbes” comics anthology with an appropriate companion: An overstuffed calico “Squishmallow” cat draped over one arm.

“I like coming to the library,” said Christy. “When I get a good book, it kind of lets me escape from the environment I’m in, because it’s not always so pleasant here. … I do like to read comics, and some of the urban books, and then some murder mysteries. I just really like to read.”

Judy said she never finished a book before checking some out from the Elmwood library – reading just wasn’t her thing. Now she’s whizzing through two books a week and has found a favorite author in Colleen Hoover.

“I’m actually considering getting a library card when I get out of here,” she said with a laugh. “If the real library’s anything like this one, it’s actually pretty cool.”

The library isn’t the only innovative program that started at Elmwood this year. The Sheriff’s Office Restorative Services Division teamed up with Goodwill of Silicon Valley to open the nation’s first Goodwill retail store at a jail in October, offering women at Elmwood an opportunity to build real-world work experience as well as shop for items free of charge ahead of their release.

Capt. Roland said these kinds of partnerships play a pivotal role in reducing recidivism and improving reentry outcomes for the women at Elmwood.

“The sheriff [Robert Jonsen] wanted to have innovative programs so that when individuals go out into the community, they are well prepared,” Roland said. “They're not coming in and leaving the same, but rather differently and better equipped.”