Dr Jayne Finlay is a lecturer in Librarianship in the Information School at the University of Sheffield, where she leads the distance learning Library and Information Services Management programme. She is a qualified library and information professional, with experience of working in academic libraries.
Jayne’s research interests lie primarily in the field of prison librarianship, where her research has spanned user engagement with prison libraries, the prison library as an informal learning space, prison-based family literacy programmes, and prison officers’ perceptions of library services. In 2021, she led a national review of prison library provision in Ireland.
She has recently worked on an Arts Council England project to raise the profile of prison libraries in the UK. She works closely with CILIP’s Prison Libraries Group to support the professional development of prison library staff and advocate for improved access to library services for people in and leaving prison.