Library Excavations is a project and publication series by Public Collectors that highlights and activates physical materials found in public libraries. Library Excavations encourages intensive browsing of paper and print resources, particularly those that are under-utilized, or at risk of being withdrawn and discarded. Issue #12 dives into a prison-published newspaper from Montana.

Montana Prison News began publication in 1962 and ended at an unknown date. The intro page of the April 1972 issue of M.P. News, explains: “The M.P. News is published monthly by the convicts of Montana State Prison at Deer Lodge, Montana with the permission of the Warden, Prison Administration and the Board of Institutions. The purpose is to permit the convicts the opportunity for self-expression; to provide a medium for discussion of their immediate and public problems; for the better understanding between convicts and the society; and lastly, to be, and tell it the way it is–constructively and informatively. The M.P. News does not, nor is it intended to reflect the views or opinions of the Board of Institutions of the Staff of the Montana State Prison.”