I just got out in April, did 5 years in a local jail....as a Corrections Officer.
We had some very, very limited internet access for inmates. It was filtered down to just a couple of particular sites, just for the purposes of learning basic skills for future purposes on the outside. Was attended bye only 4-5 inmates up to twice a week (one 1 hour class 1-2 wkly) and was closely monitored by an instructor. Obviously no known troublemakers were ever really granted permission to attend. They did have pencils but they were just long enough to use (about 2 inches long) with no erasers. Their toothbrushes were about as long as their pencils also, (nobody likes a shank). But they would roll up paper really tight (in the shape of a straw basically), harden it with toothpaste, deodorant and the like and insert their pencils to make them longer.
We also had quite a few books we distributed to inmates once a week. It was a 3 book a week max, rotation deal. I took in a dozen or so books a few times to add to the selection, it aggravated even me to see that selection at times. Yeah they are inmates but when you work with them everyday you learn to not bend over backwards for them but be reasonable. And too me it was reasonable to give them something to do other than them have nothing but time to plot something "else" to do.
We also had TV's but in our Pods (small dorms) we had only 1 per about 20-25 inmates maximum. We also had a Male Dormitory that had 60 men and 3 TV's. The same with the female inmates sans the large dorm. Our maximum security was single cells but only one TV that they would get out of their cells to watch. 1 guy at a time for 1 hour a day, the rest of the day they could watch it if they stood at their doors looking out of their 12x 4 windows.
I'll tell ya what it was a very interesting 5 years of my life. I'm glad I worked it as I gained a better appreciation for all involved but that said I hurt my back and that career is over. But I wouldn't wanna do it again anyways, it can be extremely stressful.