Books to Prisoners
Encyclopedia
Books to Prisoners is an umbrella term for several projects and organizations that mail free reading material to prison
inmates
. The first Books to Prisoners project was founded in Seattle, Washington, USA in 1973. There are approximately twenty similar projects in the United States and Canada
. In keeping with the anarchist
cultural roots of the project there is no centralized organization, and each group runs autonomously.
These projects accept donations of books from bookstores and individuals. Each project solicits letters from prisoners requesting books, usually by genre or by naming a preferred author. Project volunteers read the letters, and reply with a few books taken from the project's collection. There is no cost to prisoners.
Generally, volunteers
answer letters, mail packages and complete administrative work. Many of the projects are affiliated with a local independent bookstore
in their home city, which provides a drop-off place for donations, and sometimes a small supply of books as well. Postage for mailing the books is a major expense that must be met through donations.
Often-requested materials include dictionaries
, how-to books, educational books, and historical works, especially those focusing on African-American, Latino
, and Native American
history.
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
inmates
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
. The first Books to Prisoners project was founded in Seattle, Washington, USA in 1973. There are approximately twenty similar projects in the United States and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. In keeping with the anarchist
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
cultural roots of the project there is no centralized organization, and each group runs autonomously.
These projects accept donations of books from bookstores and individuals. Each project solicits letters from prisoners requesting books, usually by genre or by naming a preferred author. Project volunteers read the letters, and reply with a few books taken from the project's collection. There is no cost to prisoners.
Generally, volunteers
Volunteering
Volunteering is generally considered an altruistic activity, intended to promote good or improve human quality of life, but people also volunteer for their own skill development, to meet others, to make contacts for possible employment, to have fun, and a variety of other reasons that could be...
answer letters, mail packages and complete administrative work. Many of the projects are affiliated with a local independent bookstore
Independent bookstore
An independent bookstore is a retail bookstore which is independently owned.-Literary and countercultural history:Author events at independent bookstores sometimes take the role of literary salons. The bookstores themselves, "have historically supported and cultivated the work of independent...
in their home city, which provides a drop-off place for donations, and sometimes a small supply of books as well. Postage for mailing the books is a major expense that must be met through donations.
Often-requested materials include dictionaries
Dictionary
A dictionary is a collection of words in one or more specific languages, often listed alphabetically, with usage information, definitions, etymologies, phonetics, pronunciations, and other information; or a book of words in one language with their equivalents in another, also known as a lexicon...
, how-to books, educational books, and historical works, especially those focusing on African-American, Latino
Latino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
, and Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
history.
External links
- UC Books to Prisoners, Urbana, IL, USA
- Books Through Bars, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Prisoner Express, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- Books to Prisoners Seattle, WA, USA
- Book 'Em, the Pittsburgh Books-to-Prisoners volunteer group
- Books 2 Prisoners, Vancouver,BC, Canada
- DC Books to Prisons Project
- Prison Book Program in Quincy, MA, USA
- Portland Books to Prisoners in Portland, OR
- Internationalist Prison Books Collective Chapel Hill, NC
- Chicago Books to Women in Prison Chicago, IL
- Cleveland Books to Prisoners, Cleveland, OH