DC Books to Prisons

"In October, the #SouthCarolina Department of Corrections began restricting the number of places from which prisoners can receive #books... Noticeably absent from the list [of approved vendors] was Amazon and any of the nationwide free books-to-prisoners organizations... Prior to the new policy, there was a daily list of prisoners called to the mailroom to sign for and receive books. Now, days go by when no one is called." https://prisonjournalismproject.org/2026/07/14/south-carolina-limits-access-to-books-in-prison/ #bookstodon #censorship

There are concerns that #Saskatchewan Penitentiary (in #Canada), may eliminate its librarian's position.

"The expertise of a #librarian is key to inmate rehabilitation because librarians curate materials for inmates completing Grade 12 equivalency courses and post-secondary education, which only trained staff are capable of doing... Encyclopedias, books and journals are the main sources of information because inmates are not allowed to access the internet"

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/librarians-correctional-service-canada-position-cuts-9.7195914

Letters like this one from Linda, who is incarcerated in Texas, motivate us to keep sending books. Linda wrote:

"Thank you so much for the recent books you sent. I LOVE them all! You will never know what it is like to be in prison & have no one & for people who don't even know me to go to the trouble to find gifts for me. For me, other than getting ice cream (!), a shipment of [a] few books is the most exciting thing!!!"

We're honored to have our services compared to ice cream.

#gratitude

Our friends at #Wisconsin Books to Prisoners (WBTP) have published a book called "Booked with Books." It is a collection of book reviews, written by people who had received books from WBTP.

"After getting those books, many of the prisoners wrote back to share what they thought. That launched an idea: Why not invite prisoners to write reviews, and then publish those in a collection?"

https://www.wpr.org/news/book-review-collection-wisconsin-prisoners

#BookReview #BookReviews #bookstodon

Although Independent Bookstore Day is over, our celebration of indie bookstores is ongoing. A generous donor will give us a matching cash donation for books purchased for us from the following wish lists now through May 2, 2026:

Lost City Books: https://lostcitybookstore.com/wishlist/2434160702957791

Bol Co-op: https://bookshop.org/wishlists/13c2b1a101748045b69982ac6c536554adb34056

People's Book: https://bookshop.org/wishlists/fcb53997a15127c7c1d79194b14defaea888057b

Solid State Books: https://bookshop.org/wishlists/1f8be267c141a55e8d1196724c2e7ef145bdaa9f

Little District Books: https://bookshop.org/wishlists/741ebcd7b5ccbda6ed184f1ca320a49eda82d90b

#IndieBookstoreDay #IndependentBookstoreDay
#Bookstodon

Celebrate Independent Bookstore Day by buying books for incarcerated readers! Free shipping April 25-26, 2026, plus we'll get a matching cash donation! As prison book restrictions become more onerous, our need for new books grows.

Lost City Books: https://lostcitybookstore.com/wishlist/2434160702957791

Bol Co-op: https://bookshop.org/wishlists/13c2b1a101748045b69982ac6c536554adb34056

People's Book: https://bookshop.org/wishlists/fcb53997a15127c7c1d79194b14defaea888057b

Solid State Books: https://bookshop.org/wishlists/1f8be267c141a55e8d1196724c2e7ef145bdaa9f

Little District Books: https://bookshop.org/wishlists/741ebcd7b5ccbda6ed184f1ca320a49eda82d90b

#IndieBookstoreDay #IndependentBookstoreDay #Bookstodon

If you're in #BuffaloNY (Buffalo, New York), this may be of interest:

James Tager, author of “Literature Locked Up: How Prison Book Restriction Policies Constitute the Nation’s Largest Book Ban,” a PEN America report, will give a presentation about #censorship practices in jails and prisons at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 23, in 305 Silverman Library on the UB North Campus.

The announcement above is copied from https://www.buffalo.edu/ubnow/stories/2026/04/libraries-prison-censorship.html - please see that page for further details.

#JamesTager #PEN

As far as we know, we are the only prison book program on Mastodon. However, there are many other prison book programs in the United States. One is the #Appalachian Prison Book Program, which sends books to people incarcerated in #WestVirginia, #Virginia, #Tennessee, #Kentucky, #Ohio and #Maryland. The founder, Katy Ryan, has some quotes online at https://www.newswise.com/articles/expert-on-prison-education-says-books-open-doors-for-incarcerated-people

#KatyRyan

If you are in the #Urbana #Champaign area in #Illinois, there's a great opportunity to help incarcerated readers while also obtaining great books for yourself. Our friends at Urbana-Champaign Books to Prisoners will be holding a book sale Saturday, April 11, 2026 from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. at 202 S Broadway Ave in Urbana. Books are priced $1 to $2 (with the exception of specially priced books), and all proceeds go towards funding UC Books to Prisoners.

https://www.wandtv.com/community/book-sale-to-fund-raise-for-uc-books-to-prisoners/article_5561c28c-c5b7-4c78-9f1e-dfbce28f6b5e.html

TV shows often make it look like the only activities in jail or prison are lifting weights & getting in fights. The reality of life behind bars is usually more mundane. Many incarcerated people spend all day working. Others are in isolation cells, where they pass hour after hour, day after day, with nothing to do. A lucky few incarcerated people are able to entertain themselves with a #BookClub. Alta Journal has the story of a book club in the #SantaBarbara County Jail.

https://www.altaonline.com/books/a70452656/santa-barbara-jail-womens-book-club/

We receive many requests for #drawing books and adult #coloring books. For years, Camilo has requested adult coloring books, and he has often sent us pictures from them that he had colored. This is one of his recent masterpieces, which he encouraged us to display.

Please note: The volunteer who wrote the alt text isn't an expert on #dinosaur identification. If any dinosaurs have been misidentified, corrections to the alt text will be gratefully accepted!

Most of our work consists of sending books to individuals who are incarcerated, choosing books of personal interest to the individual. There are other programs that instead focus on stocking #jail and prison libraries (which can be as small as a single bookcase or book cart). One of those programs, Pages of Redemption in #Washington state, just made the news for delivering 2,000 books to #jails in Benton, Franklin, Walla Walla and Yakima counties:

https://www.nbcrightnow.com/news/washington-man-delivers-thousands-of-books-to-jails-across-southeast-washington/article_abb6edc5-b0fd-4395-85dd-6147685cc1bd.html

#WashingtonState

@quoidian@mastodon.online That would be a very useful experiment!

Good news from #Tajikistan: More than 500 books were donated to
the country's only prison for #women. The #books were in Russian, Tajik, and English.

The prison currently houses more than 400 women and 11 children. Children stay with their mothers in the prison until they are three years old, after which they are usually transferred to relatives. Because kids live in the prison, donors provided baby food and other items for kids, in addition to books for adults.

https://asiaplustj.info/en/node/358777

Bad news from #Canada: "Correctional Service Canada is finalizing plans to cut all #prison #librarian positions at federal institutions, in a move that advocates say violates human rights and will actively harm efforts to rehabilitate prisoners... Under the United Nations 'Nelson Mandela rules,' adopted in 2015, accessing libraries in prisons is listed as one of the rules for good treatment of prisoners."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/prison-librarians-eliminated-correctional-service-canada-9.7123335

On March 18, 2026, The Marshall Project will be holding an online workshop on investigating #prison #book bans.

"Journalists, researchers and volunteers interested in examining book bans in prisons across the country are invited to join this hands-on event. Attendees will hear about the history of these bans from the authors of PEN America’s in-depth report on prison #censorship and learn how to request and examine banned-book lists in their community."

https://www.themarshallproject.org/events/workshop-on-investigating-prison-book-bans

"I read a lot of #books over my time incarcerated, and some of the things that I learned in the books helped me along my journey since I’ve been out... I would never have known how to start a food truck business or even have an idea about it unless I was able to read up on it. Another book that I read was a book about how to talk to children and communicate with them." - Korelli Loyalty Woods, in an excellent #Arkansas Times article

https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2026/03/02/as-arkansas-weighs-a-prison-book-ban-formerly-incarcerated-readers-share-how-books-reshaped-their-lives

#bookstodon