“Libraries always remind me that there are good things in this world.”
BBB and other book donation programs can add to the circulation efforts of prison libraries, a vital resource for incarcerated individuals.
Most US prisons provide limited libraries to incarcerated individuals, a service that helps to educate users, reduce recidivism, and improve family bonds. Access to reading materials can play an important role in helping incarcerated individuals learn or regain the skills they need to transition back into society after release. Libraries can also facilitate meaningful contact with family—some prisons have programs in which participants are recorded reading stories, which are then sent to their children. Prison libraries also provide a forum for inmates to meet with others through book clubs and community service projects. And prison librarians can help further by talking with incarcerated individuals about their backgrounds or suggesting helpful books.
A UNESCO policy brief published in 2020 supports these conclusions and points to the need for greater support for prison libraries in the face of challenges including a lack of qualified staff, a shortfall in funding, and, critically, a reliance on outdated materials that fail to reflect readers’ interests, needs, and abilities. In an article for Book Riot from the same year, Alice Nuttall underscores the problem, noting that the utility of prison libraries is often diminished by limited accessibility and poor selection of reading material. “For people taking courses or working on their cases,” she observes, “half an hour every couple of weeks is nowhere near enough (I spent a long time as a student, and if my library time had been that limited, I’d still be only a fraction of a way through my very first course).”
This is where Books Beyond Bars and other donation programs can be of help: providing materials that incarcerated individuals want and need by helping prison libraries expand their stock. If you are interested in making a donation, take a look at the Ways to Contribute page on our website. Most BBB participants will return to New York after their release and continue to contribute to the diverse creative and professional cultures that make the city such a special place. Prison libraries are a key to providing them with the tools for reintegration, and we aim to do whatever we can to advance that aim. As the Lauren Ward quote that gives this post its title suggests, libraries continue to be both a repository of useful knowledge and a vital resource for confronting the world.
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