Meet the Team!
Meet BBB team members new and old, find the answers to some Frequently Asked Questions, and read our Letter of the Month
The past month has been full of changes for Books Beyond Bars, with several new faces joining the team, so we thought it’d be a good time to introduce ourselves and answer a few of the questions we’re asked most often about the organization’s purpose and operations.
Meet the Team
Ben Schatz
Director
“I am an advocate for the incarcerated and other marginalized groups. Since 2015, I have done post-conviction legal work at the Center for Appellate Litigation (CAL), a public defense office that fights criminal convictions in Manhattan and the Bronx. Shortly after arriving at CAL, I co-founded Books Beyond Bars with a colleague. Recognizing that the post-conviction legal process can be lengthy and demoralizing, we began sending our clients books to provide them with a brief mental escape from their challenging circumstances and reassure them of our commitment to helping them with their legal cases. Word about our efforts spread, and BBB was born!”
Alexandra Schoenborn
Program Coordinator
“I joined the Center for Appellate Litigation in August as Program Coordinator for Books Beyond Bars and a Client Advocate for the Youth and Emerging Adult Resentencing (YEARs) Project. I had been volunteering with Books Beyond Bars for a few months and had found the organization to be a space where a passion for literature and reading could intersect usefully with the need for advocacy.
Prior to my involvement with BBB, I completed a degree in Renaissance Studies at the University of Toronto, then moved to Italy to teach ESL and study Italian literature. Shortly after moving to New York to pursue career options, I became involved with Books Beyond Bars. The work informed my passion for carceral reform as I witnessed firsthand the impact that the organization has on its clients’ lives.
In a deeply disheartening and unjust system, I have seen the immense amount of good that can be done through access to information and books. Hearing our clients describe the feeling they get when they receive a package from us reminds me of the vital nature of our work.”
Michael Wilson
Writer
“I’m a writer and editor with a focus on modern and contemporary art. After training as an artist and curator in my native UK, I worked at galleries in New York before concentrating on art writing full-time. Since then, I’ve worked as an editor at magazines, museums, and not-for-profit institutions, and as an author and critic. Currently, I’m a writer at Gagosian, a gallery headquartered in Manhattan.
As an avid reader since childhood, books have helped shape my life, so the fact that anyone should be denied access to them is abhorrent. If we are to take seriously the supposed rehabilitative mission of prisons, education—in the broadest sense of the word—must surely play a central role. Books are key to this effort. Whether they function as practical, informational tools or as imaginative springboards, books are vital to intellectual life, and restricting access to them can only be counterproductive. Incarcerated people deserve the opportunity to change their outlook and enhance their prospects for a better life, both within and beyond prison walls. The opportunity to help provide this was what drew me to volunteering for Books Beyond Bars.”
Greta Nagy
Fulfillment Intern
“I am an MSW candidate at New York University, in the process of applying to law school. My passion lies in criminal and restorative justice; my goal is to become a public defender. I have also always been an avid reader and writer. During my senior year of college, I started a media company and literary magazine called The Stories We Need to Hear, which focused on destigmatizing mental health by publishing readers’ life stories, establishing a safe space and community.
Over the past year, I have had the life-changing opportunity to intern with The Legal Aid Society of NYC (Manhattan office) in their criminal defense practice. I am currently a student social worker in the NYU School of Law family defense clinic, and my second-year practicum is with Brooklyn Defenders. I volunteer at Rikers Island and help pretrial incarcerated individuals register to vote and learn about their rights. Innocent individuals are often separated from society and dehumanized based on race, class, and power. “Innocent until proven guilty” carries no validity when you are locked inside Rikers Island, unable to afford bail or an attorney. It is vital to promote the truth that individuals who makes mistakes are still human. The opportunity to provide incarcerated individuals with a way to find some joy, inspiration, or a light at the end of the tunnel is what drew me to Books Beyond Bars.”
Nina Tran
Social Media Intern
“I am a first-generation immigrant from Vietnam and grew up in Seattle, Washington. I am currently studying sociology at Syracuse University, with a focus on race, punishment, and labor studies. I recently started a campus publication, Tender Magazine, which focuses on arts, culture, and accessible radical politics. Literature is one of the most radical forms of art, encouraging us to envision a world where we grow together. I grew up loving to read but became discouraged by academic texts suffused with inaccessible jargon. I believe that access to comprehensive informational tools is a right. Books help us to critically examine our reality; they strengthen literacy and combat feelings of isolation. This is why I chose to join Books Beyond Bars. Whether it is for pleasure, purpose, or rehabilitation, I believe firmly that everyone deserves access to books.”
Frequently Asked Questions
How does BBB distribute books to incarcerated individuals?
BBB receives book requests from incarcerated individuals across New York state and from their lawyers and other advocates working in the criminal legal system. From there, our process is quite simple: First, we determine whether we can fulfill the request “in house” from our library of commonly requested materials, which we restock regularly through donations and book drives. If we don’t have the requested book in stock, we purchase it (using funds donated by supporters of the program) from an online retailer or local independent bookstore. When we receive the books, we repackage them according to prison guidelines with labeling that makes clear that we are an authorized non-profit. We mail packages to our clients multiple times a week through USPS.
Are incarcerated individuals allowed to receive books directly from friends and family members?
Unfortunately not. The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) restricts what packages incarcerated individuals are allowed to receive. With few exceptions, books can only be sent from pre-approved vendors or authorized non-profits, like BBB. Moreover, many incarcerated people do not have financial resources or personal connections and rely entirely on BBB to supply them with access to reading material.
What other rules and regulations affect which books prisoners can receive? Which kinds of books are not permitted and why?
New York State prisons do not allow publications that encourage illegal behavior, publications which could incite violence and/or disobedience within the prison, and publications providing information that could be used to aid in escape. Whether or not a publication contains prohibited materials is up to the discretion of personnel at the facility, meaning that some facilities are stricter than others regarding the materials they will allow in. When we send publications which are deemed inappropriate by a facility, we receive a policy violation letter. More often than not, the letters do not specify which materials were rejected or why. And in the case that their reasons for rejection are cited, the reasons are often inconsistent or incorrect.
What kinds of books are requested most often?
Most of the requests we receive are for urban fiction, self-help books, thrillers, almanacs, dictionaries and thesauruses, real estate and finance-related books, and legal help books. Some of the most popular authors are Ashley & JaQuavis, Robert Greene, Stephen King, and James Patterson.
What is the status of prison libraries? Are there any publicly funded programs to provide incarcerated individuals with books?
Prison libraries vary widely depending on the facility, though they are generally underfunded and short-staffed. The pandemic caused intermittent closures to many prison libraries, making it difficult for inmates to gain access to books. The New York Public Library offers circulating book services to jails and prisons in addition to publishing a reference guide for reentry, book-recording programs for incarcerated parents, and reference by mail services.
Do organizations like BBB exist elsewhere in the country?
Yes! There are many books-to-prisoners programs throughout the United States that are doing excellent work, including Books to Prisoners, NYC Books Through Bars, and DC Books to Prisons Project.
Letter of the Month
“So I got the book you guys sent to me. Thank you so much. I would like to say that it makes me so happy—it is like the best feeling when you get a call for mail. Some of the guys in here don’t get mail. I was one of them, but now I have you guys, like someone cares and thank you for that… I have been looking for the magazine Fur-Fish-Game for a long time. You see, when I was home, I would get Fur-Fish-Game every month. Before I got locked up, I was a big hunter, fisher, and trapper. I love to be out in the woods by a creek running my trap line, so if you can find that magazine it would be a little piece of home for me and seeing that I still got like ten years before I get out, it would mean the world to me and make me so happy.”