Challenging mass incarceration through books, education, and community engagement.
Our work emanates from two interconnected premises: education is a basic human right, and engaging the community in educational justice efforts is a requisite component to building sustainable restorative justice models.
Since 2005, we have mailed over 45,000 books.
100 imprisoned people (75 women, 25 men) and 27 volunteers have participated in our book clubs.
30 incarcerated students have earned WVU college credit.
We’ve hosted 25+ wrapping parties for community volunteer groups.
But don’t just take it from us. Hear what our friends on the inside have to say about our work.
The day before going into a prison for the first time, I was anxious that I would somehow break the dress code and not be allowed in, despite reading through the dress code at least five times.
As a prison legal aid, Steven has assisted people for years with their legal cases by reading trial transcripts, diagnosing errors, and preparing the appropriate pleading. He wrote an essay about his experience in prison toward the beginning of the…
Prisons aren’t prepared for pandemics like COVID-19. For Steven, incarcerated in Pennsylvania, such an inadequate response means he is helping other incarcerated men write compassionate release papers.
I have passed the first book I received on to two others so far, and plan to do so until the cover falls off! (The library here can fix it up when I donate it.)
In many ways this [book club] and your time/effort have been an emotional and intellectual lifeline for me.
Thank you for providing books directly to prisoners free of charge. Yours is a great service, especially for those whose library’s collection is meager, outdated, or otherwise inadequate and who simply do not have the funds to buy books out of their own pockets.
