For the past six weeks, APBP volunteers have been working to understand the terms and implications of a contract signed by the WV Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation (WVDCR) with the private telecom company Global Tel Link (GTL). Our concern…
Category: Tablets
Waking Up to the Reality of Prison Book Policies
In The Washington Post’s “Book Club” newsletter, critic Ron Charles wrote about access to books in prisons. He highlighted work by Prison Legal News, PEN America, the Prison Policy Initiative, and APBP. Connecting the Dots What I especially appreciate about…
Why Books Matter
I teach literature inside prisons. My students are serious, observant, and purposeful readers. They light up with books. When one looked at the cover of Dwayne Betts’ memoir A Question of Freedom, he said, "I can't wait to show the…
How Much Does It Cost to Read a Free Book on a Free Tablet?
"War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength." So goes the official slogan of George Orwell’s Oceania, a hyper-surveillance-based police state underpinned by the illogic of doublethink. Defined in 1984 as “the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in…