An assortment of requested books being organized for shipment to IDOC facilities
There are about thirty Books-to-Prisoners programs across the US that provide free books to the incarcerated, but changes in regulations and technology practices are threatening their future. While these changes are not specifically book bans, they will directly affect the ability of the incarcerated to access reading material. Reductions in free book programs would impact self-education—a proven factor in reducing recidivism—and sever yet another link between those on opposite sides of prison walls. More importantly, these changes are creating yet another opportunity for private corporations to profit from a literally captive audience and their families.
A Local Tradition Since 2004
The UC Books to Prisoners program (B2P), has served Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) facilities across the state since 2004. It also operates a lending library at Champaign County Jail, and stocks the Champaign County Juvenile Detention Center library. Volunteers organize requests, gather books from donations, supplement these with occasional purchases, and mail the books to facilities.
The letters B2P receives reveal varied interests. Some prisoners, preparing for life after release, request books on small-business law, graphic design, or bookkeeping. New dictionaries are frequently requested, as outdated editions make the incarcerated feel even more out of step with the larger society. Prison libraries might carry some titles, but access is limited. “I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to study while in my cell,” one man wrote in requesting a GED text.
Other requests are more erudite, such as books on theology, philosophy, or astronomy. One request for a book on the Hindu Vedas identified a specific translation from the Sanskrit. “This book would be such a blessing to me,” the author wrote. “I received this info from a friend who is Jewish. We study metaphysical subjects often together. Please, send this book.” Another requested titles in psychology: “I want to understand people on a deeper level, like why do we think the way we do or act the way we act.” Requests have come in for material on Lao Tzu, Kwame Nkrumah, and Sir Francis Bacon.
Often it is clear that prisoners are engaged in a specific area of self-education. One letter requested writings on W. E. B. DuBois, Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells, and Madam C. J. Walker. It is common to have requests for histories underrepresented in prison libraries, such as Central American history and African history, as readers explore their heritage. One writer asked for a more complete Japanese dictionary to support his language learning, and noted “Japanese music is pretty much what I listen to exclusively . . . however a new textbook would hopefully make me sound more native.” Others asked for titles related to the sociology of poverty, intervention work with disadvantaged youth, and the Cherokee nation, as well as The 1619 Project.
Finally, some of the requests reveal more personal interests—DC and Marvel Comics and Star Trek fan fiction, for example. Dungeons and Dragons game manuals are popular, as are books on natural medicine, yoga, and meditation. Some request large-print Sudoku and word-search books, but B2P can’t send those if they are sold in the prison commissary. One man wanted books on sports and animals, topics he knew his children loved. He requested children’s books so he could read to them when they visited. Another writer asked for art and calligraphy books to help him make beautiful cards to send to his family. These letters make clear that books are not just entertainment, but a social- and mental-health lifeline.
Drug Precautions and Book Barriers
Before 2024, it was book content that appeared to be the major factor in book rejection. Over the past few months, however, book condition restrictions have increased. A tiny crumpling of one corner of the cover, a single highlighted word, a bent page, discoloration from age—not uncommon in used books—and the chances of rejection are greater. Sometimes books are returned with an explanation, but other times they are simply discarded. This is not a problem unique to Illinois; across the country regulations for donated books are rising, and some correctional facilities even require that books arrive directly from approved commercial vendors, as does the city of New York. For programs built on the economics of used books, like the local B2P, the extra expense of buying new would be crippling.
Both books and mail are facing these new regulations in an effort to prevent drugs from entering facilities. There have been a few widely publicized incidents of drug-soaked paper arriving through the US mail over the last few years, but the discussion heated up in 2024. In September five Illinois lawmakers signed on to a letter with State Senator Dale Fowler asking for an immediate halt to all physical mail, including books, at IDOC facilities, citing the danger of drug exposure to staff. In October IDOC corrections officers staged a statewide protest over workplace health hazards. Union officials claimed that there have been 37 incidents where employees who suspected exposure experienced nausea, high blood pressure, and other symptoms, and sought aid at emergency rooms.
Drugs are a problem in jail and exposure is certainly hazardous, but it is not clear that banning mail will end the problem or at what rate books carry drugs in. According to the Marshall Project, the most common way that drugs arrive in prisons is through human carriers. In August a well-publicized case in Cook County, IL featured fentanyl-soaked paper smuggled into the jail, but it was a corrections officer who was the accused.
The Monetization of Reading
Correctional facilities could invest in technologies that detect banned substances, but instead many are opting to digitize reading material. In October, 2024 Minnesota signed a contract with an off-site mail-processing company specializing in corrections-facility services. All mail will be sent to Maryland, tested, and scanned, and the scans returned to prisoners. In the future delays might be reduced by providing scans directly to reader devices—devices prisoners pay to use. And there you have the double-edged sword of the correctional economy: companies are paid by the facility to provide a service (mail testing, video calls, biometric scans, personal financial accounts . . .), and then the incarcerated pay as well for the privilege of using the service. Reading is the latest arena for profiteering in the corrections industry.
E-reading devices already exist in many prisons across the country but even in the best of situations they pose problems. Individuals often must schedule time to use a device, or can only use it in a designated space. Maintenance is imperfect. And the incarcerated cannot access the internet, so who chooses and loads books onto devices? Will libraries respect individual requests or simply fill all devices with generic content?
The more serious concern is that e-devices are not just providing a service, but are often extracting money from the prison population and their families. Even on “free” devices the incarcerated often pay for screen time. Every email and every minute on the device can be charged to the reader’s prison account. In 2020 the Appalachian Prison Book Project found that it could cost fifteen to twenty dollars to read a standard-size book, (even when the book was in the public domain), while those individuals in custody lucky enough to have a job make around a dollar a day. This is a lucrative business. Some vendor contracts even share profits with prisons themselves (West Virginia gets a five-percent kickback from its tablet provider), creating an incentive for prisons to monetize yet another facet of prison life.
The drug exposure hazard is real, but erecting a digital pay-to-read wall is not the only way to proceed. Access to reading material saves lives, both during and after the prison years. One letter in the B2P collection sums up the value of these programs. The author thanked B2P for the books that had helped him get through tough challenges over the years and prepared him for opening his own business upon release. But most importantly, he stressed, “those books helped change my way of thinking.” Access to reading material is too important to be placed beyond a digital paywall.
Find out how you can help support the Urbana Champaign BTP at books2prisoners.org/.
252 total views, 7 views today