Prison Book Program

Last updated • 1 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Prison Book Program is an American non-profit organization that sends free books to people in prison. [1] [2] While the organization is based in Massachusetts, it mails packages of books to people in prisons in 45 U.S. states, as well as Puerto Rico and Guam. [3] The program receives letters from people in prison asking for specific titles or genres, which volunteers use to put together a package of books chosen from a small library of donated books. [4] The organization is run out of the basement of the United First Parish Church in Quincy, Massachusetts. [5] Kelly Brotzman, a former professor with a PhD in social ethics from the University of Chicago, currently serves as Executive Director. [3] [6] [7] [8] [9] The organization tracks restrictions that prisons place on books, and advocates for greater access to books in prison. [10] [11] [12] [13] Prison Book Program partners with local bookstores, libraries, universities, and more to collect donated books and spread awareness of book access within prisons. [14]

Contents

History

Prison Book Program was started in 1972 by volunteers working out of the Red Book Store in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a leftist bookstore. [1] From 1982-2000, the program was housed in the basement of the Red Sun Press, a print shop in Jamaica Plain. [1] In 2000, volunteers moved to a space in downtown Boston before settling in PBP's current headquarters in the basement of the United First Parish Church in Quincy, Massachusetts in 2004. [1]

Publications

Prison Book Program published "We the People Legal Primer" in 2004 and "Insider's Guide to Jailhouse Law" in 2024. [15]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Sweeney, Emily. "Quincy program celebrates 40 years of sending books to inmates - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  2. "Quincy nonprofit sends books to people in prison". WCVB. 2024-08-13. Retrieved 2025-02-09.
  3. 1 2 Reid, Levan (2022-05-16). "Prison Book Program gives inmates opportunities to learn - CBS Boston". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  4. Whitfill, Mary. "'Power of books' still strong at Quincy program for inmates". The Patriot Ledger. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  5. Yunen, Thalia. "Prison Book Program draws attention of Suffolk students". The Suffolk Journal. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  6. A Conversation with Dr. Kelly Brotzman . Retrieved 2025-02-09 via videoplayer.telvue.com.
  7. "New Faces: Dr. Kelly Brotzman". Bridgewater State University. Retrieved 2025-02-09.
  8. Inquest. "Kelly Brotzman". Inquest. Retrieved 2025-02-09.
  9. Nair, Lindsey (2016-04-29). "Study in Contrasts". The Columns. W&L Magazine. Retrieved 2025-02-09.
  10. "The Right to Read: Ensuring Access to Books for Everyone, Everywhere featuring Cory Doctorow, Leah Johnson and Kelly Brotzman". BiblioEvents. 2024-09-24. Retrieved 2025-02-09.
  11. "'A way to escaping': Cape Cod prisoners hit the books in jail library". www.wbur.org. 2024-01-23. Retrieved 2025-02-09.
  12. "How TN quietly made it harder for prisoners to access books". WKMS. 2025-01-06. Retrieved 2025-02-09.
  13. Farrar, Molly (2024-08-21). "How difficult is it to read in prison? It varies by each Massachusetts facility, advocates say". Boston.com. Retrieved 2025-02-09.
  14. "#BUandBoston: Boston University Prison Outreach Initiative". Boston University. Retrieved 2025-02-09.
  15. "Legal Resources – Prison Book Program" . Retrieved 2025-02-10.