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