Mission
mission
The mission of Prison Book Program is to support people in prison by sending them free books and reading materials that meet their specific needs and interests. We do this through a highly engaging volunteer experience that connects people inside and outside of the American prison system.
need
Without access to the internet, books are one of the only places to turn for incarcerated people who wish to learn, imagine, study or grow. However, most prisons and jails are book deserts. The quality of prison libraries, when they exist at all, is generally poor. Lack of staffing and restrictive housing can also make libraries inaccessible to many or most of the people housed in a facility. Friends and loved ones on the outside are not allowed to send books directly to people in prison; instead, they must be ordered from an approved vendor. Few incarcerated people have loved ones with the resources to purchase and send books from commercial vendors at full retail price.
Prison Book Program is an approved book vendor at over 1,000 prisons
and jails in all 50 states, Guam and Puerto Rico. Our books have always been and always will be completely free to recipients.
looking ahead
In May 2023, Prison Book Program's board and staff completed the organization's first-ever strategic plan. By 2028, PBP will dramatically expand its reach and volume; enhance its volunteer program and the quality of service provided to readers; and raise its organizational profile within greater Boston and nationwide.
History
Prison Book Program has been supporting the freedom to read since 1972! Read about our history in the introduction to From the First Sentence: 50 Years of Prison Book Program.
Prison Book Program is an approved book vendor at over 1,000 prisons
and jails in all 50 states, Guam and Puerto Rico. Our books have always been and always will be completely free to recipients.
This history is also covered in “Books as Decarceral,” an article written for Inquest by PBP Executive Director Kelly Brotzman.
