At correctional camps like the one I’m at where there is so little to do, we call it “doing dead time”. There are only a few things we have to pass the time here, TV, exercise, a job, and reading. Thanks to programs which donate books to inmates, we get to escape from prison in the pages of a story or expand our mind to prepare us for the day we get out with knowledge through education books, dictionaries and spiritual books. It is too easy to side into a world of hate and the classic movie prisoner, but books allow us to escape here even if for a short time. Books are better than any counseling we can receive. Many of us never had the time or desire to read before coming to prison. But when books are discovered here they are not a chore or requirement like everything else here so they can be considered life savers or at least time savers. Believe it or not if the average inmate had to choose between losing their TV or their books most would surely pick keeping their books. So programs that help us get our hands on these life savers help keep us afloat and come out at the end of our time better people.