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Updated March 18, 2024
Other books-to-prisoners programs are currently active across the country as of January 2024. Each organization maintains its own set of rules and guidelines concerning the destinations for book shipments and the types of books supported by their projects. Special thanks to Andy Chan at Books to Prisoners in Seattle for keeping this list updated!
ADVICE FOR CONTACTING ANY BOOKS TO PRISONERS PROGRAM
Follow these guidelines and you will have a better chance of receiving a book.
Always print clearly. Include your full name, ID number and address. It is helpful if you include that information in your letter - not just on the envelope.
Write to the organization directly. Do not have someone request a book for you. Most of these organizations will only send books when requested directly by the inmate. Friends and family members cannot request a book on your behalf.
Let the organization know if your institution has unique restrictions (such as not accepting hardcover books) and double-check that they allow books to be sent from that specific organization.
Be general. Let them know the subjects were types of books that you are interested in. The vast majority of these organizations rely on donated books so they are often unable to fulfill specific requests.
Be patient. Volunteer organizations work hard to help inmates access books. It is typical for book programs to take several months to answer requests.
Unless the organization specifically provides law books, don't ask for legal guides or resources.
These organizations do not send books that are racist, sexist, homophobic, violent, etc.
Thank you notes are always appreciated. Let the volunteers know that their work makes a difference. Let them know if there were any difficulties receiving the book at your institution.
ACTIVE PRISON BOOK PROGRAMS
The organizations below are currently active and are sending books to prisoners. Help us keep our list up to date. Let us know if you have any corrections or information about any of the organizations below. Please follow this link to report a problem or email rachel@claremontforum.org. Note: we attempt to contact every organization on this list. An organization must have an active website or social media page in order to be included. We cannot guarantee that the organizations below will send you a book.
APPALACHIAN PRISON BOOK PROJECT
Serves: KY, MD, OH, TN, VA, WV
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 601, Morgantown, WV 265017
Email: appalachianpbp@gmail.com
ASHEVILLE PRISON BOOK PROGRAM
Serves: SC
Mail: c/o Downtown Books and News, 67 N. Lexington Ave., Asheville, NC 28801
Website: http://www.avlpb.org
ATHENS BOOKS TO PRISONERS
Serves: OH Only
Mail: P.O. Box 45, Rutland, OH 45775
BIG HOUSE BOOKS
Serves: MS
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 55586, Jackson, MS 39296
Email: bighousebooksms@gmail.com
Website: bighousebooksms.org
BOOKS BEHIND BARS
Serves: NJ
Mail: P.O. Box 2611, Wildwood, New Jersey 08260
Email: info@booksbehindbarsnj.com
Website: www.booksbehindbarsnj.com
BOOKS BEYOND BARS
Serves: NY
Mail: Books Beyond Bars, 120 Wall St. Floor 29, New York, NY 10005
Email: booksbeyondbarsny@gmail.com
Website: https://www.booksbeyondbars.org/
BOOKS THROUGH BARS
Serves: PA, NJ, NY, DE, MD, VA
Mailing Address: 4722 Baltimore Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19143
Website: https://www.booksthroughbars.org/
Email: info@booksthroughbars.org
BOOKS THROUGH BARS NYC
Serves: Everywhere (NY a priority) except AL, FL, LA, MA, MI, MS, NC, and OH
Mailing Address: c/o Bluestockings Bookstore, 116 Suffolk Street, New York, NY. 10002
Website: https://booksthroughbarsnyc.org/
Email: info@booksthroughbarsnyc.org
BOOKS TO PRISONS
Serves: AL/TX
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 130699, Birmingham, AL 35213
Email: givebookstoprisons@gmail.com
Website: https://www.givebookstoprisons.com/
BOOKS TO PRISONERS: OLYMPIA
Location: Olympia, WA
Requests: Only accepts requests through BTP (Seattle)
Email: olybtp@gmail.com
BOOKS TO PRISONERS SPOKANE
Location: Spokane, WA
Requests: Only accepts requests through BTP (Seattle)
BOOKS TO PRISONERS (Seattle)
Serves: All states
Mailing Address: 92 Pike St., Box 'A', Seattle, WA 98101
Website: www.bookstoprisoners.net
Email: bookstoprisoners@live.com
BTP VANCOUVER (Canada)
Serves: Canada only
Mailing Address: P.O Box 78005, 1755 East Broadway, Vancouver, BC V5N 5W1
Email:
General Inquiries: bookstoprisoners.bc@gmail.com
Prison Justice Society: books@prisonjustice.ca
Website: https://bookstoprisoners.ca/
CHICAGO BOOKS TO WOMEN IN PRISON
Serving: Women's prisons in AZ, AL, AR, CA, CT, FL, IL, IN, KY, MS, TN, VT, WA; all women in Federal prisons, and trans women being housed in men's prisons everywhere
Mailing Address: c/o RFUMC, 4511 N. Hermitage Ave., Chicago, IL 60640
Email: chicagobwp@gmail.com
Website: chicagobwp.org
D.C. BOOKS TO PRISONS
Serves: Everywhere EXCEPT CT, FL, IL, MA, ME, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OR, PA, RI, VT, WA, or WI
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 34190, Washington D.C., 20043
Website: http://dcbookstoprisoners.org/
Email: btopdc@gmail.com
GREAT FALLS BOOKS THROUGH BARS
Serves: Priority TX, CA, everywhere EXCEPT AZ, CT, ID, IN, LA, MA, ME, MS, PA, WI, or jails
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 391, Greenfield, MA 01302
INSIDE BOOKS PROJECT
Serves: TX only; does not serve county jails
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 301029, Austin, Texas 78703
Email: insidebooksproject@gmail.com
Website: http://www.insidebooksproject.org/
LGBT BOOKS TO PRISONERS
Serving: LGBT except in TX
Mailing Address: c/o Social Justice Center Incubator, 1202 Williamson St, Suite 1, Madison, WI 53703
Website: http://lgbtbookstoprisoners.org/
LIBERATION LIBRARY
Serving: IL youth
Mailing Address: In These Times, 2040 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60647
Website: liberationlib.com
LOPEZ ISLAND BOOKS TO PRISONERS
Serves: WA and AK
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 327, Lopez Island, WA 98261
Email: lopezislandbtp@gmail.com
LOUISIANA BOOKS 2 PRISONERS
Serves: AL, AR, LA
Mailing Address: 3157 Gentilly Blvd. #141, New Orleans, LA 70122
Email: admin@LAB2P.org
Website: https://lab2p.org/
MIDWEST BOOKS TO PRISONERS
Serves: Priority to Midwest states
Mailing Address: 1321 N Milwaukee Ave. PMB 460, Chicago, IL 60622
Email: midwestb2p@gmail.com
Website: www.midwestbookstoprisoners.org
MISSOURI PRISON BOOKS
Serving: All Midwest states
Mailing Address: c/o Subterranean Books, 6271 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63130
Email: moprisonbooks@gmail.com
Website: https://missouriprisonbooks.org/
NORTH CAROLINA WOMEN’S PRISON BOOK PROJECT
Serves: Women in NC
Mailing Address: Box 1524, Durham NC 27702
Website: https://ncwpb.org/
OPEN DOOR BOOKS (aka Books To Prisoners Montreal)
Serves: Mostly Canada
Mailing Address: c/o QPIRG Concordia, 1455 de Maisonneuve O, Montreal, H3G 1M8, Canada
Email: bookstoprisoners@gmail.com
Website: https://opendoorbooks.wordpress.com/
PITTSBURGH PRISON BOOK PROJECT
Serving: PA only
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 71357, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Website: https://pghprisonbookproject.org/
PORTLAND BOOKS THROUGH BARS
Affiliate of BTP (Seattle)
Serves: Everywhere
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 11222, Portland, OR 97211
Website: https://www.pdxbooks.org/
PRISON BOOKS COLLECTIVE PUBLISHING AND DISTRIBUTION
Serves:
AL (men in NC)
Feds in AL, KY, MD, NC, TN, VA, and WV
Zines to anywhere
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 625, Carrboro, NC 27510
Email: prisonbooks@gmail.com
Website: https://prisonbooks.info/
PRISON BOOK PROGRAM
Serves: All states EXCEPT CA, MI, TX, where they serve Federal prisons only
Mailing Address: c/o Lucy Parsons Book Store, 1306 Hancock Street, Suite 100, Quincy, MA 02169
Email: info@prisonbookprogram.org
Website: http://www.prisonbookprogram.org
PRISON BOOKS PROJECT
Serves: NY
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 132, Beacon, NY 12508
Email: info@prisonbooksproject.org
Website: https://prisonbooksproject.org/
PRISON LIBRARY PROJECT
Serves: All states
Mailing Address: 915-C West Foothill Blvd. PMB 128, Claremont, CA 91711
Website: https://www.claremontforum.org/prisonlibraryproject
Email: PLP@claremontforum.org
PRISONER CORRESPONDENCE PROJECT
Serves: Queer & trans people in US/Canada
Mailing Address: c/o QPIRG Concordia, 1455 de Maisonneuve O, Montreal, H3G 1M8, Canada
Website: prisonercorrespondenceproject.com
PRISONERS LITERATURE PROJECT
Serves: All states EXCEPT TX
Mailing Address: Bound Together Books, 1369 Haight St., S.F., CA 94117
Website: http://prisonlit.org
Email: Prisonlit@gmail.com
PROVIDENCE BOOKS THROUGH BARS
Serves: All states EXCEPT: AL, AR, FL, ID, IL, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MS, NC, NE, NY, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, WA, or WI.
Mailing Address: c/o Paper Nautilus Books, 19 South Angel Street, Providence, RI 02906
Website: https://provbtb.org/
Email: providencebtb@gmail.com
READ BETWEEN THE BARS
Serves: AZ only
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 44014, Tucson, AZ, 85733-4014
Website: www.readbetweenthebars.org
Email: readbetweenthebars@gmail.com
REDBIRD BOOKS TO PRISONERS
Serves: Prioritizes OH
Mailing Address: c/o Red Bird Books P.O. Box 10599, Columbus OH 43201
Email: readbetweenthebars@gmail.com
ROGUE LIBERATION LIBRARY
Serving: CA, NV, OR, TX state prison + Fed prisons nationwide
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 524, Ashland, OR 97520
Website: https://peacehouse.net/RLL/
TRANZMISSION PRISON BOOK PROJECT
Serves: Prioritizes LGBTQ
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1874, Asheville, NC 28802
URBANA CHAMPAIGN BOOKS TO PRISONERS
Serves: IL only
Mailing Address: Box 515, Urbana, IL 61803
Email: contact@books2prisoners.org
Website: www.books2prisoners.org
UC DAVIS BOOKS TO PRISONERS
Serves: CA, FL, NY, OR, PA, TX
Mailing Address: CSI Box, No 157, 1 Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616
Website: www.davisb2p.com
WISCONSIN BOOKS TO PRISONERS
Serves: WI only
Mailing Address: 1202 Williamson St, Suite 1, Madison, WI 53703
WOMEN’S PRISON BOOK PROJECT
Serves: Women (cis or trans)
Mailing Address: 3751 17th Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55407
Website: http://www.wpbp.org
X BOOKS
Serves: GA only
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 93351, Atlanta, GA 30377
Email: xbooks13@gmail.com
Website: http://xbooks.org/