Prisoners Literature Project

This happened at a book packing session last week. We love this!

Many, many thanks to the volunteers, donors and bookstore partners who helped PLP in our extensive efforts to get books to incarcerated readers in 2025.

Our all-volunteer organization is sustained by your donations:

www.prisonlit.org/donate/

The note says it all.

Our #GivingTuesday campaign is live - mailchi.mp/prisonlit/pl... - all donations matched up to $3,000, help us send more books to incarcerated folks!

Our #GivingTuesday campaign is live - mailchi.mp/prisonlit/pl... - all donations matched up to $3,000, help us send more books to incarcerated folks!

We're giving thanks for all the appreciative letters we receive from readers. It's also great to hear about programs and classes that are sometimes offered to incarcerated learners behind bars.

PLP frequently receives requests for comic books, but they are very expensive to buy. When local collector Rick Clogher heard about this, he donated two boxes of beautiful comic books, in perfect condition.

We know they will bring a lot of joy!

We Can't Forget People Experiencing Incarceration in Our Fight for Readers' Rights: Book Censorship News, September 19, 2025 The state of book bans and censorship in American prisons. Where and how advocates can change this rampant First Amendment violation.

We Can’t Forget People Experiencing Incarceration in Our Fight for Readers’ Rights: Book Censorship News, September 19, 2025
bookriot.com/books-to-pri...

A volunteer opened this thank you letter. Spanish reads:
Thank you for the books, and thanks to God for touching your hearts to help people who are prisoners... May God bless all of you for your great help, and He will reward you. May God’s peace be with all of you."

Several times a semester we host a session for local high school seniors who are taking a social justice class. This time we squeezed eleven students into our space.

These students have already visited two prisons in CA (San Quentin and Chowchilla Women's Prison).

In answer to his question, yes, we send free books, lots of them each month. It is our honor to help free the minds of incarcerated people through reading.

Please consider supporting some of our favorite local indie bookstores during Banned Books Week! Any books purchased will be matched by a generous foundation grant.

All wishlists available: linktr.ee/prisonlitproject
or: www.prisonlit.org/donate/#BuyB...

#prisonbookswishlist
#BannedBooksWeek

Thanks to donors, we have a range of interesting titles that we're able to send to people in prison. As the letter says: "I want to thank you for the books you’ve sent previously, always great selections. I’d love to be sent African, African-American, Native American and Indigenous history."

As an all-volunteer organization we rely on each other to enhance and expand our efforts. One volunteer decided we should stock kids books and now we do!

Incarcerated people write to us asking for these books so they can read them over the phone to their kids or during in-person visits. 😍

Yes, books are transporting and a connection to the world outside a cell. PLP sent him several books along with a note saying we are so glad he got in touch with our program.

This letter sent to PLP goes on to say:

"I'm very thankful for the materials that you send and I share my books when I'm done with them. LOL. I've already passed on the history book "Bad Day in History' to my buddy that loves trivia."

We are so pleased that our selection of books in Spanish has expanded to include a range of titles in popular genres like horror, fantasy and classics.

Thanks to Pegasus Books in particular for researching and ordering these often hard to find Spanish-language books!

Books about Aztec/Mayan culture are a common request... It’s hard to source these books at an affordable price with "acceptable" pictures.

However, PLP recently started stocking “Aztec” , a historical fantasy which offers “rich insight into their society.” We've also ordered the book in Spanish!

YouTube video by Prisoners Literature Project PLP library's new location!

PLP's library has moved to a larger space!
Check out this video that documents the move. Volunteer power! More room, more shelves, more books available to send out!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXrN...

(Also, we've revised our website. Check out the new look at prisonlit.org .)

A happy volunteer finds the exact book requested by this incarcerated reader.

We get a lot of great books like this donated from our wish lists, bookstore partners, volunteers, authors, publishers, estates and more. Thank you!

(Thanks also to volunteer A.J. for another video!)

We are in awe of the generosity of the many people who purchased books for incarcerated readers during the recent matching grant opportunity in honor of Indie bookstores.

The total was over 330 books ($5,400)! Thank you, thank you all!

We're excited when a new bookstore partner joins us. You can also order books for PLP via the Books Inc. wishlist: booksinc.net/prisoners-li.... (Purchases matched through May 5th).

Thanks to Books Inc. for hosting PLP displays at stores in: Alameda, Mountain View, Palo Alto and San Leandro!

PLP still has a matching grant opportunity through Monday, May 5th! It's a great time to stop by one of our book partners Cape & Cowl Comics & purchase a title for someone behind bars: Cape & Cowl Comics, 1601 Clay Street, Oakland, CA
#PrisonBooksWishlists #IncarceratedReaders #ShopIndieBookstores

[Book requests from prisoners] remind us that reading, at its core, isn’t about cultural capital or carceral control. It’s about maintaining our essential human right to imagine differently, to choose freely, and to find joy in our own way, even within confinement. #MustRead

Reading Behind Bars, and Beyond Barriers | Los Angeles Review of Books Jackie Snow reflects on what working for a books-to-prisons nonprofit has taught her about reading.

Learning prison regulations felt like studying for a degree in carceral bureaucracy. Behind every rejection lurked an institutional paranoia: hidden messages, drugs or seeds of discontent that might blossom into unrest concealed within innocent pages. Must-read!

lareviewofbooks.org/article/read...

Our favorite day of the year has arrived! It's Independent Bookstore Day!

Stop by these partner stores :
--Pegasus stores in Berkeley
--Cape & Cowl Comics in Oakland
--East Bay Booksellers in Berkeley
--Books Inc in Alameda

Buy a book for PLP and join in on the festivities! Book lovers unite!

Tomorrow is Independent Bookstore Day! We would so appreciate your support via a book purchase for PLP. The dollar amount will be doubled!

Shop one of our wish lists at: www.prisonlit.org/donate/#BuyB...

#PrisonBooksWishlists #IndieBookstoreDay #IncarceratedReaders

Last month the Prisoners Literature Project book club read "We Could Be So Good" and enjoyed it very much! PLP reached out to award winning author Cat Sebastian - catsebastian.com - and she very kindly sent us some of her books. We think these books will be adored by incarcerated readers.

Book inventory varies over time... so it's a special thrill when a less common request (like a Beatles book) comes in and we have a great matching book to send in response to the letter.

It's a really good day when PLP receives two big boxes of books in support of our efforts. We are grateful to our bookstore partner The Best Book Store In Palm Springs (Palm Springs, CA!) for continuing to send books up north to us! More prisons are requiring new books so these are so useful to us!