This is a "scene" report about Pages to Prisoners that I wrote recently for the Boxcar Books newsletter:
Two recent newspaper articles have reminded me of the relevance of the work done by the Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project. Every week, in the space adjacent to the Boxcar Books store, volunteers read letters from people in prisons, jails, and youth detention facilities across the US who would like free books. Volunteers then search through the shelves of books, most donated from members of the community, to find books to match the request and then package the books, along with a personal letter, to be sent back to the incarcerated person. Receiving dozens of letters every week and working with donated resources, the work can feel challenging, but there are always reminders that the project serves some important needs.
The first news article, from the New York Times, described the recent purging of religious reading and multimedia resources from Federal prison libraries run by prison chaplains. The purge was prompted by concerns of prisons cultivating religious extremism, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons set out to eliminate books that might "discriminate, disparage, advocate violence or radicalize." However, the Bureau decided to achieve these ends by limiting the holdings of the chaplain libraries to a narrow list of approved titles, selected without a great deal of input from the chaplains themselves. Though religious scholars interviewed in the article said the approved list contained some useful titles, most felt that many useful or important works had been omitted. More importantly, since the libraries were not given funds to replace the purged books, many of these libraries were left with significantly limited holdings.
Though religious materials represent only a small percentage of the requests that the group receives, this story is one that is all too familiar to the Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project. The letters from incarcerated people tell stories of poorly stocked or nonexistent prison libraries, whole units of prisoners being restricted from library use due to disciplinary issues with a few prisoners, a lack of necessary materials for prison sponsored, or prisoner initiated educational programs, school-age youth lacking reference books to aid in their school work, and prison staff denying access to books in a manner that can seem arbitrary and punitive. And even with the difficulty many prisoners have in getting access to books, we receive many letters reminding of the significance of books. People, ask for books as a means of mental escape from the intensity of prison life, to help imagine, or prepare for, a life after prison, and to educate or inform themselves on a topic of interest, whether academic or personal. In these letters, Pages to Prisoners volunteers find the same love of literature and knowledge that is shared by many of the patrons of Boxcar Books. Furthermore, many write about appreciating the human connection of receiving the books, selected by another and accompanied by a handwritten note. While there is no pretense of the project being a solution to the scarcity of books, educational opportunities, and general resources in prisons, jails, and other facilities, the letters we receive suggest that it is at least helpful, appreciated, and meaningful to the people who receive the books. For those on the outside of the prison system, it offers a peek into the reality of incarceration, an opportunity to examine personal prejudices and fears, and a more personal perspective on heavily politicized subjects.
The second news article was in the Herald-Times and showed pictures of people in the Monroe County jail sleeping on the floor of a recreation area because of severe overcrowding at the jail. While Pages to Prisoners cannot serve the local jail (administrators at the jail arrange for prisoners to receive books through a MCPL program), the large number of incarcerated people in this country is an omnipresent reality at the project. Currently, due to the overwhelming number of requests for books, the project has a six month backlog of book requests, with more arriving every week. Also, because of the volume of requests, the project can send books to people, at most, once every two months. Images of overcrowding, whether in the local jail or nationwide, are stark and frustrating, but it was in the unrelenting flow of letters that I found the greatest sense of the size of the prison system and the difficulty in treating individuals in that system as people and not just as letters or numbers. A few nights ago, a group of high-school-aged exchange students volunteered at the project, and I thought the opportunity to see the volume of letters, itself a small representation of the enormity of the prison system, was an important cultural experience in terms of the American reality. The US, incarcerating 737 per 100,000 of its residents, incarcerates a greater share of its population than anywhere else in the world. In working with the project, volunteers can receive an indirect but affecting impression of the scope of incarceration in our country.
With the constant flow of requests for books, the Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project is always in need of volunteers and book donations. Those interested in volunteering can simply stop by during our volunteering sessions which happen weekly on Mondays from 7-9pm (during the IU fall and spring semesters), Thursdays from 7-11pm, and Sundays from 2-5pm. Volunteers need not make a huge time commitment, but should bring a love of books and the ability to use their personal knowledge, experience, and creative thinking to find good books within shelves of eclectic donations and navigating the restrictions at various prisons and jails. Book donations can be dropped off during the volunteer hours or any time Boxcar Books is open. The project is most in need of paperback, new or almost-new books, dictionaries, thesauri, almanacs, and popular fiction like mysteries, thrillers, suspense, horror, adventure, science fiction, fantasy, and westerns. The project also frequently receives requests for books on African -American history and issues, books with African-American characters, books on life skills and personal finance, books on entrepreneurship, books in Spanish, technical and vocational skills (especially electronics, welding, heating/cooling/ventilation/air conditioning, carpentry, and auto mechanics), GED test preparation books, and criminal justice and civil rights related law books.
Though regular volunteering and donations are the backbone of the Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project, the project has organized a special Pack-A-Thon event to catch up on the large backlog of requests. The Pack-A-Thon event will be on Thursday October 11th and run from 2 PM to 2 AM! This festive event attempts to bring as many volunteers as possible from the community to volunteer by filling and packaging book requests. Bring your friends and spend a few hours (or twelve!) helping out the Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project. Past Pack-A-Thon events have included free food, mix-tapes and a lot of fun and sleep deprivation.
For more information about the Pack-A-Thon or the Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project, please visit the project's website at pagestoprisoners.org or e-mail midwestpagestoprisoners@yahoo.com
Geoff Hing
The Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project.
