We all say “knowledge is power,” yet the budget for prisons is growing
at a higher rate than that for schools…increasing incarceration rates
reveal that something in our system is broken. We can find the
solutions in enlightening minds. Let’s do so.
- Kevin J. Marinelli, SCI Greene (Death Row)

We all know that our nation has a long way to go when it comes to
prioritizing education over incarceration. Books Through Bars lives in
that gap–the space between where we are now, and the future world we
envision. We occupy that gap by creating opportunities for education
both inside and outside prison walls.

As we move forward into a new year, ripe with the possibility for new
forms of justice to emerge, we thank you considering supporting Books
Through Bars this holiday season. Our vision: a world where we each
have access to the education that will give us power over our own
futures, is only possible with the help of people like you!

Please consider donating funds, or click the “get involved” link above for information on donating books or
volunteering.

Happy Holidays from all of us at Books Through Bars, and may 2012
bring positive changes for you, your community, and our global
community!

Over the past year, during which we sent more than 7,000 packages of reading materials to prisoners, we expanded our efforts to promote education beyond the exchange of books. Our innovative educational
initiatives included:

• A week-long film festival and speaking series, featuring 17 films dedicated to exploring important topics from the prison economy, to the history of prisoner resistance in the 1970s, to the racialized face of immigration detention;
• An expanded service-learning program, which engaged more than 100 local junior high and high school students in vital discussions around prison justice through hands-on, group volunteer sessions;
• Our second annual Read-a-Thon, featuring writings, films, speakers, and readings of our correspondence with prisoners, all around the theme “Instead of Prisons…”;
• A day of programming around the book Grace Before Dying, an exploration in text and photography of the prisoner-led hospice program at Angola Prison;
• The launch of a new correspondence project, Address This!, which will allow prisoners to enroll in courses through the mail, on topics ranging from Black Social Movements to Community Healing and
  Reproductive Justice.

Books Through Bars has created an interactive map showing prison book programs in the US and Canada, including contact information. Check it out, and get involved with a prison book program near you!