Books for Women in Prison

This is a wonderful program and definitely deserves support--and all the attention it can get. Because The Women's Prison Book Project still can get books into prisons--and that's becoming a much, much harder thing to do every single year.

One of the reasons it deserves support is because, in America, the prison system often censors books for a number of reasons--but, a lot of times, for where the book comes from--as in, the book comes from a "non-reputable" source: such as a used book from a lesser-known non-profit that a government-funded (or private) prison doesn't approve of. So, a lot of those paperback and hardcover books that readers donate to charities that are then going to donate to prisons? Yeah, they get tossed out, because they don't meet the criteria for bringing in to the prisons.

This is something known as "content-neutral censorship"--it's still book banning, by the way. (edit to add: not even ordering something to Amazon and having it sent directly to the prison is a surefire way to get a book or an item through, even though Amazon is a huge, well-known, verified vendor).

From the article I link below:

If content-based bans weren’t infuriating enough, another form of censorship may give you even more of a headache: According to Marquis,content-neutral bans have been on the rise since 2015.“Content-neutral,” she says, “means that the literature’s being withheld from people not because of the ideas or information contained in it,but because of other criteria that they’re saying need to be met for those physical copies to be allowed inside prisons.” You’re probably wondering, like what? “These run the gamut. Everything from no hardcover books to no free [donated] books, no used books.” Reading materials are also increasingly being censored because they’re not being mailed by approved vendors. 

Sounds like bullshit, right? But, guess what--this is how prison censorship and book-banning works. Oh, and if a book is in a language other than English? Well, guess what? That could be considered dangerous, because it might contain information an inmate could use to harm themselves, others, or the system itself, so it can't be allowed into the facility. Even if that non-English book is a romance novel with naked people on the cover--or tentacles. Sounds like bullshit, right? Nope. That's just how it works when it comes to book-bans and censorship in the prison system.

Facility workers (yes, people make these decisions--every package is scanned by a machine and then opened by a person, who views every single item and decides what is allowed in and what is sent back; if no answer is received from the person who sent the item, the item is thrown away after a set time--the inmate has no say in the matter) who decide what items/books/materials are allowed into their facilities. Facility works can even use these "guidelines" to ban creative writing materials and such from coming into their facilities because they might encourage inmates to explore ways of trying to "escape incarceration" or hurt themselves or another.(Edit to add: Ironically, self-help books and motivational books are frequently found on statewide prison ban lists; extreme christian nationalist/fundamentalist literature is not, a mirror of what's happening in various school and public library districts across America.)

And those types of content aren't even touching on factual types of books/articles/publications that include information on legal rights, incarceration, education, etc. Or fiction books that might contain sex, violence, questionable content, etc--like a romance novel, or a historical fiction novel, or a suspense novel.

And this censorship is on the rise.

Quotes above from The Story Behind Oppressive Book Bans in Prisons ( January 10, 2024)

From Reading Between the Bars (an about prison censorship from 10/25/2023, which is another fantastic and frustrating read):

Carceral censorship is the most pervasive form of censorship in the United States. The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and the departments of corrections (DOCs) in all 50 states and the District of Columbia censor literature – and the rationales they employ for censoring books are vast and varied. Prisons ban specific titles, based on the alleged threat of their content – a tactic similar to that of book banners who have targeted public schools and libraries in the past two years. Prison banned book lists in many states contain thousands of unique titles; any incarcerated individual in that state is barred from reading any title on the list. ...

Prison officials commonly justify censorship as necessary for rehabilitation and the maintenance of safety and security. The rationale that censorship should be used to accomplish these goals is specious—and yet often receives little scrutiny. ...

Prison censorship normalizes the idea that reading can be dangerous. (emphasis mine)

Yes, even romance books. It's one of the saddest, most frustrating, most angering things in this country, right alongside book-banning in schools and libraries.

So, yes, bring attention and support to this program, because it is doing great, great, necessary work that is under threat every single day. And it is fighting an already incredibly unfair battle that is weighted heavily against it. The prison system is horrible, but those stuck within it shouldn't be made to suffer because those of us outside of it don't agree with the system's existence or how it's run. And far too often, especially for incarcerated women, BIPOCs, LGBTQA+ persons--many of those people who end up incarcerated in the system spend an unfair number of years banned from living a full life because the justice system in American is already weighted against them. To take book escapes from them too is just an unimaginable cruelty, in my personal opinion.

Just sending books to programs trying to send those books into prisons isn't likely to get those books into inmates' hands--not in America, though programs are trying. Do your homework and make sure you are sending your books and your support to the right programs with the right connections to actually get those books through the doors and in to inmates hands--because those books will end up in the trash otherwise, and none of us want that.

(edits: typos, messed up a date on the article link, weird reddit formatting stuff--probably more edits incoming)

This isn't a programme I was aware of, but it's a really interesting one since a lot of the other similar programmes actually won't accept romance genre books - or will only accept very few. Thanks for sharing!

When ebooks came out I donated something like 2,000 paperbacks to a book charity. I remember the volunteer who took them telling me that the romances would be going to a women’s prison where they were “in high demand”.

Very cool, thanks for sharing! Just sent them some money

In a Jam by Kate Canterbary
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