What got you interested in BTP to begin with, or what made you start volunteering? Does it tie in to the rest of your life in any meaningful way? I first heard about Books to Prisoners at the 2021 Seattle anarchist book fair, took a pamphlet and promptly forgot about it. One day I was going through my bookshelf and I found the pamphlet and decided to get involved. I’d already been involved with the People’s Harm Reduction Alliance and found great personal fulfillment in mutu

What got you interested in BTP to begin with, or what made you start volunteering? Does it tie in to the rest of your life in any meaningful way? During the pandemic I was walking in my neighborhood and discovered the BTP sign at the old location on N. 76th Street. Intrigued, I made an appointment to donate books and was invited to a volunteer orientation. I’d recently retired after 40 years of working in education and the performing arts and had been looking for a volunteer

What got you interested in BTP to begin with, or what made you start volunteering? Does it tie in to the rest of your life in any meaningful way? Last spring, I heard that BTP was experiencing a backlog in responding to letters after the move to their current location. After reading more about their work, I jumped at the opportunity to volunteer for many reasons. Back in college, I had interned at an organization that provided access to higher education classes and tutoring t

Peg is part of a small group of volunteers who come in on Mondays to prepare the shelves for a busy week of volunteer sessions! What got you interested in BTP to begin with, or what made you start volunteering? Does it tie in to the rest of your life in any meaningful way? I had been following BTP for years after doing a search online for non-profits that have a mission for promoting education and literacy, and helping those in need. I supported BTP from afar by reading their

What got you interested in BTP to begin with, or what made you start volunteering? Does it tie in to the rest of your life in any meaningful way? After some previous book-adjacent volunteering commitments (library tutor, Reading Partners) had ended, I was looking for something new. BtP makes it so easy to get involved in a sustainable way with the flexible scheduling and self-paced work. Is there anything you especially like about volunteering with us? What are your favorite

Evie (left) is our youngest volunteer! This mother-daughter dynamic duo makes a weekly appearance at BTP to expertly fullfill requests! What got you interested in BTP to begin with, or what made you start volunteering? Does it tie in to the rest of your life in any meaningful way? Kate: I was looking for a volunteer opportunity for my daughter, Evie, and I to do together. I wanted to instill the importance of volunteering and giving back to your community. After a lot of r

Kim began volunteering with us in 2019, following our successful campaign to overturn the Washington State Department of Corrections' decision that April to ban donated books. They came in regularly during the first eight months of COVID to get what requests we were able to fulfill during that lean time ready for mailing. They were on our board for less than two years, but their influence on BtP continues to this day. They showed us that bookstore customers would buy and dona

What got you interested in BTP to begin with, or what made you start volunteering? Does it tie in to the rest of your life in any meaningful way? Over the summer, I decided I wanted to volunteer at local libraries and began combing the internet for opportunities. This led to the discovery of the Books to Prisoners website. The mission statement deeply resonated with me and I immediately reached out to contribute. I would not be the person I am today without books. They are in

You don't see the Wednesday morning shift on the weekly sign-up sheet, even though any volunteer is welcome from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm. When...

and their hosts at WotCon for raising funds for us at the Wheel of Time fan convention in Columbus OH this weekend. As a gift to anyone who donates $50 or more to Books to Prisoners by default, or any other prison book program you specify, Kate and Michael will record a one-minute greeting with your choice of words, suitable for your phone. If you couldn't make it to Columbus this weekend, but you want a voice recording anyway, go to https://www.katereadingaudiobooks.com/book

The last time we checked in on Roger and Susan Atlas, in 2023, their project to get as many free books as possible into the hands of readers was foundering . Since then, they've turned things around. Roger Atlas explains. When DISCOVERBOOKS went bankrupt, we lost almost our entire supply of 48 tons of books annually which we provide to 400 non-profits. Our largest destination for books was Books to Prisoners. We feared not being able to continue giving at a high enough quanti

What got you interested in BTP to begin with, or what made you start volunteering? I actually started volunteering when my kids were...

What got you interested in BTP to begin with, or what made you start volunteering? Does it tie in to the rest of your life in any...

Michael Winkelhorst has been volunteering with Books to Prisoners for over eight years. He began when we were still in the church...

What got you interested in BTP to begin with, or what made you start volunteering? Does it tie in to the rest of your life in any meaningful way? I remember being quarantined in my small apartment in 2020 while the country contending with tectonic shifts in how it viewed itself brought about by a perfect storm of a pandemic no one knew much about and massive social unrest and global economic decline (I think this is the year we learned about “murder hornets” as well.) I felt

After coming in to wrap packages every Wednesday evening for a couple of years now, Marnie has stepped up to a new level of service....

Books to Prisoners began as a project of the Left Bank Books Collective. Now Left Bank Books is one of our store partners for the Prison Banned Books Week (PBBW) matched new book drive, September 15 - 28. Adrian shares what makes the store so special that they work there for free. How did you get involved with LBB? — I got involved with Left Bank Books as a volunteer for a three-hour shift on Saturdays while I was working full-time at my former job. I wasn’t sure if I would e

Kris has volunteered with Books to Prisoners since 1989. Instead of our usual Featured Volunteer questions, we asked her about what it's...

Our featured volunteer this spring is Jackie. Jackie is a devoted volunteer who always diligently selects the perfect books for each...

Roger and Susan Atlas were our Featured Volunteers for the Month of June 2023. Roger has been volunteering with us since we were in the U District. During quarantine in 2020, Susan filled all the orders for people in Texas state prisons, 30-40% of our total requests, in her garage. In 2017, they found out that Discover Books, an online retailer of used books in Tacoma, donated books they couldn't sell to nonprofits. They opened their home to wholesale deliveries of these book