March 31st marks International Transgender day of visibility. Today, we take a moment to acknowledge the existence of transgender people inside U.S. prisons, and recognize that they are not getting the care they need and are unduly targeted by guards, other inmates, and the system due to their gender expression. Trans individuals are almost always housed in prisons that match the gender of their birth certificate, not that of their identity and lived experience. A recent stud

On December 19, 2025, the ABC voted to enact the most restrictive prohibition on books and magazines anywhere in the US. As of February 1, 2026, people in AR state prisons would no longer be allowed to own or receive actual paper books, magazines, or newspapers. They could only read from electronic tablets or check books out from their prison's library. The only exception would be for religious material that had been mailed to a chaplain. ABC said that such a radical approach

Starting April 1, Texas will be instituting changes in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) regulations that restricts books sent to incarcerated individuals. Under the new changes, only new paperback books will be allowed in state prisons (Federal prisons are not impacted.) Used books, hardcovers, and books with minor wear would be rejected.   Additional requirements include prohibitions on: Any markings such as highlighting or annotations Water damage, staining,

Last year, the SCDC began enforcing a policy that prevented people in state prisons from receiving books from any source besides six approved vendors, all of which charge for books. Asheville Prison Books (APB), a free prison book distributor like Books to Prisoners (BtP),and Firestorm Books, a local independent bookstore, are preparing to sue SCDC on constitutional grounds.  They contend that SCDC is violating their 1st Amendment right to freedom of speech by refusing to let

Presidents Day is a federal holiday created to honor the executive leaders of our country and their legacies. Part of these legacies is the maintenance and evolution of a criminal justice system based in racial hierarchy and exploitation. So which of these executive leaders wielded their power to contribute to the horrors of modern mass incarceration and the growth of the prison industrial complex?  The 1970s brought a boom in the prison population and an exponential increase

“The moment we choose to love, we begin to move toward freedom, to act in ways that liberate ourselves and others” bell hooks Valentine's day is a day we take to celebrate the love in our lives, but frequently we find ourselves focusing on the love in our individual relationships rather than love we seek from community and society. As feminist theorist bell hooks reminds us, love is not a feeling we are struck by, or something we are lucky to fall into, but rather a political

As we celebrate Black History month this February, it is essential to acknowledge the disproportionate impact the prison system has on the black American population and its role in the maintenance of race based oppression.  This adverse impact is no accident, it is the result of years of culminated racial violence targeting black people, carried out by state institutions. Since the eradication of slavery after the Civil War, prison has been used as a tool to target black popu

"Used Books Not Allowed" scrawled on the wrapping paper of a package of books refused by a prison mailroom. Today is the first day of Prison Banned Books Week 2025, a week examining the catastrophic impact of censorship on information access inside jails, prisons, and detention centers. Head to prisonbannedbooksweek.org  for updates and actions this week, and SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BOOKS TO PEOPLE IN PRISONS CHAPTER by donating books, gifting postage money, volunteering, and spre

“Censorship Is So 1984. Read for Your Rights.” That's the theme the American Library Association and the Banned Books Coalition have...

We Can’t Forget People Experiencing Incarceration in Our Fight for Readers’ Rights , an essay published today on Book Riot, describes...

In 1982, Banned Books Week was launched during the first week of October to protest the sharp rise in the number of challenges to books...

Call for action: It is our understanding that NYC Department of Corrections is planning on stopping Books to Prisoners and other prison...

“On the heels of great work by @MarshallProj showing TX prisons ban thousands of books, we’ve just received a rejection from TX DCJ for...

In December 2021, we received a package that had been refused by the mailroom at the South Central Correctional Center in Clifton,...

Episode 3 of the Restricted Reading Podcast Series on Kouvenda Media "Michelle Dillon, volunteer and board member for Books to Prisoners...

Iowa Public Radio cites Books to Prisoners and other advocates of incarcerated people's right to read, as well as friends and family...

In March 2019, the Washington State Department of Corrections (WA DOC) prohibited state prisons from accepting used books mailed to...

Books are a Lifeline to Prisoners, June 2017, Forward Reviews The Freedom of Reading, October 2016, American Libraries Criminal Justice...