A Letter from the President
- 15 hours ago
- 3 min read
Hello all!
My name is Curran Connelly, I currently serve as the President of the Board of Directors
for Books to Prisoners. I was asked to comment on 2025 and to describe what I am
looking forward to in 2026 for our organization. The following are only my views and do
not necessarily describe the goals or feelings of the board as a whole.
For those curious, the board is the governing body for BTP. It is largely composed of
volunteers who have worked with us for many years, with some members’ involvement
spanning decades. We are all unpaid, and most (nearly all) of our time as members of
the board is spent making the small decisions that keep the organization running
smoothly. If you are ever interested in sitting in on a meeting feel free to reach out to
any current board member (our biographies can be found on our website) and we would
be happy to provide a link. Meetings are typically held on the first Sunday of each month
and run from 6-7pm.
Last Year:
We saw a tremendous change in the stability of our organization last year. It is hard to
put into words how happy I am that we now have a forever home. For any volunteers
who have not visited our previous location, though I found it to have its own charm, our
new home is certainly much more inviting (having windows and not being underneath a
dance studio are welcome changes). After the move we did have a significant backlog,
but we were constantly working to close that gap throughout the year and are now
answering letters with less delay than we have in a long time. I want to acknowledge
here the incredible efforts of Marnie and Doug, who volunteered their time to open new
shifts on weekends.
My personal highlight of 2025 was getting to work with the Black Prisoners Caucus
(BPC) to help rebuild a re-entry/education program in Washington State prisons. I am
thankful to the board for approving my request to help supply the desired textbooks and
to the community members who told me about the need and connected me to BPC.
Near the end of last year we were also lucky to hire the incredible Ella to take over as
the program coordinator. Ella has been working tirelessly to help move the organization
forward and expand our presence in Seattle, creating connections between us and
other organizations in the prisoners’ rights space. She immediately jumped into the role
and made it her own, all while taking on countless projects and responsibilities that have
helped make BTP a better place.
Looking Forward:
This coming year has the potential to be an enormous year for the growth of the
organization. Thanks to the incredible generosity of all our donors we are in an
unprecedented position financially. We have also seen that we have a large, growing,
base of volunteers who are happy to fill more and more shifts. I envision 2026 to be a
year where we have the potential to further grow the size and output of our organization.
This will be the first year that we have a full-time coordinator, which presents an
opportunity to increase the number of available shifts. To that end, we are currently
engaged in an effort to increase the volume of letters coming in from our requestors.
Finally, thanks to our bookstore partners (and all of you who support them during our
promotions), each year we receive more credit to spend on new materials.
There is a lot to look forward to in 2026, and I do fully believe that it will be BTP’s
biggest year in many ways.
That said, I am also confident that 2026 will be a year of
continued crackdowns and new restrictions popping up state by state. At the moment of
writing this post, Texas is in the process of considering a ban on all incoming
publications that are not new paperbacks (Texas accounts for roughly 25% of our
requests in a given year). Over the past year, many states have moved towards the
‘scan-and-shred’ model for processing inmate mail, a trend that I anticipate will continue
in 2026. We have also seen an increase in the requests coming from individuals in ICE
custody this year, a population that we have attempted to serve in the past with (in my
personal experience) no success. That does not stop us from trying! Nor does the long
history of increased restrictions stop us from continuing our work, often forcing state
correction offices to reconsider their position.
Thank you to all of you for your dedication and continued support of BTP, in whatever
fashion you provide it. If you have any questions, or want to share your thoughts about
what you’d like to see at BTP in 2026, feel free to email me at
Best,
Curran
