What We Do
Two times per week, Books Through Bars volunteers meet at our space in Brooklyn to match requests prisoners have sent us in the mail to the books on our shelves. (Learn more about how we started by reading an interview with the co-founder here). We mail book packages to individuals rather than prison libraries. Our book collection is donated by members of the community. Because we manage to get by in donated space, with donated books, donated packing materials, and volunteer labor, our only expense is postage. To meet this much needed expense we hold fundraisers and look for other opportunities for receiving funds.
We are a group of activists, librarians & archivists, editors, students, office workers, teachers, authors and other book lovers, and we welcome you to come to a packing session whenever you can make it, for however long you like. Travelers passing through town are more than welcome too.