When money becomes an idol, it commands the choices of man. It makes him a slave.
- Pope Francis |
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Free Books Programs
FREE 
BOOKS PROGRAMS
The organizations below provide free books and magazines to the incarcerated. This list was compiled below at the request of our newsletter readers. Since the website is now available broadly inside institutions in our software application format, I have included the books programs list here.
Readers have told me that they’ve had great experiences with these organizations. I hope you will let me know if any of the organizations listed below do not offer free books to individuals, are not who they say they are or if they no longer exist.
I hope you find some terrific books! Happy reading…
Inside Books Project c/o 12th Street Books
827 West 12th Street
Austin, Texas 78701
Inside Books Project is an Austin-¬based community service volunteer organization. Their Resource Guide is sent nationwide, and book packages are sent to state and federal prisoners in Texas.
Books to Prisoners
c/o Left Bank Books
92 Pike Street, Box A
Seattle, WA 98101
Wisconsin Books To Prisoners
c/o Madison Community Co-op
1202 Williamson St. #106
Madison, WI 53703
Appalachian Prison Book Project
PO Box 601
Morgantown, WV 26507
UC Books to Prisoners
Box 515
Urbana IL 61803
Book Em
The Big Idea Bookstore
Thomas Merton Center
5129 Penn Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15224
Read Between the Bars
c/o Daily Planet Publishing
P.O. Box 1589
Tucson, AZ 85702-1589
Prisoners Literature Project
c/o Bound Together Books
1369 Haight St
San Francisco, CA 94117
PRISON ACTIVIST RESOURCE CENTER(PARC)
PO Box 70447
Oakland CA 94612
PARC is a prison abolitionist group based on Oakland, California committed to exposing and challenging the institutionalized racism, sexism, ableism, heterosexism, and classism of the Prison Industrial Complex. Offers a 24 page, updated National and State Prison Resource List.
Prison Library Project
c/o The Claremont Forum
915-C W. Foothill Blvd, PMB 128
Claremont, CA 91711
Providence Books Through Bars
42 Lenox Ave
Providence, RI 02907
Prison Books Collective
Publishing & Distribution
PO Box 625
Carrboro, NC 27510
DC BOOKS TO PRISONS
P.O. Box 34190
Washington, DC 20043
All states except New England, IL NJ, NY, OH,
OR, PA, WA and WI.
Books are Free And can get them every (5) Months
Open Books
1040 N. Guillemard St.
Pensacola, FL 32501
Louisiana Books 2 Prisoners
1631 Elysian Fields #117
New Orleans, LA 70117
The Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project
c/o Boxcar Books and Community Center, Inc.
408 E. 6th St.
Bloomington, IN 47408
Books Through Bars
4722 Baltimore Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19143
Free Magazine Subscriptions
The Sun Magazine – an award-winning, ad-free magazine of interviews, essays, fiction, poetry, and photography that goes out each month to 75,000 subscribers – has received a grant to give free subscriptions to incarcerated individuals in 2020. Writers behind bars have become some of our regular contributors. To request a free subscription write to;
The Sun
Customer-Service Department
P.O. Box 323
Congers, NY 10920
The Militant is a socialist newsweekly published that covers key questions in U.S. and international politics regarding struggles of working people. Subscriptions for prisoners are substantially discounted: $6 for six months or $12 for a year. Any prisoner who cannot afford the discounted rate, is provided a free six-month subscription upon request. To get a subscription write to:
The Militant
306 W. 37th St. 13th Floor
New York, NY 10018