Wisconsin Books to Prisoners (WBTP) is an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization whose mission is to foster a love of reading behind bars, encourage the pursuit of knowledge and self-empowerment, and break the cycle of recidivism. Will send books in Spanish (enviar libros en Español). They send books to Wisconsin prisoners only.
The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson |
We are a 501(c)(3) charity and all donations are tax deductible
Free Books Programs
FREE BOOKS PROGRAMS
The organizations below have provided free books and magazines to the incarcerated.
Please be aware that many programs may have changed due to COVID-19, censorship or change in prison policy.
Fair Shake’s newsletter readers (all incarcerated) have validated these organizations.
If you find any of the organizations below no longer operating as stated, I hope you will let me know so I can update the list.
I hope you find some terrific books! Happy reading…
Prison 
Book Program
c/o Lucy Parsons Bookstore
1306 Hancock Street, Suite 100
Quincy, MA 02169
Prison Book Program has been sending free books to prisoners since 1972. Books are crucial to the political, spiritual, and educational development of all people. We serve over 10,000 prisoners each year. We do not serve prisons in California, Texas, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, Texas or Maryland.
Please request books either using, or responding to, attached form.
https://prisonbookprogram.org/
Inside Books Project
Inside Books Project is an Austin-based community service volunteer organization that sends free books and educational materials to prisoners in Texas. Inside Books is the only books-to-prisoners program in Texas, where over 140,000 people are incarcerated. Inside Books Project works to promote reading, literacy, and education among incarcerated individuals and to educate the general public on issues of incarceration.
Wisconsin Books to Prisoners
Books to Prisoners
c/o Social Justice Center Incubator
1202 Williamson St #1
Madison, WI 53703
LBGT Books to Prisoners Project
1202 Williamson St.
Madison, WI, WI 53703
We are happy to send books to members of the LGBTQ+ community who are incarcerated in all states except TX.
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