Let's talk turkey: After months of targeting incarcerated people who received commutations from Biden, Pres. Trump pardoned 2 turkeys today. Sparing a turkey while supporting the death penalty and punishing people for no longer being on death row is no act of festive goodwill.

"I had not touched a cat in 15 years when an orange kitten wandered over to sit with me in the grass one day. I was left without adequate words to describe that experience. It reminded me that I am alive."

“Over the years, you guys have given me math, physics, and also school books to help with my GED. I also want you to know that because of all of your help, I was able to keep a 28-year-old promise to my dad.” Read the rest of the letter below. 👇

While U.S. families struggle through an affordability crisis, mass incarceration still costs taxpayers $182 billion a year. That's a lot of money that could be spent on communities instead of cages.

Books change lives. ❤️

We received a stunning letter (with something special attached) this week from a man incarcerated in Virginia. We want to share it with you all. Tldr: Books change lives. BOOKS CHANGE LIVES. And we couldn’t have helped this scholar without you. Thank you for your support.

We’re low on Wicca and 2026 world almanacs! Can you help by donating a paperback book? 🔮🌎 Mailing info: Appalachian Prison Book Project PO Box 601 Morgantown, WV 26507 All the books we receive are mailed for free to people behind bars. ✊

Join us TONIGHT for our November community wrapping party! 🎉 We'll be at Ascend WV from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Stop by anytime. New and experienced volunteers welcome. No training required. See you there! ✉️📖📦

We get 100-200 letters a week from people behind bars. Sometimes, they include artwork—whether on paper or on the envelope itself! Check out this fantastic illustration from an incarcerated artist in West Virginia. 🛻

a new favorite 🖤

We get 100-200 letters a week from people behind bars. Sometimes, they include artwork—whether on paper or on the envelope itself! Check out this fantastic illustration from an incarcerated artist in West Virginia. 🛻

Attention Morgantown, WV folks: The Aull Center will close at 4:00 pm today (Monday, November 10) and tomorrow (Tuesday, November 11).

We had a fabulous time wrapping books with the WVU Presidential Student Ambassadors. 📚

"On June 9, 2023, an audience at Carnegie Hall witnessed an opera written by a person who had been convicted of murder, in collaboration with his fellow incarcerated artists. Over two years later, this fact is still striking to me." Read this story in @inquest.bsky.social:

Attention Morgantown, WV folks: Mark your calendars for our November wrapping party! Join us at Ascend WV on Wed., Nov. 12 to help us send books to incarcerated people in Appalachia. Stop by anytime between 6-8 pm. New and experienced volunteers welcome. See you there! ✉️📚📦

For the curious, here are some stats from October 2025: Total books logged: 368 Top state: Tennessee (118 books) Top genre: Reference (76 books) Book highlight: "Pastured Poultry Profits" by Joel F. Saltin, sent to Vincent in Virginia

Please don’t wear a “prisoner” or “inmate” costume this Halloween. It’s dehumanizing.

Happy Halloween! 🎃 Please think of incarcerated folks and their loved ones when putting on your costume tonight.

It's Prison Banned Books Week — a week dedicated to shining a light on the widespread denial of incarcerated people's freedom to read. We all have a First Amendment right to read and receive information, in and out of prison. Censorship has no place in a democracy.

We have lots of books ready to be wrapped and mailed out to incarcerated folks! 📖 Volunteers, stop by anytime the Aull Center is open to help us get through this stack. 📚

Join APBP, Mountaineers for Literacy and Liberation, and the Appalachian Advocacy Network for a screening of "Calls from Home" on Wed., Oct. 29 at 6 pm EST! We'll be at WVU's Brooks Hall, Room 225. This event is free and open to the public. 🎥 RSVP at the link below. 👇

"Out came a tan, brown and black ball of fur. It had a face like a hamster, a compact body and long, floppy ears. Thinking it was a rat, I screamed."

Join us TONIGHT for our October community wrapping party! 🎉 We'll be at Ascend WV from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Stop by anytime. New and experienced volunteers welcome. No training required. See you there! ✉️📖📦

Today is the last day of our #BannedBooksWeek fundraiser! Donate a book from any of our indie bookstore partner wish lists and your gift will be matched. It’s an easy way to double your gift, expand access to literature behind bars, and stand against censorship. 📚

We believe in the power of stories that teach us the importance of inclusivity and empathy—and we believe in protecting them. #BannedBooksWeek #FreedomToRead

We’re out of 2025 world almanacs and low on dictionaries—two of our most popular requests. Can you help us stock up? It’s #BannedBooksWeek, too, which means that if you purchase a book from our indie bookstore partner wish lists and donate it to APBP, your gift will be matched.

For #BannedBooksWeek, we’re highlighting the unjust censorship of political books which impacts countless incarcerated readers each year. For every book purchased from this reading list, we will be sending a book to someone who is incarcerated.

At APBP, we’re dedicated to fighting censorship and book bans in prisons and jails across Appalachia and making sure people behind bars have access to the books. 📚 This #BannedBooksWeek, you can support our mission by donating a book from one of our indie bookstore wish lists.

Attention Morgantown, WV folks: Mark your calendars for our October wrapping party! Join us at Ascend WV on Wed., Oct. 15 to help us send books to incarcerated people in Appalachia. Stop by anytime between 6-8 pm. New and experienced volunteers welcome. See you there! ✉️📚📦

"Even if a price increase is justified like the state prison system claims, the broader, unaddressed problem is our compensation. Despite rising costs for commissary items and our cable package, wages have remained stagnant."

For the curious, here are some stats from September 2025: Total books logged: 334 Top state: Virginia (157 books) Top genre: Reference (58 books) Book highlight: "The Lost Art of Towel Origami" by Alison Jenkins, sent to Jessica in Virginia

"Cell phone images smuggled out of jails and prisons across the country reveal food that hardly looks edible, let alone nutritious. ...kitchen workers at prisons in Arizona, Oregon, and elsewhere reported seeing boxes of food that were served to prisoners marked: 'not for human consumption.'"

#BannedBooksWeek is just around the corner (October 6–12). As we prepare for this week, we want to remind you of the ongoing struggle against prison censorship. Don't forget that the largest book ban in the United States is behind bars:

"About 20 years ago, a man I was incarcerated with asked me to help him learn to read. . . I’ve never had any formal training to be a teacher, but I couldn’t say no. I found a copy of a large-print Reader’s Digest, and off we went."

Morgantown, WV folks: The Aull Center will be closed on Friday, September 19 for a staff meeting. Regular hours will resume Saturday. Shout out to Morgantown Public Library for sharing their home with us!

"Music connects me to my past and to people, some of whom I will never see, and never hold, again."

Thank you to everyone who stopped by our community wrapping party last night. Together, we wrapped seven FULL BOXES of books! All of which are now ready to be mailed out to incarcerated readers. Our next wrapping party is on Wednesday, October 15. We hope you’ll join us. ❤️

Ohio has a host of policies controlling which books people can have in prisons, how they can get them, and what they can do with them. The state banned 293 publications between February 2018 to January 2022. Search our database to see titles:

See y'all TONIGHT at our September community wrapping party! We'll be at Ascend WV from 6:00 pm until 8:00 pm. New and experienced volunteers welcome. ✉️📖📦 Hope you can join us!

We get about 200 letters a week from incarcerated folks requesting books. Sometimes, they decorate the envelope for us. Look at this phenomenal artwork from someone incarcerated in Maryland!

When's the last time you got lost in a good book? 📖 From an reader incarcerated in West Virginia: "I received the gardening book that you sent me about 3 weeks ago. Thank you very much. It is excellent and I have gotten lost in it for hours."

For the curious, here are some stats from August 2025: Total books logged: 121 Top state: Virginia (51 books sent) Top genre: reference and fantasy/sci-fi (a two-way tie at 18 books each) Thank you to everyone for your support and generosity! We couldn’t do this without you. ❤️

Attention Morgantown, WV folks: Mark your calendars for our September wrapping party! Join APBP at Ascend WV on Wed., Sept. 10 to help us send books to incarcerated people in Appalachia. Stop by anytime between 6-8 pm. New and experienced volunteers welcome. We hope to see you there! ✉️📚📦

We’re back to our regular operating hours! 🎉 Volunteers, you’re welcome to stop by our office anytime the Aull Center is open: Monday, 9:00 am-6:00 pm Tuesday, 9:00 am-6:00 pm Wednesday, 9:00 am-4:00 pm Thursday, 9:00 am-4:00 pm Friday, 9:00 am-4:00 pm Saturday, 9:00 am-1:00 pm See you there!

If you love gorgeous, historic homes and being surrounded by books and letters, you should visit us on the second floor of the Aull Center. You'll have a great time! We promise. ❤️ P.S. The shelf in the photo is dedicated to mysteries and thrillers! What's your favorite book in that genre? 📖

From a reader incarcerated in WV: "Hi, it’s been awhile since i reached out to you. I’m at a different facility now. I want to thank you for the books that i received from you, I’ve enjoyed ever book you’ve sent me." Read more letter quotes:

Incarcerated folks are campaigning for their right to wear makeup in New York state prisons. "In the end, our makeup issue is far from “petty” or “girly.” We must find ways to retain our self-image and dignity as people while we are inside."

A lovely message from an incarcerated reader in West Virginia: "Thank you for the thoughtful notes you put in with the books that you take the time to send. Everything you do is special and makes life a little brighter. Its nice to know people truly care."

🚨🗞️ JOURNALISTS: As the criminalization of homelessness runs rampant in DC & across the country, it's more important than ever to rely on data to get the story right. Here are some useful resources that can help you to fight through misinformation 🧵

Morgantown, WV folks . . . mark your calendars for our fall community wrapping parties! ✉️📖📦 We'll be at the Ascend WV office on Sept. 10, Oct. 15, and Nov. 12—all Wednesdays, all from 6-8 pm. New and experienced volunteers welcome. We hope to see you there. 🫶