Thanks to @berkeleyside.org for writing this great piece on the PLP and our mission: www.berkeleyside.org/2026/07/02/b...

We have several shelves devoted to Adventure and Travel. These books allow readers to encounter countries and cultures without leaving their cells. So many great stories to appreciate!

A nice note: "I really appreciate your time, effort, consideration and thoughtfulness in providing relief from the horrible reality of prison and hope to hear from you soon."

This is a request that we were able to fulfill with the books shown due to all the great book donations from kind people! Our matching grant opportunity continues through May 2nd! For every dollar spent on books we get a dollar to help with postage! www.prisonlit.org/matching-gra...

It's Independent Bookstore Day - PLP can benefit from a matching grant available for one week! Bookstore wishlists available www.prisonlit.org/donate/#BuyB... Books purchased at the local bookstores listed below also matched!. #PrisonBooksWishlists #IndieBookstoreDay #IncarceratedReaders

Thanks so much, Eve and Noe Valley Books for your generosity!

Someone writing from a California jail wanted to read "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". The jail allows NEW books only and the volunteer was so pleased to find one NEW copy on hand. Donors and bookstore partners make these matches possible!

This happened at a book packing session last week. We love this!

Many, many thanks to the volunteers, donors and bookstore partners who helped PLP in our extensive efforts to get books to incarcerated readers in 2025. Our all-volunteer organization is sustained by your donations: www.prisonlit.org/donate/

The note says it all.

Our #GivingTuesday campaign is live - mailchi.mp/prisonlit/pl... - all donations matched up to $3,000, help us send more books to incarcerated folks!

Our #GivingTuesday campaign is live - mailchi.mp/prisonlit/pl... - all donations matched up to $3,000, help us send more books to incarcerated folks!

We're giving thanks for all the appreciative letters we receive from readers. It's also great to hear about programs and classes that are sometimes offered to incarcerated learners behind bars.

PLP frequently receives requests for comic books, but they are very expensive to buy. When local collector Rick Clogher heard about this, he donated two boxes of beautiful comic books, in perfect condition. We know they will bring a lot of joy!

We Can’t Forget People Experiencing Incarceration in Our Fight for Readers’ Rights: Book Censorship News, September 19, 2025 bookriot.com/books-to-pri...

A volunteer opened this thank you letter. Spanish reads: Thank you for the books, and thanks to God for touching your hearts to help people who are prisoners... May God bless all of you for your great help, and He will reward you. May God’s peace be with all of you."

Several times a semester we host a session for local high school seniors who are taking a social justice class. This time we squeezed eleven students into our space. These students have already visited two prisons in CA (San Quentin and Chowchilla Women's Prison).

In answer to his question, yes, we send free books, lots of them each month. It is our honor to help free the minds of incarcerated people through reading.

Please consider supporting some of our favorite local indie bookstores during Banned Books Week! Any books purchased will be matched by a generous foundation grant. All wishlists available: linktr.ee/prisonlitproject or: www.prisonlit.org/donate/#BuyB... #prisonbookswishlist #BannedBooksWeek

Thanks to donors, we have a range of interesting titles that we're able to send to people in prison. As the letter says: "I want to thank you for the books you’ve sent previously, always great selections. I’d love to be sent African, African-American, Native American and Indigenous history."

As an all-volunteer organization we rely on each other to enhance and expand our efforts. One volunteer decided we should stock kids books and now we do! Incarcerated people write to us asking for these books so they can read them over the phone to their kids or during in-person visits. 😍

Yes, books are transporting and a connection to the world outside a cell. PLP sent him several books along with a note saying we are so glad he got in touch with our program.

This letter sent to PLP goes on to say: "I'm very thankful for the materials that you send and I share my books when I'm done with them. LOL. I've already passed on the history book "Bad Day in History' to my buddy that loves trivia."

We are so pleased that our selection of books in Spanish has expanded to include a range of titles in popular genres like horror, fantasy and classics. Thanks to Pegasus Books in particular for researching and ordering these often hard to find Spanish-language books!

Books about Aztec/Mayan culture are a common request... It’s hard to source these books at an affordable price with "acceptable" pictures. However, PLP recently started stocking “Aztec” , a historical fantasy which offers “rich insight into their society.” We've also ordered the book in Spanish!

PLP's library has moved to a larger space! Check out this video that documents the move. Volunteer power! More room, more shelves, more books available to send out! www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXrN... (Also, we've revised our website. Check out the new look at prisonlit.org .)

A happy volunteer finds the exact book requested by this incarcerated reader. We get a lot of great books like this donated from our wish lists, bookstore partners, volunteers, authors, publishers, estates and more. Thank you! (Thanks also to volunteer A.J. for another video!)

We are in awe of the generosity of the many people who purchased books for incarcerated readers during the recent matching grant opportunity in honor of Indie bookstores. The total was over 330 books ($5,400)! Thank you, thank you all!

We're excited when a new bookstore partner joins us. You can also order books for PLP via the Books Inc. wishlist: booksinc.net/prisoners-li.... (Purchases matched through May 5th). Thanks to Books Inc. for hosting PLP displays at stores in: Alameda, Mountain View, Palo Alto and San Leandro!

PLP still has a matching grant opportunity through Monday, May 5th! It's a great time to stop by one of our book partners Cape & Cowl Comics & purchase a title for someone behind bars: Cape & Cowl Comics, 1601 Clay Street, Oakland, CA #PrisonBooksWishlists #IncarceratedReaders #ShopIndieBookstores

[Book requests from prisoners] remind us that reading, at its core, isn’t about cultural capital or carceral control. It’s about maintaining our essential human right to imagine differently, to choose freely, and to find joy in our own way, even within confinement. #MustRead

Learning prison regulations felt like studying for a degree in carceral bureaucracy. Behind every rejection lurked an institutional paranoia: hidden messages, drugs or seeds of discontent that might blossom into unrest concealed within innocent pages. Must-read! lareviewofbooks.org/article/read...

Our favorite day of the year has arrived! It's Independent Bookstore Day! Stop by these partner stores : --Pegasus stores in Berkeley --Cape & Cowl Comics in Oakland --East Bay Booksellers in Berkeley --Books Inc in Alameda Buy a book for PLP and join in on the festivities! Book lovers unite!

Tomorrow is Independent Bookstore Day! We would so appreciate your support via a book purchase for PLP. The dollar amount will be doubled! Shop one of our wish lists at: www.prisonlit.org/donate/#BuyB... #PrisonBooksWishlists #IndieBookstoreDay #IncarceratedReaders

Last month the Prisoners Literature Project book club read "We Could Be So Good" and enjoyed it very much! PLP reached out to award winning author Cat Sebastian - catsebastian.com - and she very kindly sent us some of her books. We think these books will be adored by incarcerated readers.

Book inventory varies over time... so it's a special thrill when a less common request (like a Beatles book) comes in and we have a great matching book to send in response to the letter.

It's a really good day when PLP receives two big boxes of books in support of our efforts. We are grateful to our bookstore partner The Best Book Store In Palm Springs (Palm Springs, CA!) for continuing to send books up north to us! More prisons are requiring new books so these are so useful to us!

A simple statement and so inspiring for our efforts.

Very excited to announce we're back in a position to fulfill Prisoners Literature Project Wish List orders (@prisonerlitproj.bsky.social). In addition to the books purchased, we will donate 25% of the sale directly back to PLP. ebbooksellers.com/support-the-...

Thank you letters like these keep us going during uncertain times. Such a pleasure to have proof that books end up in the hands of incarcerated readers :-) See many more letters on our website: www.prisonlit.org/category/pri...

Many thanks to Banter Bookshop in Fremont, CA for continuing to host a PLP display at the store. Recently, people purchased books for incarcerated readers including some of our favorites, pictured within!

In point of fact, here's where the contraband in prisons is coming from: www.jsonline.com/story/news/l...

More bad news: More states are jumping on the bandwagon and barring free books-to-prisoners programs like ours. Their claims of contraband are just a baseless ruse. @npr.org has to the story: www.npr.org/2025/02/12/n...

We are inspired by the last line of this letter to solicit recommendations of historical fiction books for all reading levels. He requests books by Wilbur Smith. We frequently get requests for books by Smith, Ken Follett, Bernard Cornwell, etc.

Since we're usually answering letters received the previous month there are a lot of holiday good wishes in January including this one: "When I draw I escape this prison..."

We're sorry to hear Books Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 - www.facebook.com/story.php?st... - and sad that the 1491 Shattuck Ave. Berkeley store is closing. (We still have a PLP wishlist online at BI - booksinc.net/wishlist/jav... - and displays at many other stores.)

Many thanks to SF's @sourcherrycomics.bsky.social for their kind donation of graphic novels, individual issues & other books to PLP. (They'll all be sent for free to grateful, incarcerated folks!)

A new year, and more opportunities to send out books and personal notes to incarcerated people. Thanks to Tor Books for donating several boxes of "Eye of the World" and to Taran Matharu for writing "The Novice", which greatly engaged this reader behind bars.

Here's PLP's 2024 year in review - as well as a final call for donations. Thanks to all who supported us this year! mailchi.mp/prisonlit/pl...

It's time for PLP's annual #GivingTuesday campaign, and we have again put together $2,500 in matching funds - so the dollars you donate can be doubled from now until the end of December. More info on how to support us this holiday: mailchi.mp/prisonlit/pl...