News: Prison and Books – August 2023
At the same time that Prison Legal News is reporting “Florida Tops the Nation for Number of Books Banned in Prisons” – Guardian is reporting that Florida’s teachers could be sent to prison, and banned from reading the same criminalized-books they taught: “Florida teachers forced to remove or cover up books to avoid felony charges.”

The Books Through Bars Project is co-founded by Lakeith Amir-Sharif and Joel Chaffee, and ships books to prisoners in all states, concentrating on Florida.

To request a book, please print, complete and mail our
Book Request Form

OR
complete & submit our Google Form here
OR
email
btb [at] handoutzine [dot] com
if you need a paper form sent you

Full Name:

ID #:

Address:

Address2:

City/State/Zip:

Restrictions and Release Date
Facility restrictions on books (if known):
Approximate Release Date:

Book Request (choose at least 3, some subjects may be out of stock)
Activism
Anthropology
Archaeology
Art
Business
Culture – African
Culture – African American
Culture – Asian
Culture – Latin America
Culture – Native America
Current Events
Dictionary
Exercise
Fiction – Classics
Fiction – Current/General
Fiction – Historical
Fiction – Mysteries
Fiction – Science Fiction
Fiction – Urban Fiction
Fiction – Westerns
Film and Television
Foreign Language
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Trans
GED Study Materials
Health
History – American
History – Ancient
History – European
History – World
Hobbies
Jobs/Careers
Legal Primer
Music
Poetry
Political Science
Self Help – Addiction
Self Help – Death and Dying
Self Help – General
Self Help – Parenting
Self Help – Relationships
Self Help – Sexual Abuse
Self Help – Therapy
Sociology
Spirituality/
Meditation
Sports
Thesaurus
Trade Skills
Women’s Studies
Writing

How the Books Through Bars Project works

The books are gifts to the person receiving them. They do not need to be returned to the Book Program.

There is no charge for the books.

We provide books to individual prisoners. We do not provide books to libraries or to administrators.

We do not have a catalog, offer pen-pal services, or maintain a mailing list.

We fill requests as soon as possible. What is available depends on what is donated and what is in stock when we fulfill the request.

Our Books Through Bars Project is run by our friend Sharif, and we ship books to prisoners in all states.

Resources & Other BTB projects
Wrongful Convictions
Mission Statement and How To Donate
Voices Behind Bars
About Books Through Bars