The Prisoners Literature Project: Restoring Humanity Through The Pursuit of Knowledge
By Olivia Green | WeINSPIRE Reporter
HERCULES, Ca. ― The Prisoners Literature Project (PLP) is an all-volunteer, grassroots organization that sends books to incarcerated people after reading their letters requesting varieties of reading material. This Berkeley, CA organization was created out of a radical anarchist San Francisco bookstore, Bound Together Books, and for over 30 years the PLP and its volunteers have provided people across the country with access to the pursuit of knowledge.
Volunteers working at the Prison Literature Project Grassroots House. Photo courtesy of prisonlit.org
For those who have never been incarcerated, the lives of those in prison may be difficult to imagine. In reality, many inmates rely on education and skill-building to fill their time and give them a sense of purpose; however, prison libraries and education resources are notoriously inadequate. According to The Office for Intellectual Freedom of the American Library Association, library shelves in correctional facilities are often bare. Also, there can be circumstances that may prevent one from having library access in the first place. For these reasons, sending a letter to the PLP to ask for something to read may make the free package you receive with your books and a handwritten letter feel like a necessary psychological escape.
While the purpose of the PLP is simply to provide books to those in need, volunteers are continuously motivated by the interactions they have with incarcerated folks. After receiving their books, people often write letters of gratitude back to volunteers to thank them for their work.
Volunteer coordinator for that last two year, Ali Lafferty said, “I’m always surprised when people give us things or send little drawings or cartoon clippings with notes that say, ‘hope this brightens your day!’ A lot of people go into volunteer work thinking you’re doing something for someone instead of something with someone and I think a lot of incarcerated people look at this as an exchange. That’s definitely the kind of world I want to live in.”
Volunteer coordinator Ali Lafferty in the PLP library.
Another long term volunteer, Dakota Bodell, has been part of the PLP for six years. After being introduced to the organization in high school, she is continuously struck by the generosity present in these letters.
“So many people will send us what they have,” said Bodell. “We get stamp donations from incarcerated people and that’s something that’s really hard to come by in prison so it’s such a big gesture and I’m constantly in awe.”
One incarcerated person wrote, “You are not just sending us books. You are sending a message to us that we matter in this world. For some of us, this is the only significance we may have and these books are the only thing of value that we can call ours. You aren’t just providing us tools for empowerment but more so a demonstration of the beauty of humanity.”
A thank you note to the PLP from an incarcerated individual.
Another person writes, “Thank you again. Your Bound Together Bookstore is really great. We up here share all books. There’s a new reader who has been trying to read for 2 years now and because he didn’t give up, he now reads better than a 9th grader. Wow, because of your books. He now reads more than 3-4 pages without asking for help. You did it. You made it possible for me to help another. So much respect to y’all (gotta). For sending us books to keep one’s interest :) There R 2 more young men, still trying up here but we need a halfway decent dictionary so they can look the word up, to better help them understand the words they are reading. It has to be paperback only. So thank you here. This little present dictionary does not do it and they ran out 2 years ago. So we really thank you and I really, really really thank you. We will make this happen.”
A thank you note to the PLP from an incarcerated individual.
In addition to the mental and emotional benefits of books, many use the PLP’s resources as a means to further educate themselves, hence why dictionaries in various languages, history books, resources about transferable skills like carpentry and economics, GED materials, and other text-book-like pieces are consistently the most popular requests.
Harvard University’s Prison Studies Project notes that for the last two decades, studies have indicated that higher education in prison programs reduces recidivism and translates into reductions in crime; therefore, the PLP provides more than entertainment. It’s a sustainable and positive way to begin combatting the injustice that is the American prison system while challenging the ways that society gate-keeps knowledge.
“We really just want to get books to people and that’s because we believe reading and books are a right, not a privilege,” Bodell said.
“People who have never been incarcerated don’t realize how human it is to be able to ask for something and then get it,” Lafferty said. “Even if you just think about the amount of times you ask your phone to Google something. People who are incarcerated are isolated from a lot of that and with what we do, people ask us for something and we do our best to provide it which in of itself restores a little bit of humanity in that process.”
Although the exchanges between volunteers and the people that write to them are overwhelmingly positive, the realities of the prison industrial complex present unfortunate obstacles for organizations like the PLP. One of the many roadblocks is the extensive book restrictions that institutions put in place. Due to the pandemic, even more restrictions have been enacted.
“There’s usually a restriction on how many books we can send someone, the types of books that are allowed, and a lot of facilities require books to be brand new,” said Bodell “It’s just part of the prison industrial complex to be violent and so it’s just another facet of the violence that’s present.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly changed the daily operations of the PLP, especially considering that volunteer groups of up to 30 used to cram into the tiny library (in size, not in wealth of knowledge) and go through mountains of letters in a day. These volunteer sessions have come to a halt but fortunately, a limited number of volunteers and coordinators have been able to keep up with requests.
The Prison Literature Project library. Photo courtesy of prisonlit.org
“The people that are answering letters are super dedicated and incredible,” Bodell said. “They spend a lot of time in our library working hard, answering letters, and ensuring that we’re getting the same number of books out to people. It’s changed definitely but the circumstances we need to focus on are the circumstances of incarcerated people themselves right now.”
The pandemic has altered the realities of incarcerated people just like it has to all of our realities. The Journal of the American Medical Association reports that incarcerated people are infected by the coronavirus at a rate more than five times higher than the nation’s overall rate and because of this, many have been placed in solitary confinement as a means to decrease the spread. Solitary confinement, closed libraries, and increased mail restrictions will undoubtedly make the need to maintain a semblance of normalcy and sanity more urgent now than ever; therefore, volunteers are continuously committed to maintaining a fast turnaround time.
“The prison industrial complex can kind of strip at your being and your very self. “That is one of the most atrocious parts of incarceration,” Bodell shared. “There’s this kind of disregard for who you are and you’re being left out of society. Our work really brings back some of that connection. There are people on the outside that do care and our hope is to give back any sense of self because books really have the capacity to take you to another place and imagine a different world.”
Separately from what the Prisoners Literature Project does for incarcerated people, Lafferty emphasizes what it does for volunteers. Not only does it provide a deeper understanding of the prison industrial complex, it comes along with the fulfillment of tangibly making a difference in a world where “most problems seem too big to solve.”
Two PLP volunteers replying to letters. Photo courtesy of prisonlit.org
Like any non-profit, the Prisoners Literature Project always appreciates help from volunteers or with donations. Although volunteer sessions have come to halt, those who want to contribute can do so through purchasing a book through the PLP’s amazon wish list which is now dedicated to titles by Black authors in honor of Black History Month. Monetary donations are also welcomed to help with shipping costs and the purchase of new books. Lastly, the PLP is partnered with several local book stores in the Bay Area that all have specific sections dedicated to the organization.
To learn more about how to help the Prisoners Literature Project click here!
