Missouri Prison Books Program

For the month of September, we will be collecting any fair condition (functional binding, no water damage), non-marked (i.e. no highlighting, underlining, or notes in the margins) books for the Missouri Prison Books Program. The most often received requests are for dictionaries and thesauruses, but all genres of books are accepted. Those that are not needed or can’t be used will be sold to used book sellers to offset postage.

Missouri Prison Books is a St. Louis based group that sends free books on request to incarcerated people in Missouri. While demand for books is high in prisons across the U.S., incarcerated people are barred from receiving books for individuals, and prison libraries are frequently under-resourced. There is much research showing that inmates who have books available for entertainment or educational purposes get into fewer fights and are able to better connect with loved ones, having resources to aid their letter writing.