Women's Prison Book Project: Give to the Max 2023

OUR MISSION 

The Women’s Prison Book Project is an all-volunteer not-for-profit serving incarcerated women and transgender prisoners across the US. Since 1994, our work has focused on providing persons in prison with free reading materials covering a wide range of topics from law and education (dictionaries, GED, etc.) to fiction, politics, history, and women’s health. We seek to build connections with those behind the walls and to educate those of us on the outside about the realities of prison and the justice system.

OUR CURRENT NEEDS 

Providing books to people in prison has always involved strict limitations, like book bans and content policing. The most recent trend is the demand for only brand-new books in an increasing number of prisons. This significantly increases the everyday costs of our work, since new books cost at least 50% more, and our donated stock of books typically arrive in good condition. For some prisons, good condition isn’t good enough. They’ll reject the package and return it to us, wasting our time and postage costs.

Additionally, some of the most sought-after books are infrequently donated, such as books on trans topics, urban books, and books about re-entry after incarceration. These books often need to be purchased brand new. 

But for us, these additional costs are worth it if it gets books into the hands of the people who request them. We do everything in our power to fulfill the requests people ask for accurately and work within the restrictions prisons demand. 

More funds give us more freedom to find the right books, in the right condition, for the people who need them. We can safely know we've sent people exactly what they asked for.

HOW YOU CAN HELP 

This Give to the Max season, we aim to raise $10,000 to cover the increasing costs of purchasing brand-new books. A gift of any size helps us offset expenses and get more books into the hands of more people! Here are a few ways your gift can be used to help: 

• $500 fully funds our postage machine rental for a year, which sends an average of 100 packages every Sunday. 
• $150 supports the purchase of 5 copies of the Prisoners' Self-Help Litigation Manual, a sought-after guide for self-advocacy in prison.
• $100 contributes postage for 20 packages of three books each: that's 60 books of any genre directly requested by incarcerated individuals! 
• $75 provides a bundle of five of our most requested recovery titles. 
• $50 supplies two sets of three creative favorites: Crochet Cute Critters, Easy Origami, and The One Minute Gratitude Journal. 
• $35 funds a brand new copy of Trans Bodies, Trans Selves, one of our most requested books from trans prisoners. 
• $25 covers the cost of one paperback GED practice book. We receive multiple requests for this item from learners in prison each week. 
• $15 purchases a paperback copy of 15-Minute HIIT For Women, one of our most popular wellness and exercise books.