Two plus one equals…www.BooksThroughBars.org
Books Through Bars began in 1990 with two people
and one letter:
Todd was an employee
at New Society Publishers (a small press then located in Philadelphia). He was
given a letter that a prisoner had sent to NSP, asking for free copies of
overstock or damaged books. He responded to that letter writer with a few free
books. Then a few more requests came in. Todd got into the habit of setting
aside damaged books, overruns, and unsold copies to send to those who wrote.
After he began to get dozens of requests a week, Todd got some friends and
coworkers to help, and advertised the program in some publications for prisoners.
Word spread, donated books began to come in, and the fledgling group
secured room in the A-Space, a collective meeting place and community center in
West Philadelphia. From there, the project grew into…
…thousands.
Over two decades later, Books Through Bars is thousands of
people united in one mission:
·
Thousands of
incarcerated people who write to us to ask for books (and share their stories,
give suggestions, and even participate in the development our programs)
·
Hundreds of volunteers
who read the letters, choose books, send out packages, and keep Books Through
Bars running as an organization
·
Hundreds of people who
donate the books, materials and money needed to make it all happen.
Today, Books Through
Bars is an all-volunteer 501c3 nonprofit, still headquartered in the A-Space in
West Philadelphia. It is formally organized as a collective, which means that a
core group of members make decisions about the organization and its activities
on a consensus-driven, egalitarian basis. In addition to the collective, Books
Through Bars accomplishes its mission through the hard work and dedication of
our volunteers and donors.
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