An Athens organization is seeking to make it possible for inmates to turn the page while they’re behind bars.
Athens Books to Prisoners, a volunteer organization, seeks to confront dehumanization within the prison system by mailing books to Ohio inmates upon request.
The organization exists as a “direct-action response” to the belief that people of color and lower socioeconomic standings are often disproportionately targeted by law enforcement, co-founder Sarah Fick said.
“One of the best predictors of whether you will go to jail or prison is if you’ve been to jail or prison before,” said Eric Jorrey, an Ohio University professor of sociology and criminology. “What they are trying to do is make sure that revolving doors stop revolving as much.”
Relying exclusively on volunteers and donations, Athens Books to Prisoners distributes 80 to 120 books every month.
The organization accepts donations to cover postage as well as book donations from residents, libraries and bookstores. Volunteers help package books on the first and third Thursdays of the month.The organization also hopes sending books will improve prisoners’ quality of life, Fick said.
“The experience of being in prison is really dehumanizing and harmful to a person’s psyche,” Fick said. “And something as simple as having a book to read while all they’re doing is sitting and staring at a wall all day can help a person survive the psychological traumas that are occurring.”
Programs like this also can help inmates see the usefulness of reading, Jorrey said.
Many prisoners request romance, fiction and Western novels, while others focus on self-help books on topics such as getting a GED, learning a second language and starting a small business, Fick said.
While many of the autonomous books-to-prisoners programs send books to any prisons that request them, Athens Books to Prisoners limits itself to Ohio facilities.
Taking responsibility for the overflow letters from Cleveland Books to Prisoners and Appalachian Books to Prisoners in West Virginia, the Athens branch must pay attention to specific mailing requirements dictated by individual prisons.
“They have really specific rules that they don’t advertise, so it can be really tricky to find out what those rules are to avoid wasting postage on a package that’s going to get kicked back to you,” Fick said.
The Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville has stipulated that books entering the prison must be new, making it nearly impossible for the Athens program to serve that organization.
Prison spokesperson Elizabeth Wright said that facility has not worked with the Athens program.
Though its inmates do not benefit from used books that become their personal property, the Ohio Reformatory for Women has a full-time librarian who operates a law and regular library that has borrowing privileges from the Marysville Public Library, Wright said in an email. It also permits offenders to receive books or other printed materials directly from the publisher or distributor.
“Books are a means to educate people, serve as a healthy recreation activity, and the law library assists offenders who may be working on an appeal or other legal matters,” Wright added.
af116210@ohiou.edu
