PRISCN BOOIKS

COLLECTIVE

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--HELPING PRISONERS ESCAPE SINCE 1979
Foreword: PIC and Abolition

You don’t have to be an abolitionist to run a book to prisoners group, but we are and we find the
analysis useful for evaluating our work and deciding what good directions to take are. If you’re not
familiar with the terms, Prison Industrial Complex or Abolition, the following simple definitions,
adapted from the organization Critical Resistance, may help you understand the context in which

abolitionists operate.

The Prison Industrial Complex

The prison industrial complex (PIC) describes the
overlapping interests of government and industry and the
use of surveillance, policing, and imprisonment as solutions

to economic, social and political problems.

Through its reach and impact, the PIC promotes and
preserves the authority of people who get their power
through racial, cconomic and other privileges. There arc
many ways this power is amassed and maintained through
the PIC. Here are some examples. Mass media creates images
that foster stercotypes of people of color, paor people, queer

Abol

ion

AsPICabolitionists we understand that the prison indusrial
complex is not a broken system to be fixed. The system,
sather, works precisely as it is designed to—to contain,
control, and kill those people representing the greatest
threats to state power. Our goal is not to improve the system
even further, but to bring an end to it

Because the PIC is not an isolated system, abolition is a broad
strategy. Abolition isn't just getting rid of buildings full
of cages. It requires dismantling this society that feeds and
relies on oppression and inequalities maintained through

people, immigrants, youth, and other oppressed communities
as criminal, delinquent, or deviant. “Tough on crime”
politicians then play on this fabricated threat to carn political
gains. Private companies carn huge profits supplying police
forces and running private prisons. Al of this stifles social
and political dissent by oppressed communities that struggle
for self-determination and reorganization of power in the US.

‘punishment, violence, and control of millions of people.
Abolition is a commitment to struggle for liberation.

Abolition s both a practical organizing tool and a long-
term goal

Introduction

‘This manual is designed to help the reader start and maintain a prison book program. The information is
based on the years of experience of two collectives, Books Through Bars in Philadelphia and the Prison
Books Collective in Carrboro. It is not meant to be taken as an absolute, but as friendly advice when
devising your own policies and procedures. The second person “you” is adopted only for grammatical
convenience. It is assumed that several persons will be taking part in an organization‘s decision making
and administration.

Please get in touch with us if you have any questions about anything in this manual or need to trouble
shoot. We are available to help other Books 2 Prisoner groups and have over a decade of experience that
we are thrilled to share.

Until Every Cage Is Empty,
—The Prison Books Collective
Table of Contents

I. The Raw Materials ......

.1

A. Space 1
B. Letters from Prisoners 1
C. Books 2
D. Zines 4
E. Volunteers. 4
F. Publisher/Bookstore Affiliation 5
G. Packing Materials. 5
H. Postage 5

. The Finances .... veeeen 6
A. Grants and Foundations 6
B. Donation from Individuals and Groups 6
C. Book Sales.
D. Fundraisers 7
E. In Kind Donations 8

TheProcess...

A Sorting Letters
B. Reading and Responding to Letters
C. Selecting Books

D. Checking Restrictions

E. Packing Books

F. Stationary Form Letter

G. Addressing and Labeling

H. Scaling the Package.

1. Verifying Prisoners Current Location
J. Weighing

K. Stamps and Postage.

L. Transporting Packages to the Post Office

10
10
1
1
1
1
1
12
12

12

IV. Peripheral Details ....

A, Resource Information

B. Contacts with Other Groups

C. Correspondence with Selected Prisoners
D. Specialization.

E. Record keeping

V. Averting Disasters ....

Crisis #1- Storage Overflow
Crisis #2- Backlog of Requests

Crisis #3 - Departure of key person.

Crisis #4 - Funding dries up.

Appendices

1. Prison Books Collective Mission Statement

2. Stationary
3. Zine catalog
4. Resource guide

5. Instructions for New Volunteers

13
13
13
14
14

15
15
16

16

17
18
20
22

2
1. The Raw Materials

A. Space

A prison book program requires indoor space for both storage and packing. At a bare minimum,

you will need a place the size of a garage to start. You will also need lots of shelves of whatever

type you can find. Books stacked vertically soon become amorphous piles of chaos. Cinder blocks
and boards are the old standby for dirt cheap shelving. Folding tables can be used for working
surfaces and then stored if the space is multipurpose.

Some of the places to investigate for usable space arc
churches, bookstores, community centers, libraries,
schools, and warehouses.
spaces, explain what you are setting out to do and the
type of space you need. Ideally they will be interested
not only in providing the space, but also inviting people
to get involved in the project. Also check with any
property owners you know who may have vacant arcas
in their buildings.

When you call potential

Your first location does not have to be permanent.
Since a book mailing operation requires no major
structural remodeling, or special clectrical or plumbing
modifications, it is relatively inexpensive to move out
of one spot and into another one. Sceurity is a minimal
concern as nearly nothing you need has any direct
cash value.

Bear in mind that the space needs to be accessible by
many people sometimes at odd hours. An area in a
private residence is not well suited to this set up unless it
has its own entrance. Beware of damp, stuffy basements
as books can mildew, particularly in the summertime.
Ventilation is a consideration in any damp space or
climate. Also avoid any space that floods as this ruins

B. Letters from Prisoners

any hooks stored directly on the floor. When considering
attics the number of steps and type of stairs is a concern.
Remember you will be bringing thousands of books into
your space and carrying hundreds of packages out of
it. This s not an insurmountable problem, but worth
cvaluating. Finding a site that is accessible to all bodies
is of course ideal

Running water and a refrigerator are not required in the
100m or rooms you set up in. Access to a bathroom is
handy. It can be down a hallway or at the other end of
a warehouse. Trying to get by using a bedroom or living
ro0m s not recommended. Incoming books take on a life
of their own.

Like kudzu on an open hillside, piles and boxes of books
will accumulate and cover every desk, shelf, cabinet,
table, chair and anything else with a flat surface including
the floor.

With an adequate budget it's possible to lease a space,
but paying rent is generally too large a burden for a book
program just getting started. While a location need not
be permanent you can avoid the complications of address
changes by conducting all your correspondence from a
post office box.

How do prisoners find out you exist? You're providing a free service that’s much in demand, so

advertising tends to take care of itself.

Once the word is out on the prison grapevine you'll be
flooded with requests. Probably the casicst way to start
is by contacting an existing prison book program that
serves prisons in your geographic arca and ask them to
pass on some of their requests. If you do this, be sure to
tell the prisoners how you received their request so they

won't feel like the other program forgot about them. If
you don’t think you can fill the requests as quickly as the
other program would fill them, let them know.

If you are anxious to get the floodgates roaring notify other
prison book programs of your existence and tell them to
pass the word along. Make sure you have a large mailbox!
C. Books

‘There are many ways to get books for free. It is not difficult to build up a network of supply lines
and you may end up with more books than you have the resources to sort, store or send. At that

point your concern will be narrowing your selection to what you need the most. The good news
is that you can sell overstock to pay for more postage. There are at least two types of books you
may end up purchasing: dictionaries and blank journals or composition books, so it’s worth

finding cheap sources or donors to fund them.

Used hookstores- Build a friendly relationship with
the used book stores in your area. Besides letting you
cart off their overstocks, they can refer other groups or
individuals who have books to your organization. Keep
an eye out for “bag days” or other sales.

Libraries- Publiclibrariesoftenclear out their unpopular
titles. Once they are familiar with your work, they may
give you first pick at the hooks they are liquidating. Bear
in mind that the majority of a library’s stock is hardback,
which cannot be sent to some prisons. Even if a prison
will aceept hardbacks you have to consider whether the
increased postage costs are worth it. However, do not
shun all hardbacks, you may be able to sell them or trade
them for books that would be more scful.

Publishers- Contact and/or
publishers, particularly ones in your area. Books from a
publisher’s retail inventory stock that show even slight
damage cannot be sold as brand new. Because the laws
of gravity apply to the print trade as equally as to the rest
of us, publishers are constantly accumulating damaged
books and will often donate them to you on an ongoing
basis. Besides damaged inventory publishers have
“remaindered” stock. When more copies of a title arc
printed than the retail market demands, eventually the
excess is remaindered at a reduced cost. To ensure that
they are not then resold by a third party at full price, the
front cover is usually all or partially cut off. Some prisons
do not accept remaindered books, but in most prisons.
they are not a problem.

small alternative

People Involved in Journalism — Literary critics,
college professors, and editors are bombarded by
publishers with advance copies, also called “review
copies” of new books, and may be glad to give a large
proportion of them to you

Donations from Individuals and Groups- By
putting out the word that you accept donated books in
order to send them to prisoners, you will be contacted
by individuals and groups cager to give you books. It is
casier to facilitate accepting these donations if you have
access to some type of vehicle. However, this is not a
requirement, and you can simply tell interested parties
that they need to drop off their donations at a specified
time and place,

Sehools - Schools of all types can be a valuable source of
books. Professors, teachers and students of community
colleges, universities, middle schools and high schools
will often coordinate book drives. College students may
donate textbooks that they are not able to sell back to
their campus bookstore. Sometimes middle schools and
high schools will donate textbooks that they will no
longer use in the classroom.

Drop Off Boxes - Contact local librarics, religious
groups and activist organizations to see if you can set up
a donation box in their meeting space. Try to find one or
two centrally located and public spaces at which book
donations can be dropped off at anytime.

Book Banks - Your town might operate something
like Philadelphia’s Book Bank. The Book Bank is open
several days a week, to teachers and representatives of
community organizations. It is a valuable source of high
school level texthooks

3

Types of Books

Most letters from prisoners request specific genres or titles of books, so it is advisable to use some
system to sort and categorize the books you have. However, unlike a library, your stock is always
changing, so the benefit of devising a complex cataloging system has diminishing returns. We
separate the books into broad categories or genres. Even alphabetizing books within a section
isn’t generally worth the bother. It takes far too much time and with the high turnover of books
coming and going, you'll have enough to do just keeping your inventory separated into subject
categories. The Prison Books Collective currently uses these categories:

« African American Fiction

« African American Non-
Fiction

« Anthropology/Archacology

Health/Women’s Health
History, US and World
Latin American Fietion

Latin American Studies

Psychology
Puzzles/Games

Reference

. Are + LGBTQ Studies
* Auto/biography * Literature/Cla
« Business/Economics + Math and Science
« Comic Books © Music

+ Computers + Indigenous

* Ecology « Philosophy

« Feminism/Women’s Studies o Poctry

« Foreign Language .

* General Fiction/Novels

Grammar/Composition .

Religion, Spirituality,
'UFOs, Occult (and all things
improvable)

s
* Romance/Erotica

« Selfhelp
« Spanish (books in Spanish)

« True Crime (no lorified
sexual violence stuff)

Westerns

Popular Fiction (Pulp Fiction/
Thrillers/Sci-Fi/Fantas)

v, Ete.)

Politics/Anarchism

A few notes based on our experiences:

Dictionaries! Take in every dictionary you can get your
hands on-from big fat unabridged volumes to slim lttle
grade school paperbacks. Our all time most requested book
is the dictionary, and unless you can find a good regular
source locally, you may have a chronic shortage of them,
50 stock up whenever the opportunity presents itself

We send “journal” or blank composition books on
request. This is another category of book you may need
to purchase or find a designated donor if you decide to
provide them,

The popular fiction/pulp fiction category is for current
name authors such as John Grisham, Dean Koontz,
Stephen King, cte. This stuff makes the rounds inside
prisons and is as widely enjoyed there as on the outside.
You will get specific requests by title for many of these
Dbooks. The reason for making popular fiction a separate
category from general fiction/novels/literature is because
there’s a higher turnover and it makes it casier to find

out if that one last Dean Koontz is still around without
poking through all the Faulkner, Allende, Vonnegut,
and Doctorow on the shelves. We avoid sending in
books from the “serial killer” gene such as the Silence
of the Lambs books or true crime books that focus on
‘murdering women or other glorified sexual violence. We
usually have an entire shelf designated for Fantasy and
Science Fiction with high turnover

Westerns are the cowboy themed novels by Louis LAmor
and others. These are separated from Fiction/Novels
because prisoners often specifically request Westerns.
Just like we vet for glorified violence against women, we
vet for glorified slaughter of indigenous peoples, too.

There is no category for pornography, because depictions
of nudity are pretty strictly forbidden by prisons. That
said, we generally leave most of the censorship to the
prisons’ own censors and try to keep self-censorship to
a minimum. We've been truly surprised by what's been
approved over the years, whether it's hundreds of copies
of Black Power Revolt, historics of gang truce organizing,
or thousands of specifically anarchist books, newspapers,
and zines. It doesn’t hurt to have a friendly lawyer or
your local ACLU chapter write the occasional letter on
yourbehalf when things get banned that shouldn’t be. We
believe if we're not sending in books that help prisoners
understand and challenge their conditions then we're
wasting our time and resources.

Organize your shelving based on the level of popularity
of the topic area. If your space consists of two or more
floors, you will want to shelve commonly requested
items such as dictionaries and African American Studies
on the main floor.

You may need to reserve a portion of your space for large
donations of single titles that cannot be shelved at one

D. Zines

time. Such donations would include many copies of a
single title donated by a publisher, or multiple boxes of
a textbook donated by a school. One or two individuals
can assume responsibility for regularly re-stocking the
shelves with these books.

Once you are established, you will receive more book
donations than you can use. You might want to coordinate
book shipments to county jail facilities and half-way
houses. You might also trade books for store credit at
used bookstores or host yard sale style hook sales and
‘make hundred of dollars for postage

We don't send in Bibles or Korans, instead we list the
addresses of organizations that provide them in our
Resource Guide (see Appendix IT). This helps us conserve
resources and concentrate on social justice work.

In addition to books, we also make available thousands of “zines,” small booklets on contemporary
political subjects like race, gender, direct action, anarchism, popular history, and anti-prison struggles.

1t's hard to get lots of radical books donated, so we
use zines as a way to bridge the gap between supply
and demand. As we are able to provide multiple copics
of these, prisoners are able to form study groups and
themselves engage other prisoners in these topics. Study
groups like these have popped up in a number of prisons
throughout the South. Ideally, these groups can be a
catalyst for prisoner organizing on the inside, as well as
function as a form of dialogue between radicals on both
sides of the prison walls. We include a zine catalog in

E. Volunteers

each package sent. It's been cool to see someone who
firsts writes us for pulp fietion like Koontz or Grisham
and then over the years ends up asking for Black Power
environmentalist, and anarchist zines. You can see our
Zine Catalog in Apendix II.

These days to keep up with our growing demand for
zines and legal primers we print everything in house
using a risograph. Get in touch with us if you would like
tips on how to get your group set up with one.

To keep your program operating smoothly you need a core group of dedicated individuals who
can put a fair amount of time into the project and a good flow of casual help whose involvement

is on a more short term or occasional basis.

"The Prison Books Collective consists of a core collective of
410 people in addition toa constantly changing voluntcer
pool. Some voluntcers will want to help out only once
while others will want to pack books several times cach
month. The collective participates in book distribution,
decision-making and also assumes responsibility for all

administrative tasks including fundraising. One or two
people, no matter how dedicated they may be, can become
overwhelmed with the workload, so it's important to find
people to assist with the variety of tasks.

Good souces for volunteers are progressive and radical
political activist groups, progressive churches, service

organizations, book clubs and schools. We've also had
really good luck putting up flyers around town asking for
volunteers; as well as putting ads for volunteers in the
event and classifieds sections of newspapers and online
sites. We've found that volunteer retention is highest when
the group designates a collective member to welcome and
orient new volunteers as they arrive. That member can
collect volunteer contact information or you can have a
sign in book. You may want to have an announcement

listserv that occasionally lets people know about special
‘packing opportunities, book sales or events.

You may be contacted by a former prisoner who received
books from you or a similar organization while they
were incarcerated. This is an excellent opportunity to get
feedback on your efforts, allow someone to show their
gratitude, and add another volunteer with an especially
valuable perspective to your efforts.

F. Publisher/Bookstore Affiliation

Affiliation with a publisher or bookstore is a crucial component of a prison book program. The

majority of prisons place restrictions on books being sent to prisoners by individuals.

However prisoners are generally allowed to receive books
that are sent directly from a book store or publisher. You
meet this condition by sending your books on behalf of the
entity with which you have an association. Most prisons
aren’t too picky about this requirement. You don't have
to be legally incorporated with the publisher/book store

G. Packing Materials

‘To send books through the mail, you need some

There are many types of bubble sheet lined envelopes and
‘padded book mailers that are well suited for mailing books.
However, a number of prisons will not accept packages sent
in envelopes of this type. For years we used grocery bags and
packing tape and wrapped our packages like presents. We
found though that some new volunteers were discouraged
because they had a difficult time wrapping the books. Since
then we've switched to manila envelopes that can be bought
in bulk and its only an extra four to six cents per package.

H. Postage

nor do you need to be a paid employee. You do need to
have labels or an address stamp made that include this
publisher or bookstore as part of the address; otherwise
thebooks will not be received by the prisons. (For example:
Books to Prisoners Project Kalamazoo, ABC Publishing,
111 Lightheart Lane, Kalamazoo MI 99999.)

sort of package, bag or envelopes.

You will also need tape, address labels or an address stamp.
The best tape to use is 2- inch clear plastic packaging
tape. Get it donated by the case if possible. The address
Iabels or stamp need to have your organization’s full
return address, which includes the name of your affliate
publisher or bookstore. Generally speaking the postal
clerk will stamp the words media mail on cach of your
packages, but some groups like to make their own media
mail stamp to save time at the post office.

An established prison book program will spend most of its money on postage. Most packages cost
over three dollars to send, which adds up quickly.

You may get a few donations of stamps from prisoners, yet
it won’t make much of a dent in the total. Minimum wage
Taws don’t apply to prison labor, and jobs for prisoners
are about half a notch above slave labor.

A first class stamp is the equivalent of the hourly wage
for a typical prisoner, so any contribution is a testament
to how much they appreciate your efforts

Contact your local post office or consult the USPS web
site to receive media mail rates.
The Finances

Postage will be your largest expense. Keep in mind that the more you send, the higher the postage
costs, and the more requests you fill, the more requests you will receive. Be realistic about how
many packages you can afford to send each month and prioritize accordingly.

Aside from sending books, Books Through Bars
recommends adhering to a policy of not spending
organizational funds on individual prisoners. Some of
your members may be involved with support campaigns,
legal defense funds, publications. ete. but as a group you
must be careful not to spread your finances too thin.

If you can manage to secure a rent free location, your
monthly overhead will be minimal

For handling grants and donations by check or online
payments, you will need to set up a bank account in
the name of your group. To do this you will need to get
an Employer Identification Number from the IRS. The
‘proper form can be downloaded at irs.gov or you can file
online. Simply search “Forms and Publications” for EIN.
The application includes instructions for obtaining an
EIN. Once you have secured this number contact a local
creditunion (or bank) and ask to speak to a representative
about opening an organizational checking account.

A. Grants and Foundations

There are books and manuals devoted to writing grant applications and finding foundations
to fund your cause. Check your local library and consult the Foundation Center website at

www.fdncenter.org.

The turnaround time for most grants is somewhere
between 6 months to a year. By the time you research
grants and receive and decipher the application forms,
the seasonal application deadline may have recently
passed and the next cyele may not start for another 6
months. Some grants require that you have a 501c3 tax-
exempt status, which is a bit of an ordeal to get and not a
short term endeavor. However, it is relatively easy to be
sponsored by an already established 501c3 organization.
Ask around to find one, usually a friendly church or
larger political nonprofit group in your area can serve
this purpose. Your sponsoring organization is entitled to
a cut of any grants you receive, usually 5-10 percent.

One angle to take in applying grants is that you arc
supplying a social service by sending educational

materials into prisons. Other grants are specifically
oriented towards groups working for social change.
Simply sending books to prisons may not be the type
of change these grant funds fund. If you can document
your group’s involvement with death penalty abolition,
control unit monitoring or similar issucs, you may make
a more convincing casc.

Grants are not the ideal way to finance your operation
initially. Make it a point to learn about grants so you
can apply in the future, but don't expect to raise money
this way in your first year. Save any newspaper articles
that feature your group or cover any events you hold,
and keep a serapbaok of any photos, flyers or pamphlets
related to your group. These will come in handy when
you need documentation for your grant applications,

B. Donation from Individuals and Groups

Besides donations of books, you also can seek financial contributions to support your work.
Often people want to give money because they believe in what you are doing and not because it’s

a tax write of
Sometimes donors will want the contribution to be
tax deductible. In this case you must be a nonprofit
organization or have a nonprofit organization as your
sponsor. The legal designation is 501c3 and it is from
the IRS. All donors wanting a tax deduction must write
the check out to your sponsoring 501c3 organization.
Work out with your sponsor how often they will proces
checks and what percentage they will keep, typically 5-15
percent. Donors will need a receipt and thank you note
You can write them but they must mention the name of
the sponsor who reccived the donation on your behalf.

Some book donors may also want receipts to make their
book donations tax deductible. Ask them to estimate the
value of their book donation and promptly send them a

C.Book Sales

receipt in that amount. In all cases, you should send a
note of thanks. Create a database in which to record their
contact information and the type of their donation.

As previously mentioned, prisoners will occasionally
make small donations. These are usually in the form
of a few stamps enclosed with their letter. Stamps are
the least cumbersome currency for prisoners who want
to make donations. Normally $5-10 is the most to he
expected dircetly from a prisoner. Their relatives on the
outside may send more. If you are many months behind
in answering requests it is a good idea to send prisoners
anote to let them know you've received their stamps or
check. Otherwise, be sure to thank them when you send
their books.

Book sales are a good way to reduce your overstock of seldom requested subjects and big
hardbacks too costly to send. Don’t expect to sell everything you put up for sale. The key to a
successful book sale is getting the word out that you are having it. Try to hold it outside on a

sunny day at a place and time with a lot of foot traffic.

D. Fundraisers

These events serve to raise money while also giving you an opportunity to tell people about
your program. A speaking appearance by an author or speaker on the prison industrial complex,
racism, and other intersectional issues makes a good program. A debate, film screening, bingo

game, cabaret, music show are other possibi

Ensuring that the event runs smoothly, has a good
turnout, and raises money is no small undertaking. Last
‘minute problems can arise, such as discovering that the
venue requires you to have insurance or that the PA
system is inadequate. If you haven’t done this type of
thing before, find someone who has, or start with a small
event before getting more ambitious

Pack-a-thons are a great fundraiser as you can both make
‘moneyfor your organizationand get caughtupinanswering
requests. Pick a weekend during which your organization
will pack books for twelve hours cach day. Next, prepare

es.

instruction kits for the packers. Each participant should
secure pledge money with donors pledging a flat fee per
hour and contributed to the organization prior to the actual
pack-a-thon so that you can use the money to send the
packages. Packers can have pledges from many different
people. You can also get local businesses to donate food
and prizes. As a result of an annual pack-a-thon you can
build relationships with new donors and volunteers, raise
‘money for your prison book program, and send out more
than one montl's worth of baok requests.

2.3 MILLION

AMERICANS
FROM THEIR

FAMILY, FRIENDS
AND COMMUNITY

E. In Kind Donations

Support for your operation doesn’t
need to be a direct monetary
contribution. There are many other
ways people can lend a hand to help
your cause.

Besides books, be on the lookout for
donations of shelves, packing tape, pens
and markers, filing cabinets, desks, access
t0a copy machine or a used copy machine.
People can also help with tasks including
transporting packages fo the post office,
picking up donations of books, writing
grant proposals, planning and handling
of fundraising and publicity cvents,
photocopying, and keeping your book
inventory properly sorted and categorized.

Sometimes you run out of money or
volunteers, but you never seem fo run
out of books. Your books can be used as a
barter commodity. One of the attractions
for volunteers is being able to pick through
a large selection of fitles and borrow some
of interest. We do not discourage anyone
helping to pack books from borrowing
themy; it's the least we can do considering the
project couldn’t operate without their labor.
Itis possible to work out some creative deals
to save time and money, such as someone
with a car provides transportation in
exchange for library privileges on the book
inventory, or the person providing building
space gets to pick out several nice hardbacks
every month in lieu of rent.

IIl. The Process

‘The step by step procedure that follows is Books Through Bars operations plan. Your operations
may vary and will probably change with time as you grow. The first two steps, reading and
sorting of letters, occurs before the actual packing. All the other steps are carried out during a
packing session with the exception of transportation to the post office which may not take place
until a few days later. We have found that a pleasant way to accomplish packing is to set up

packing ses

ions as cafe style events held on a regular basis. Having refreshments and listening to

music makes for an enjoyable and productive working environment.

A. Sorting Letters

Books Through Bars advises new programs to open letters within a day to a week of receiving them.
You should do this even when your program is three or more months behind in filling requests (a
situation common to most prison book programs). We recommend this for several reasons.

First, a small but significant portion of the letters you
receive will be requests for information about how your
project operates. These requests can be filled quickly
by the person opening the mail using a form letter.
Similarly, prisoners may be requesting resource lists or
zine catalogs that you can send to them without delay. Or
they may be requesting a service that you cannot provide
but you can refer them to another group. In addition,
their letter might include information of a time sensitive
nature, such as an approval form that must be sent with
a package of books within thirty days or information on
current struggles inside the prison that you can publicize.

Also, opening requests months before filing them
provides your program with an opportunity to solicit or
otherwise look for books on the more abscure topics that
are requested or make decisions about what to cull or sell.

In your first few months you may get a reasonable
number of requests that can be answered promptly with
little difficulty. In time, the volume of mail will increase
until the only manageable way to deal with it all is to
divide it into several categorics.

B. Reading and Responding to Letters

When letters are first opened and read, those that are from prisoners exchanging regular
correspondence with any of our staff are set aside for the addressee. Just make sure book
requests are still filled if the addressee is no longer packing books.
Letters range from epic life stories to short notes along
the lines of “T heard about your program. I have no money
please send me some books, I'll take any type you have.”
Most letters tend to be fairly short and to the point. Some
may be funny, insightful or thought provoking in unusual
ways. You'll find an amazing range of handwriting styles.
Some letters may contain artwork or poetry. Save them.
You can compile a newsletter of prisoners’ art and writing
and then distribute it to both sides of the wall. When

C. Selecting Books

you have a good collection you can also display them at
fundraising events or use them in other creative ways for
bringing awareness to prison issties

We generally write at least a three sentence letter to
include with what we are sending as part of the required
“invoice”, For us making a human connection is an
important part of the work we do. Here's an example of
aletter you can write no matter how short the letter is

If someone writes more
‘we may write more, but
we write at least this
much.

Sometimes prisoners will request specific titles or writers. Individual volunteer’s knowledge of
authors in specific subject areas will come in handy. If you don’t have exactly what they want,
select something close or similar. If you've never heard of what they want and haven’t a clue
‘what genre it is the internet will probably hold the answer.

D. Checking Restrictions

Prisons often have different regulations. With regard to mail restrictions and regulations each
prison sets its own policy. From the point of view of a prison book program, there is little rhyme or

reason to the varying restrictions, and no discernible patterns geographically. To further complicate
‘matters, there are units within a prison that have policies different from the rest of the facility.

The broadest policy is to allow any books or magazines.
Beyond this there is every combination of soft backs only,
‘hardbacks only, used OK, new books only, no magazines,
10 books without covers, books must be mailed with an
invoice from the bookstore and so on. One of the tougher
policies is requiring a prisoner to get a form signed by a
prison administrator which is then sent to you and must
be attached to the outside of the package. The forms often
‘have a specified time period during which the books can
be received by the prisoner. If your backlog of requests
prevents you from answering this request within the
allowed time period, the prisoner will have to get a new
form and start over again.

In some instances there is a librarian or teacher at the
prison who can get around diffieult restrictions if you
send books direetly to them. It's also more cost effective
to send in a large box this way.

Thebest way to navigate the maze of regulations s keeping
an alphabetized state by state list of the restrictions of all
the prisons you have served. When preparing packages
to send out, this list is referenced so as not to send books
that will be immediately rejected by the prison mail room,
Whenever corresponding with people in prisons that you
‘haven't sent books to before, ask them what their policy
is s0 you can add it to your list.

10

11

E. Packing Books

Normally it’s a good idea to limit the books to two or three per package. If it’s a large hardback,
perhaps a specific title someone asked for, sending just one book will suffice. Remember, some
prisons place restrictions on the number of books or magazines in packages.

F. Stationary Form Letter

‘With each request you fill, you need to convey some general information about your program
and how it operates. You can include a description of what your organization does and does

not do on the back of your stationary. If you only want to send books every six months, tell
them so. The description is your opportunity to ask for prison restrictions, advise them of your
chronic backlog, or tell them what kinds of books you can‘t or won’t sent. Additional comments,
inventory list, and personal notes can be written on the other side.

G. Addressing and Labeling

Sometimes it can be difficult to decipher the handwriting in the request letter. Usually there
will be a name and address both in the letter and on the envelope. Between the two, the correct
address is discernible. You can also cut out the address from the address received and tape it to
the front of the package.

H. Sealing the Package

Packages are best sealed with 2 inch clear packaging tape. Duct tape and masking tape are against
postal regulations and were designed for other purposes and won’t work well for parcels. Clear
2-inch tape is also easier to deal with than staples. Going around all four edges of the package
can help to smooth down the corners, but be careful to leave enough untaped area for postage.
One pass over the label will ensure it won‘t get smudged or torn. Tape is cheaper than postage, so
don’t worry about using too much.

I. Verifying Prisoners Current Location

It’s a good idea to check every inmate’s location in the prison system’s data base to see if they
have been transferred or released. Check the Department of Corrections website of the state(s)
you serve to look up inmate locations. For federal prisons look them up in the federal system.
The Prison Books Collective saves at least $200 a month checking the addresses.
J. Weighing

Media mail rates are by the pound. If you decide to weigh and stamp your packages yourself,
you will need a reasonably accurate scale. It doesn’t have to be digitally calibrated to fractions

of an ounce, just something that will tell you what's over one pound or under 2 pounds. Always
round up to the next pound, for example, 1 pound 2 ounces needs 2 pounds worth of postage:
There will also be occasions when you will need to send packages over 2 pounds. If your scale is
misadjusted on the high side, you will soon find out because the post office will return some of
your packages with postage due.

K. Stamps and Postage

Take all your wrapped and addressed packages to the post office. A
postal worker will then weigh each one, determine the necessary postage,
place a post office sticker on each package in lieu of a stamp, and keep a
running tab of the accumulated total, which you then pay by check, cash
or debit card.

If you use this method you don’t need Many groups have st

ccesstully set up a
your own scale and you don’t have to table outside a busy post office and asked
bother with stamps; the Prison Books passersby to take a package to mail
Collective is quite happy with it. Ask With each package not costing more
your local post office for more details. than a few dollars, thisis an easy way for
sympathetic folks to contribute with little
effort and strain on their pocketbooks.

L. Transporting Packages
to the Post Office

There is a great variety in sizes, layout and staffing in post offices.
Each has its own little quirks. In any urban area there is a large
main post office with many smaller satellite branches in the vicinity.
The branches may have shorter hours of operation and not be fully
equipped to provide all services. All mail sent out of the city usually
departs from the main office and you may want to deal exclusively
with them. There are plastic tubs available from the post office at no
charge. They can be used to transport your packages.

12
13

IV. Peripheral Details

A.Resource Information

When you get requests for services or expertise which
falls outside your mission, it's good to have a resource list
of names addresses and groups on hand. (See Appendix
11 for an example of ours.) Like a list of mail restrictions
this list can be periodically updated as you discover new
information. The Prison Books Collective includes a
resource guide in every package

B. Contacts with Other Groups

The strength of any organized effort towards transforming
society lies in its success at branching out and networking with
other individuals and groups until enough power is built to
confront society.

Your contacts and connections are a vital part of your operation,
Whether they provide active support, or merely serve as a referral
point, they can allbe apprised of your upcoming speaking events, book
sales or pack-a-thons. Likewise your group can keep itself informed
and aware of the work of allied organizations. Seek out other groups,
working to abolish the prison system and/or reform it. Be honest with

whom you forms coalitions, and make sure not to let well intentioned
reformists steer you from your actual purpose.

C. Correspondence with
Selected Prisoners

Sending books into prisons is the main part of your
operation but it is not the only part. You can not only
educate and enlighten but also learn from people who are
incarcerated. Maintaining ongoing correspondence with
some prisoners s part of the work of abolishing prisons
which s a prison book program’s mission. Prison book
programs should maintain contact with leaders of prisoner
study groups. They can ensure that the books you send are
well shared, and provide feedback on what hooks best meet
their needs.

D. Specialization

Depending on what your interests are and where you

are located, you may want to focus on certain areas of
specialization instead of accepting any type of request
from any prisoner anywhere in the country. We encourage
limiting your service area to one or two states. This helps

you keep on top of your back log and respond to conditions
and situations in prisons and jails locally. Also if you
aren’t sure of your time, money and personnel resources
narrowing down the work is advisable. You can always
expand later.

E. Record keeping

You want at least one person in your group to function as
the book keeper and keep track of income and expenditures.

Most grant foundations expect some sort of report back on what you
did with the money they gave you. It's a good idea to keep track of the

number of requests you receive from prisoners each month. In addition,

you should keep a record of the number of packages you are able to send
to prisoners. You can use these figures in fundraisers. You will also want
tokeep track of the number of packages returned to you every month. It's
important to make a record of packages that were returned for reasons
other than transfer or release. This information will be critical if you

attempt to challenge prison rules or mailroom actions. The other records

(mumbers of letters and packages) can be as detailed or as simple as time
permits. We also keep a record of each prisoner that writes us in a card
catalog system. The cards are in alphabetical in order by last name, and
include their prisoner number, the last time we sent a package and what
we sent them. This helps us not send duplicates of books or zines we
have piles of or track if someone is

writing to us too often.

14
15

V. Averting Disasters

From time to time you will encounter obstacles and snafus, some of which may lead to a full
fledged crisis. Below are some examples of what can happen and what to do when it occurs.

Crisis #1:

Donated books overflow available storage space.

This is bound to happen sooner or later. The following suggestions can be used simultancously.

Reorganize your space more cfficiently. Add more shelves
and make them deeper and taller.

Clean out the “dead” stock. With experience you will
come to learn the types of books that don’t move very
fast. These can be traded at used book stores or sold at

Crisis #2:

your book sales. You can list what doesn’t sell at your
book sale for free on Craig’s List and use it to build good
will with your community.

Be more selective in the donations you accept. Turn
down collections that contain predominately subjects
that are overstocked

Incoming requests are backlogged to the point where you are over 6

months behind in answering them.

Prisoners are often moved, transferred, paroled or released. The mail forwarding capabilities and
address correction practices of most prisons are poor at best.

If you are answering requests that are over 5 or 6 months.
old, many will be returned and you will have wasted that
‘much effort and postage. It’s a good idea to check every
inmate’s location in the prison system’s online data base
to see if they have been transferred or released. Check
the Department of Corrections website of the state(s)
you serve to look up inmate locations.

Hold a pack-a-thon. This is a marathon packing ses
of 12 hours or longer during which your volunteers
have solicited sponsors who are pledging some amount
of money for every hour the volunteer s packing. It
takes some planning, but a good pack-a-thon can hecome
quite a festive event, with donated food or even donated

ion

‘massages for the tired arms and shoulders of the packers.
If you can collect some of the pledge money in advance,
it helps to cover the increased postage costs of sending so
‘many packages at one time.

A last resort is to simply discard the backlog of requests
and start on the recent ones. Don't throw away everything
though. Open and read all the letters you receive o that
anyone you are regularly corresponding with isn't lost.
You may also want to answer the educational/self help
requests or the letters from those who show a political
awareness. If you decide to discard requests without
filling them, i's a good idea to let the prisoner know
what you are doing and why.
Crisis #3:

Departure of key person

An all volunteer group has no contracts

or requirements for advance notice of
resignation. Anyone at any time may have to
cease his or her involvement for any number
of reasons. To prevent one departure from
creating a crisis, try to have each facet of the
operation known and understood by more
than just one person. Someone may take on
all the grant writing and donation solicitation,
but if there are others who keep abreast of
the process and relevant details, the life of
your operation won't be in danger should the
fundraising expert suddenly depart.

Crisis #4:

Funding dries up

The nature of grants is that they aren’t automatically granted and there may be a delay of several
months between notification and the check arriving.

Without an ongoing effort to seck new grants and fill out
applications, your funding may run dry. What will not
run dry is the steady stream of requests from prisoners
Some measure of financial security can be gained by
maintaining a balance of different types of funding
sources. Don’t abandon the concept of book sales,
speaking events, or punk

nice check that tripled your budget. In six months your

ows because you just got a

financial picture won't look so rosy if you haven’t been
planning ahead.

You can temporarily shut down outgoing mail operations
until there is enough money to pay for postage. Do not
pack a large batch of books if you don’t expect to have the
postage covered in the foreseeable future. As per Crisis
2, you may be foreed to discard a backlog of requests in
order to get back on track

16
Appendix 1: Prison Books Collective Mission Statement

Our mission statement: Feel free to plagiarize, adapt or ignore it when writing your own.

17

The Prison Books Collective is a Carrboro, NC-based anti-prison
group that sends hundreds of books to prisoners in the South each
month, maintains an extensive radical ‘zine catalog, widely distributes
a monthly poster promoting political prisoner support, and publishes
prisoners’ art and writing. We also work to raise awareness about the
prison-industrial complex in our own community and connect with
others seeking to abolish this brutally racist and repressive system. We
are an official commercial distributor and publisher.

Our collective formed in early spring of 2006 with the purpose of
getting reading materials into the “gulag archipelago” that is the

US prison system. In geographic coordination with similar groups,

we ended up reaching out primarily to prisoners in Mississippi,
Alabama, and central and eastern North Carolina. Through this
process, our group has become something of a lifeline for thousands
upon thousands of people who otherwise are completely disconnected
from any support base whatsoever. With the goals of providing

vital political and self-educational resources to prisoners, as well

as spreading a radical critique of the prison
system on both sides of the wall, our group has
expanded to include several different projects.
These now include the free books program,
our ‘zine catalog, our Words of Fire publication
of prisoners’ work, political prisoner birthday
posters and our regular prison abolitionist
reading group.

Contact us:

http://prisonbooks.info
prisonbooks@gmail.com

Appendix 2: Stationary

Prison Books Collective

Publishing and Distribution
PO Box 625

Carrboro, North Carolina 27510

18
PBC: Publishing and Distribution sin fines de lucro que usa sus para enviar
libros gratuitos y materias informativas a presos, cuando los solciten, por el
Sureste de los Estados Unidos. Somos un distribuidor comercial compuesto
completamente de voluntarios y somos también un ediorial oficial de varias
materias como la Lista Nacional de Recursos para presos. Nosotros enviamos
libros a los estados siguientes:

ALABAMA NORTH CAROLINA

Dependemos de libros donados para nuesiro suministro. Se archivan las cartas
que recibimos y se llenan los pedidos como corresponde. También publicamos
y distribuimos Ia Lista Nacional de Recursos para Presos (NPRL), un catalogo
de zines (publicaciones peqefios), y una publicacion Palabras en del arle, la
poesia, y el escrito de presos. Todas estas cosas son gratis.

Por favor tenga en cuenta lo siguiente:

Nosatros enviamos libros a los estados listados arriba solamente. Si no esta
encarcelado en estos estados puede ordinar solo de nuestro catalogo de zines
No de nuestra amplia seleccion de libros.

Por favor inférmenos de las RESTRICCIONES que impone su carcel con
respeto a encomiendas como libro en rustica ylo cobertura dura, que hay que
escribir en la encomienda, nuevo ylo de segunda mano, cuantos se permiten,
factura ylo aprobacién anterior, materias restringidas. Siempre escribir
claramente con LETRAS DE MOLDE en lo exterior y ointerior de su cara:

NOWERE
D.0.C.HNUMERO
UNIDADICOMPLEJO
DIRECCIONICALLE
CIUDAD/ESTADOICODIGO POSTAL

Por favor, comparta sus libros con otros o que los done a Ia biblioteca si es
posible. Tenemos una seleccin de libros en espafol

Siempre disfrutamos de leer su possia y de ver su arte. Si quiere usted, es
posible que publiguemos su obra en nuestra publicacion

PBC: Publishing and Distribution is a notfor-profit that uses its profits from
publishing and distribution to send free books and informational material, by
request, to prisoners in North Carolina and Alabama. We are an all volunteer
commercial distributor and publisher of hundreds of booklets like the National
Prison Resource List (NPRL). We send books to the following states:

ALABAMA NORTH CAROLINA

We rely mostly on donated books for aur selections. The letters we receive are
filed by date received and are filed accordingly. We also publish and distribute
the National Prison Resource List, a catalog of zines (small booklets) that
address many issues tha prisoners face, and a newsletier of prisoners’ art,
poetry, and prose. Al of these things are free 1o prisoners

Please keep in mind the following:

We send books only to the states listed above. If you are incarcerated in a
different state we only provide materials from our catalog and not our expanded
book inventory.

Please let us know the RESTRICTIONS your prison places on receving books,
such as: Paperback and/ or hardcover What must be written on a page New
andior used books ‘Invoice and! or prior approval How many books are allowed
‘Restricted materials Aways PRINT the following clearly on the outside and the
inside of your letter

NAvE
Doc#
UNITEACILITY
ADDRESSISTREET
crTvisTATERZIP

Please share your books with others or donate them 1o the prison library
whenever possible. This helps more people get access to these resources. We
publish a newsletter of prisoners' art and writing. If you have book reviews,
poelry, essays on the prison system, short stories, or anything else you'd like to
see published, please send it our way!

Zine Catalog

ix3:

Append

POPULAR HISTORY & SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

« 10 Days That Shook Irag + Notes on the Arab Spring

« ArtofWar-Sun Tzu + Preguntando Caminamos: on

« Bash the Fash: Anti-Fascist Current Social Movements in
Recollections from Britain Mexico

« The Flatbush Rebellion + The Red Neck War
Community Response to Palice + The Stockade Stood Burni
Slaying of Kimani “Kiki" Gray Coal Miners and the Convict

How Fastit AllBlows Up: Lessons Leasein Tennessee 1891-1895

From the Cincinnati Riots + Unfinished Acts II: a Chronicle of
« Mutinies: Vietnam Anti-Police Struggle in Oakland
2009-2011

+ NoWe Can't AllGet Alang: on
Hip-Hop and the 92 La Rebellion + Warsaw Ghtto Uprising

PRISONS & POLITICAL PRISONERS

+ 3 Positons Against Pison + Handbaok on Surviving Solitary

© An Updated History of the New _ Confinement fo the Targeted
hfrikan Prison Strugle prisoner

+ The Anti-Explois Of Men Against * Interview with Ojore Lutalo, New
Sexism: On Prizon Strugoles Afrikan P.OM.
Against Rape And Homoghabia + The Inviibiliy of Women

+ Back from Hell:Black Pawer Prisoners'Resistance
& Treason to Whitenss Inside+ Locked Up - Alfredo Bonanno
Prison Walls + The Prison Industrial Complex

+ Communique From An Ex-Cop - and the Global Economy
Christapher Dorner + The Prizon Within A Pr

+ The Demand For Order And The Resistance To The Islation Units
Birth O Modern Policing In'Spain

+ Every Crook Can Govern + Trial Statement of New Afrikan

+ Eyeofthe Hurricane [sam Revolutionary Kuwasi Batagoon

Melville And The Attica Rebellion] » When an Agent Knocks (by the
« Grand Jury Investigation & FBI Center for Constitutional Rights)
Harassment + World Behind Bars: On the Growth

of the American Prison Cell

WORK, CLASS, & ANTICAPITALISM

* The Mythology of Work
+ Sabotage in the Workplace
+ Work, Community, Politics, War

« Abolish Restaurants:
Understanding Capitalism
through the Food Service Industry

« Capitalism, Class, & Class Struggle:

PRISON BOOKS COLLECTIVE PUBLISHING & DISTRIBUTION//PO 601 625//CARREORD, NC 27510

PRISON BOOKS COLLECTIVE PUBLUSHING & DISTRIBUTION

"ZINE CATALOG

WHATIS AZINE? A zine is a pamphlet between 20 and 50 pages long. Our
collective started this catalog to give prisoners 2 broad, fimely selection of reading

materi

Some prisoners use this resource to farm study groups and organize on

the inside. Please et us know how many ‘zines we can send to you ata time, and

follawing topics:

ANARCHISM & RADICAL POLITICS - “To
revolt is 2 natural tendency of lfe. Even a
warm turns against the foot that crushes
it.In general, the vitality and relative
dignity of an animal can be measured by
the intensity of its instinctto revo
BLACK & BROWN LIBERATION - The.
construction of Race is among the.
trickiest tools in the master's taolbox.
Like gender, and perhaps even more so,
s 2 bogus category created ta channel
potentially boundless individuals into
social strata that provide a blucprint
for maintaining com- plex systems of
domination. Whiteness, as a category,
has been integral o the entire recent
history of canguest and the prev;
social conditions of racial vialence,
policing, and poverty.
EARTH & ANIMAL LIBERATION - The
earth s ot dying, it is being killed.
The pecple killing it have names &
addresses.
EN ESPANOL - Una coleccion de
nuestras revistas de muchos temas
politicos, algunas que solamente.
tenemos en Espaniol.
‘GENDER, FEMINISM & SEXUALITY - |
believe that the society in which | ive s
a patriarchy with power concentrated
in the hands of men, and that this
patriarchy actively prevents women from
becoming free and complete human
beings. Women are oppressed by being
denied access to economic resources,

other restrictions regarding photacopied materials. We carry zines on the

politcal power, and control over their
reproduction. This oppression s
managed by several institutions, chiefly
the family religion, and the state.
IDIGENOUS REBELLION - /e are al
ing on stolen Land.

PRISONS & POLITICAL PRISONERS -
Over two and a half millian people are:
in jail or prison i the United States,
more people than canstitute the enfire
US miltary.

POPULAR HISTORY & SOCIAL
MOVEMENTS - History isn't what
happened, but a story of what
happened. Every history contains
different lessons. The selection of
which histories a society chooses to
teach shapes what we understand is
possible. For that reasan, many of
these texts present stories ignored or
omitted from mainstream history.
WORK, CLASS, & ANTICAPITALISM
- Atwark our time and activity is
stolen from us and sold as profi

The conflict between those who

have to wark and our employers and
governments is class struggle. To
Say our lives are more important
than our bosss profits attacks the
very nature of capitalism, and points.
to the possibilty of a world without
classes and privately-owned means,
of production. We are the warking
class resisting our own existence,
struggling against wark and class.

ANARCHISM & RADICAL POLITICS

« Anarchism: What it Really Stands +
for - Emma Goldman

« Anarchy - Ericco Malatesta .

« Anarchy Works: on Crime - Peter
Gelderloos. .

« AtDaggers Drawn - Alfredo
Bonanno

+ The Continuing Appeal of
Nationalism - Fredy Perlman

« The Dragon & the Hydra: on the
Organizational Forms of Early

BLACK & BROWN LIBERATION

« 25 Years onthe Move [a History ~ +
of the MOVE Organization)

* APleafor Captain John Brown -«
Henry David Thoreau

+ Anarchism & the Black .
Revolution - Lorenzo Komboa
Ervin

+ Anti-Immigrant Hypocrisy

+ Black Anarchism - Ashanti
Alston

+ The Deacons for Defense: Armed
Resistance & the Civil Rights

Movement
« Feminism:ItsaBlackThing - *
bell hooks .

« The Great Wall: On the Border

EARTH & ANIMAL LIBERATION

+ Desert: Anarchist Reactions T+
Climate Change

+ Downith Empie,Up with Spring

+ Earth Liberation Front .
(Frequently Asked Questions) +

Enemies We Know: Against
Police, Bosses, Rapists
Fragments of an Anarchist
Anthropology - David Graeber
Koukoulofori: Stories, Lessons,
& Inspiration From the Greek
Anarchist Movement
Non-Western Anarchisms

On Collective Process:
Overcoming Power

Lectures on Liberation - Angela
Davis.

Liberation or Gangsterism -
Russell Maroon Shoatz

On the Black Liberation Struggle
in Philadelphia & Black Fighting
Formations - Russell Maroon
Shoatz

Race & Border: The Two-Headed
Ogre of White Supremacy

‘The Real Resistance to Stavery in
North America - Russell Maroon
Shoatz

Roots: Black Ghetto Ecology

The Young Lords: a Brief
Introduction

Hoodwinked in the Hothouse;
Exposing Climate Change’s False
Solutions

Industrial Domestication
Industrial Society and s Future
Memories of Freedom

Revolutionary Ecology

EN ESPANOL

« AlFerri Corti

« Anarquismo: Lo Que Significa
Realmente, por Emma Goldman

« Autodefensa para las Mujeres

« La Democracia: su origen, que
es, 2 quienes le sirve

« Disenado para matar: Un Analisis
de la Frontera

« Escritos Escogidos de Ricardo
Flores Magén

« Horizontalidad: sobre la rebeion
en Argentina en 2001

Matrimonio y amor / La tragedia
dela emancioacion de la mujer
Ni Guerra entre comunidades ni
paz entre clase

iNunca Se Detendranl, por el
prisionero anarquista Harold
Thompson

ELPoder del Pueblo es la Fuerza
de1a Vida, por la Brigada de
George Jackson

La Sexta Declaracion, por las
Zapatistas

Trabajo Comunidad Politca Guerra

GENDER, FEMINISM & SEXUALITY

« ABeginner's Guide to
Responsible Sexuality for Men

« Complaints & Disorders - Barbara
ehrenreich and Deirdre English

« Gender Strike: a chronicle of
revolt against the gendered order

« Jane: Memoirs from the
Clandestine Abortion Service

« Notes on Women and Violen:
Essays on Autonomy, Gender,
and Self-Defense

= Out of the Closets and into the
Libraries: Queer History

« Panther Sisters on Women's
Liberation

INDIGENOUS REBELLION

« 500 Years of Indigenous
Resistance

« The Case of Leonard Peltier
« Colonization & Decolonization

Quiet Rumors: an anarcha-
feminist reader

Selected Writings of Gender
Anarky

Supporting a Survivor of Sexual
Assault

Tenacious (writing and art by
‘woman prisoners]
Transgender Liberation
Understanding Patriarchy, by
bell hooks

Witches, Midwives, and Nurses
Women’s Self-Defense

The Lowry Wars - On Native
Revolt Against Plantation Society
in Robeson County

Six Nations Rebellion

Sixth Declaration of the
Lacondon Jungle - EZLN

Resource Guide

ix 4:

Append

PARENTING & FAMILIES

+ Al to Inmate Mothers - Reunizs
incarcerated mothers with ther chidren
hroughfamily connection programs,
mentaring programs fr chidren with
incarcerated parents, and r-entry
resources. P.0.Box 988, Montgomery, AL
361015 1-800-679-0246

+ Alabama Women's Resource Network

on and Parale

te rizaners. AWRN tesches
collsborate vi

hesring. 4ot Beacon Parkaay West Rmiz)
Birmingham, AL 35209

non-custodia parents and thei
through books. Packages and m
en messages, and CD recordings of

) reading t thirchi

23815, Jackson, MS 392253815

+ arriets House - program of Safe
Passage tha provides transional housing
for up t0 24 months wih case management
Services towamen eaving the pison
System. Primary goal of the program
i51 re-unite mothers with thei cilg/
children while articipants i the program
arestiing or self-suffcency. Pascage
Home, Atn: Harrat's House, PO Box 10347
Raleigh, NC 27605 / 375-256-4262

+ Matthew 2 Center - Provides free
accommadatians and suport t fami
who trave grat dstances t vist their
loved onesinprison in Southeastern Nerth
Caroling. 19 Penderies Highuay Burgan,
NC 2825

+ Legal Servicesfor Prisoners with
Children - LSPC schocate:
rights and empoverment

ooz
prsoners:

renarg

ipp Innocence Project - rovides
quality egal representation t Missisippi
e prisoners serving sinificant periods
of ncarceration wha v cognizble
caims of wrongful comvicton. The Project
also seeks to dentity and address systemic
problems in th criminsl justice syetem
and todovelop ntiativs thal raise public
and poltical awareness of the revalence
afwrongtul canvictions. P.0 Box 184,
Uriversiy, MS 38677-1848 5 662-915-5207

AL 36125 0 334269
skipinc org

Support for Kids o Incarcerated Parents.

r-uriting.
Walnut Cicle, Greensboro, NC 27407

Girt Scouts Beyond Bars - .t Lessen
the impact of aren! fon due

o incarcerstion, o foser th personl
and social development of girls and their
mothers, and o provide girs with the
opporturity o partcipate ith thei parents
inhe Girl Scout Leadership Experience.

At relase, parents and daughters can
continue to participat n trocp meet
in'their communites, msking

2 consistent presence in the
Scoutsof the USA, At 5588, 420
Avenue New York, NY 10018-2798

PRISON BOOKS COLLECTIVE PUBLISHING & DISTRIBUTION//PO EOX é25//CARRB0R0, NE 27510

PRISON BOOKS COLLECTIVE PUBLISHING & DISTRIBUTION

RESOURCE GUIDE

GENERAL PRISONER SUPPORT

Lister, PO Bos 1860, Ridgeland, MS 37158

Departmen of Pychology, 226 Thach,
Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36845
= 13341844 8946 = hep o humsc
suburn.edufspaep]

GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS, QUEER

+ Black and Pink - An snt-rison aroup
that pravides online penpal programs,
amonthly newsleter, & direc support
or LGBQ prisoners. 417-942-0217/
members@blackandsinkorg

* Lambda Legal -Southern Reglonal
~Provides semvies related to e cil

and

SPIRITUAL

+ atamic Center - Free Koranand study
quide. Requesttroush chapiain. 2551
Masachusett Ave NW Washingon. OC
20008/ htptheslamiccenter.com/

+ Liberation Prison Project -

‘e s teachinge, 3 wel
materals o people n prison
ing and pra

PO Box 3303 Ralegh.NC

8500, o fur.

« Radical Faories Digest - Provids the
journal Brothers Behind 8ars, a5 well 35
3 ree penpallsing for prisoners. 588 Is
availablefo $3 o cover costs. RFD also
fers dscounted prisoner subscription
rateof $10 por year. though some prisons
won't accept RFD due o content. £.0. Box
302 Hadley MA 010350302
+ Tranzmission- A transgender a
group that provides penpals and books
o queer and trans prisoners across the
couniry. PO Box 1874 Ashevile, NC 28802

« Jowish Prisoner Services Internat' - Nev.
ndlor used rligious materals in several
{anguages including hard and sft covred
books)ar shpped o ndidual prisoners,
tall chaplains and Jewish conractor
voluntar chaplainsconsistentwith fci
property polices. PO BOX B3840 Seatle, WA,
1451840 | 206-985-057 pdfpsi org

BOOKS & MAGAZINES FOR PRISONERS

+ Positively Aware - 8 monihly magazine
coveing HIVIAIDS treatment, research
e Aol drug quide covers.
IV drugs. Wrte or 3 free subscrpton
5537 . Broadvay, hicago. L 6060,

+ Earth First Journal - The ournalof
ccslgica resetance, Discounted pisoner
Subscriptionsfuaiting st for free sub-
sriptions PO Box 964, Lake Worth,FL 33440

BOOKS & MAGAZINES FOR PRISONERS CONTINUED

+ Women's Prison Book Prajact - Sends
e book towomen and rans inmates. RPO Roncesvalles Ave., Toranto, Ontari,
only.including to those nmates in N, MR 383 Canada
MS,and AL Women's Prison Book Project + Ms. Magazine.
clo Baneshaker Bocks, 2002 23rd Ave., i current events, p
Minnespalis, MN 55404 2 612-87 ture. Women in

member.

adiress.

send a later to Canadal P.O. Box 7045,

Subscriptions remember i costs $1.10 o

HEALTH, MENTAL HEALTH, & SUBSTANCE USE

« Grace House - Provdes needs .
sssessments and discharge planning for

i that provides nfor
nd resources to peopl
IR HIVIAIDS. They provided sor
Senvices to ncarcerted indidusls. P.0.

Box 169, Hatiesburg, MS 39403 7 601-450-
486
MS 39286 £ 601-353, 1038 + Montgomery AIDS Outreach - Ering:

« North Carotina Harm Reduction Caalition
= Provides education and drect serv
1o those made winersble due to drug
e 3nd sex work in North Carating using
harm reduction methods. 0. Bax 13761,

counseling

emplayment resources. Theyalsa have an

Durham, NC. 27709 = 3365438050 & office i Dothan. 820 W. South Baulevard
itpwnnchrc.org Montgomery, AL 36105 5 1-800-510-4704.

« Harm Reduction Coalition - A rational = RAINN - Rape, Abuse and Incest National
organizstion advacacy and capac: -sexual assault
bulding organization that promotes the nthat works in collaboration
health and digity of indvduals and with rape criss centers across the county.
communities impacted by drug use. Allservices are free and conf and
22 West 27th Street, 5th Foor, New provided to survivors regarcle of ag.
York,NY 10001 m 212-213-6376 & htpif/ race, athniciy, gender, sexuality, and
harmreduction.org/ immigraton status. To gt help, call 1-800-

656-HOPE (4673

PRISON ORGANIZING

+ CURE- A national prison reform group + Anarchist Black Crass - Jacksonville -
'ABC 123 natonsl network and federatian
ofof groups which provds materialaid

with chapters in MS, AL, and NC. PO Box
97175 Pearl, MS 38635 & PO Box 190504
Birmingharm, AL 35219 & PO Box 49572
Charltte, NC 28277

+ Alabama Women's Resource Network -
AWRN's role i o keep the plight of omen
inprizonstthe frefrant ofpublc dscussion, Jacksonvile, FL 322350392 5 jaxBabct net
prson policydecison maling, and o + Critial Resistance New Orleans - The
Support the growing vace ofwomen onthe New Orleans chapter o this natonsl,
inside. 121 281h Street South Suie 100C
Birmingham, Alsbarma 35205 2 334-202-5072
o awrn orggmal com

amnesty for ocal prisoners, but s also

vices,housing,public heslth,

PRISON ORGANIZING CONTINUED

a helpfu resaurce fo generalprison
930N, Broad

N Ravenswosd #204 8 Chicago, IL 60613 5
[ ————

group dedicated to

al prisoners and prisoners of war,
im0 vinning amnesty and freedorm for
these prisoners. Writ t thar
headaarters. PO Box 2164 Chesterfel,
VA23832 0 718-325-4407 5 htp/ o
thejerichomovement com

formation 6 women and prison. 4001

LEGAL & PAROLE RESOURCES

+ ACLUOf Alsbama - Takez on

122 Nassau 5. Ste. 922 New York, NY
10038 & 212-679-5100 htpwwnw g org/

Box 839

Montgomery, AL 36103 2 1-800-SAL ARMY
o nipabvationarmyaim.ars/

+ Salvation Army - Carolinas Division.

+ Equal JustceIntative of Alabar:

NC 282241808
MY 2 g,
salvationarmycarolins.org/

nd thers whose trist are marked by
racial biasor prosecutorial misconduct 122+ Southern Center for Human Rights

Commerce St Montgomery, AL 36104 334-
269-1803 m hitp v 5/

« MALT - Ofers st of free publications,
and legal quide. 1612 K St NW, Ste 10,
Washinglon, DC 20006

+ NCCenter on Actual Innocence - nestigates
claims of nnocence for NC felones with 3t
eas three yeas ef i the sentence. PO Box the Southern United States. 83 Poplar St
5244b, Shannon Plaza Sation Durharm, North Allanta, GA 30303 / 404-486-1202
Carolina 277172446 7 919-489-3268 + Prison Lgal News - Monihly magazine

+ Prison Self-Help Legal Clinc - Supports _ hat provides cutting edge revew and
prsoners”eforts ot self-Ltgation wih analysisof prisoner ights, court rulngs
educational resources, Provides servicesin and news concerning prison-related
Spanich and English. PO Box 798 Newark | issues. Provides information that enables
NJoyior prisoners and other concerned indwiduals

.+ Nationat Lawyers Guld- A natonsl. indrgmaaions o ek heproet
organization of progressive and radcal and enforcement o prisaners
Lawyers active around a wide range o ssues (1 grassronts Lo
which affec prisoners. Ther closest chapter 330 Year subscription. Has catalog of zgal
i< Birmingham. They publish an excellent E00kS: Accepts books of new stamps a5
Jaithouse Lawyer nandbook, which canbe Payment. .0, Box 151 Lake Worth, FL
equestefor ree rom ther national office 33440 7 561-360-2523

facing the death penalty
enges human
s inprisans and jis, seeks
improve legal representation fo poor
people accused o crimes, and advocates
for crminal justice systern reforms on
those afected by the system in

Appendix 5: Instructions for New Volunteers

Welcome to Prison Books!

Thanks for coming to our workday! Help from folks like you s the only reason our group can do what]
it does. The following i a basic set of guidelines for filling a prisoners' request in our space. Don't
wormy—even though it may seem a little overwhelming at first, once you've filled a couple of pack-
lages It all goes real fast and becomes like second nature.

1. Take o prisoners letter from the stack on the table. Look up the prisoner in our card catolog (by last name) to see if we've sent
them books before, and roughy whot wes sent. Their envelope will tell you what prison they are in. Fortunately, lmost oll thel
[prisons we send to (in NC, MS, and AL) have more o less the same restrictions: paperbodk only, no more thon three books ot a time,
including zines. One prison, Leakesville, MS, does not allow written letters to go In the padkage. If you want to write o erisoner |
Leakesville o letter, it has to be sent seporately from the books. (Prisoncrts are such jerks))

2. Open the letter, and read it. The vost mojority of the time, It will be @ simple request for books or *zines" (small odical pamphiets
we com). Usually, prisoners request by topic of theme rather than specifc title or author, making It pretty easy to find something
For them on our shelves. You can osk another volunteer how the shelves ore catalogued, though they are olso lobeled. Sometimes,
o prisoner will write with o more complicoted letter, asking for help with a legal case, or certain resource information, or with ort o]
written submissions for our publication (Liorcs of /7. Depending on the Issue ot hond, we hove different folders to store these
things In, ond woys of helping prisoners with these different kinds of requests. You con ask another volunteer or collective member|
what to do in this cose. Also, If the letter s in Spanish ond you need help transloting, ask one of the collective members for help.

‘Sometimes o prisoner will write to specific collective member or volunteer. If thot person is present, poss the letter along
to them. I they'e not there, ond it contains o book request, you con go aheod and send the books, When you're done, write "filled"|
on the envelope, and put it in the plastic *hold" box under the bulletin boord for them to pick up.

5. Find some books they would Ike. Dot freok out If you con': et them everything they wont; something is better thon nothing,
Sending o pockage with tuo out of four things they wont or ke is better thon not sending o packoge o all ust becouse we don't
ove the first edition o that one John Steinbeck novel they hove to hove. fis you ook for books, by to make sure the padsagel
weighs less than 2hs. (This sn't oluoys possidle ith some textbooks, but do your best.) If you absolutely comot find anything)
the prisoner wanted, you can put the letter "on hold" by writing whot the prisoner is looking for and puting It n the "hold" box.

4. 1 It seems lie they hoven't written to us before, or ore asking for help from another kind of suppert organiztion, add our ‘zine|
catolog and resource guide (located on the red rack near the door) to the padkage.

5. I youd like to (though ts not necessary), write o short response letter on our letterhead (olso on oforementioned red rack) to
the prisoner, o long as It Is not going to Leckesville, MS. It's particularly o good ideo to indude o list of the titles of books ond
2ines sent if you'e sending politically radicol subject matter thot foscist prisoncrots might want to censor, so thot the prisoner might]
ot least find out if they didn't get something they were supposed to. flso, include the dote.

6. Urap the packogel There ore wrapping supplies (monila eavelopes and brown grocery bags) on the red rack, os well os tope,
scissors, and pens on the tables. When addressing the package, don'tforget to Indude the prisoner's DOC number os well os the |
city ond 2ip code for where the package is going to. Without o DOC number the package won't get to the prisoner. Uhen you're
[done, stamp the packoge with our return of address and *media moil” stomps, ond thiow it in the outgoing package bin.

7. Grab o notecord from the cord cotolog box on the table where we record sent packages, and fill It out like the others (Nome ond
DOC #, prison location, date sent, whether or not you sent o dictionary or Words of Fire.) Unless the letter needs to be kept for
some reason, tear it up and throw It away 5o it doesa't get filled twice. Then you're done. Congratulations, you filled your first pacic|
[age! Pick up another letter and repeat!

IF you like doing this kind of work, and you hate the prison Industrial complex, feel free to get more,
involved in our collective. We have meetings once a month, where we work on things like the regu-
lor LWords of fire (a publication of prisoners' writing, news, and art), fundralsers, teadhins, political
[prisoner letter writing nights, and other events, and generally talk about issues that pertain to the
collective's projects. Just ask a member of the group how to participatel

wwuw.prisonbooks.info | prisonbooks@gmail.com

cover image courtesy of pro.org