Books Through Bars Philadelphia logo. Black and white woodcut print. An open book with hands on either side like wings. Text reading "Books Through Bars" extends past the boundaries of the book. The background contains black bars and rays of light.

Sending free books to people in prison for almost 40 years

Located in Philadelphia, PA, Books Through Bars has been sending free books and educational resources to incarcerated people for almost 40 years.

Our work responds to the exponential growth in the U.S. prison population, which has coincided with a decrease in funding for libraries, vocational training, and education programs within prisons. Many prison libraries are inadequate and inaccessible, while access to resources from the outside is limited by prison restrictions and incarcerated people’s poverty. Many of the people writing to us have no other way to access books.

Every year, Books Through Bars receives thousands of requests for books from incarcerated people. We mobilize hundreds of volunteers to run every aspect of our work, from data entry to soliciting book donations to library organization.

Our work wouldn’t be possible without support from our community, near and far.

Here’s how you can support what we do:

“Any book received is impactful because it shows that people on the outside still care.”

—L.A., incarcerated in PA

“A lot of times a book is the only source of freedom, relaxation, or self-improvement available.”

—C., incarcerated in PA

“I… started to go to a real dark place and your books showed up. They brought me back. Thank you.”

—J., incarcerated in PA