Free Books For Prisoners: Bookstores Win. Society? Maybe

 

 

I was recently in Rhinebeck’s Oblong Books, one of the better indie bookstores of the Northeast, and saw a section of the store with a sign on the shelf that said “Beacon Prison Books Project.” I asked a worker what that is.  

Apparently, this store, and a handful of others in the Hudson Valley region, participate in this project. They referred me to a site with only this information, stating:  

“The Prison Books Project is an organization that provides free books to incarcerated persons, by request. People who are incarcerated in area prisons can use free postcards or simply write to us at our P.O. Box to request books or book recommendations.  

“Then we partner with local bookstores to order the books, connect with individual sponsors, pack up the books, and send them to the person who made the request. The project began its life at Binnacle Books in Beacon, NY, and now includes a number of Hudson Valley bookstores, including Blackbird Infoshop, Half Moon Books, Oblong Books, Rough Draft Bar & Books, and World's End Comics.  

“Since February 2020, we have sent over 4000 books to incarcerated folks in the Hudson Valley and throughout New York State.”  

What I am not clear on is this just a creative way for bookstores to expand their customer base, by getting people to buy for others who can’t — or is it a smart way to provide charity to those we otherwise ignore, if not hate? Or is it a win-win-win-win for bookstores, prisoners, do-gooders, and society?  

If we are to rehabilitate prisoners and welcome them back into society, the idea of encouraging them to read books sounds noble and smart. Or, is it a bad investment, given the rate of recidivism?   

Should we not prioritize which kinds of people get free books, such as children who live in poverty, who don’t commit crimes, and are struggling?  

The site does not state why this project is needed nor how, if at all, it benefits our society.   

It fails to identify a person who runs this charity and doesn’t show or mention things that any good marketer would recommend, such as pictures of people donating books, images of prisoners getting or reading books, thank-you letters from prisoners, or testimonials from donors as to why they contributed and how they hope these books will help others.  

Further, the site does not say if the bookstores also make donations, not just customers. They should, to show they have skin in the game.  Do the stores discount such purchases? They should, to show that they want to help get more books to those in need, meeting the customer part of the way.  

It does not name which prisons are participating in the project, nor does it identify what level convict is getting books. Is it a killer, a rapist, a gang-banger — or a white-collar criminal or someone who didn’t repeatedly commit violent crimes? 

Maybe none of that matters.  

Society needs to do something so that we can reduce the number of people who wind up in prison — and who come out of it lacking skills, jobs, and literacy.   

Should the project partner up with used bookstores to reduce costs? Should it bypass bookstores, and go straight to a wholesaler or book publisher? And should there be limits as to what kinds of books convicts can request? Some content simply would not be appropriate for pedophiles, domestic abusers, and mafia bosses.

Ok, lots of questions to ponder or in need of answering, but I support the existence of www.prisonbooksproject.org, because in the end, the program does benefit society and bookstores. 

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About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2024. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This award-winning blog has generated over 3.9 million pageviews. With 4,900+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and director of publicity positions at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.