Help us Send Books to Incarcerated Women
Donation protected
"You caused a fire in the cell block where I am! Not an actual fire, but a fire of excitement when the ladies here received the books you all sent them. Oh, they loved them, passed them around, and then donated them to our segregation library for the other blocks to read."
--- Dawn, incarcerated in Raleigh
The N.C. Women's* Prison Book Project (formerly Durham Prison Books Collective) is an all volunteer run collective that sends books and letters to people incarcerated in prisons and jails across North Carolina. As a locally oriented project engaged in our own community, we also send books and letters to people caged in the Durham County Jail.
Our most significant cost is postage. We spend between $100 - 140 dollars a week to mail approximately 60 packages of books and resource lists to people in prison. In the past 6 months, the volume of letters we receive has increased dramatically, due to DPS restructuring women's facilities and the word spreading about our project. We need your generous donations to help us cover the cost of postage, packing materials, and used books, so we can continue providing this vital and life-giving service. Every cent you donate goes directly into these efforts.
"Your program helps keep the mind young and helps keep hope alive. I hope to help repay your efforts - or at least pay it forward. May your blessing cups overflow."
----Bridgette, incarcerated in Raleigh
We receive more heartfelt thanks than we could re-print here. Letter writers consistently tell us how grateful they are for the work and that accessing books makes their lives more livable. It is not uncommon for us to build relationships with folks who have been inside and write to us frequently. We hear about illnesses, family, healing journeys, study interests, parole and release dates, and the realities of life inside.
Our project focuses specifically on sending reading materials to people incarcerated in women's facilities in North Carolina, recognizing that women are an often invisible part of the story we tell about mass incarceration in the U.S. Through this focus, we also honor the legacy of women's prison organizing in North Carolina, especially the 1975 revolt at NCCIW in which organizers boldly claimed: "We asked for life!"**
*We recognize that not all people incarcerated in Women's facilities identify as women. All prisons reinforce dominant gender norms that seek to categorize people into a binary system (male/female). To learn more about this, we recommend Captive Genders , edited by Nat Smith and Eric Stanley
**To learn more about this history, see Dixie Be Damned by Neal Shirley and Saralee Stafford.
--- Dawn, incarcerated in Raleigh
The N.C. Women's* Prison Book Project (formerly Durham Prison Books Collective) is an all volunteer run collective that sends books and letters to people incarcerated in prisons and jails across North Carolina. As a locally oriented project engaged in our own community, we also send books and letters to people caged in the Durham County Jail.
Our most significant cost is postage. We spend between $100 - 140 dollars a week to mail approximately 60 packages of books and resource lists to people in prison. In the past 6 months, the volume of letters we receive has increased dramatically, due to DPS restructuring women's facilities and the word spreading about our project. We need your generous donations to help us cover the cost of postage, packing materials, and used books, so we can continue providing this vital and life-giving service. Every cent you donate goes directly into these efforts.
"Your program helps keep the mind young and helps keep hope alive. I hope to help repay your efforts - or at least pay it forward. May your blessing cups overflow."
----Bridgette, incarcerated in Raleigh
We receive more heartfelt thanks than we could re-print here. Letter writers consistently tell us how grateful they are for the work and that accessing books makes their lives more livable. It is not uncommon for us to build relationships with folks who have been inside and write to us frequently. We hear about illnesses, family, healing journeys, study interests, parole and release dates, and the realities of life inside.
Our project focuses specifically on sending reading materials to people incarcerated in women's facilities in North Carolina, recognizing that women are an often invisible part of the story we tell about mass incarceration in the U.S. Through this focus, we also honor the legacy of women's prison organizing in North Carolina, especially the 1975 revolt at NCCIW in which organizers boldly claimed: "We asked for life!"**
*We recognize that not all people incarcerated in Women's facilities identify as women. All prisons reinforce dominant gender norms that seek to categorize people into a binary system (male/female). To learn more about this, we recommend Captive Genders , edited by Nat Smith and Eric Stanley
**To learn more about this history, see Dixie Be Damned by Neal Shirley and Saralee Stafford.
Organizer and beneficiary
Chee-na Meh-del
Organizer
Durham, NC
Meghan GM
Beneficiary
