Thank you so much to @torbooks.bsky.social (and its various labels) for donating so many wonderful sci-fi, fantasy, romantasy and other genre fiction to PLP. (We can't wait to send it all to incarcerated folks looking for great new reads!)

Big thanks to @pegasusbooks.bsky.social on College Ave. in Oakland for putting a PLP display out and having their customers buy these great books for us to pass along to incarcerated people for free!

Thanks to @berkeleyside.org for writing this great piece on the PLP and our mission: www.berkeleyside.org/2026/07/02/b...

Berkeley’s Prisoners Literature Project has been mailing books to inmates for 4 decades

Hundreds of volunteers working out of a small Berkeley office send around 30,000 books each year to people incarcerated across the country.

berkeleyside.org

We have several shelves devoted to Adventure and Travel. These books allow readers to encounter countries and cultures without leaving their cells. So many great stories to appreciate!

A nice note: "I really appreciate your time, effort, consideration and thoughtfulness in providing relief from the horrible reality of prison and hope to hear from you soon."

This is a request that we were able to fulfill with the books shown due to all the great book donations from kind people! Our matching grant opportunity continues through May 2nd! For every dollar spent on books we get a dollar to help with postage! www.prisonlit.org/matching-gra...

It's Independent Bookstore Day - PLP can benefit from a matching grant available for one week! Bookstore wishlists available www.prisonlit.org/donate/#BuyB... Books purchased at the local bookstores listed below also matched!. #PrisonBooksWishlists #IndieBookstoreDay #IncarceratedReaders

Thanks so much, Eve and Noe Valley Books for your generosity!

Someone writing from a California jail wanted to read "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". The jail allows NEW books only and the volunteer was so pleased to find one NEW copy on hand. Donors and bookstore partners make these matches possible!

This happened at a book packing session last week. We love this!

Many, many thanks to the volunteers, donors and bookstore partners who helped PLP in our extensive efforts to get books to incarcerated readers in 2025. Our all-volunteer organization is sustained by your donations: www.prisonlit.org/donate/

The note says it all.

Our #GivingTuesday campaign is live - mailchi.mp/prisonlit/pl... - all donations matched up to $3,000, help us send more books to incarcerated folks!

Our #GivingTuesday campaign is live - mailchi.mp/prisonlit/pl... - all donations matched up to $3,000, help us send more books to incarcerated folks!

We're giving thanks for all the appreciative letters we receive from readers. It's also great to hear about programs and classes that are sometimes offered to incarcerated learners behind bars.

PLP frequently receives requests for comic books, but they are very expensive to buy. When local collector Rick Clogher heard about this, he donated two boxes of beautiful comic books, in perfect condition. We know they will bring a lot of joy!

We Can’t Forget People Experiencing Incarceration in Our Fight for Readers’ Rights: Book Censorship News, September 19, 2025 bookriot.com/books-to-pri...

We Can't Forget People Experiencing Incarceration in Our Fight for Readers' Rights: Book Censorship News, September 19, 2025

The state of book bans and censorship in American prisons. Where and how advocates can change this rampant First Amendment violation.

bookriot.com

A volunteer opened this thank you letter. Spanish reads: Thank you for the books, and thanks to God for touching your hearts to help people who are prisoners... May God bless all of you for your great help, and He will reward you. May God’s peace be with all of you."

Several times a semester we host a session for local high school seniors who are taking a social justice class. This time we squeezed eleven students into our space. These students have already visited two prisons in CA (San Quentin and Chowchilla Women's Prison).

In answer to his question, yes, we send free books, lots of them each month. It is our honor to help free the minds of incarcerated people through reading.

Please consider supporting some of our favorite local indie bookstores during Banned Books Week! Any books purchased will be matched by a generous foundation grant. All wishlists available: linktr.ee/prisonlitproject or: www.prisonlit.org/donate/#BuyB... #prisonbookswishlist #BannedBooksWeek

Thanks to donors, we have a range of interesting titles that we're able to send to people in prison. As the letter says: "I want to thank you for the books you’ve sent previously, always great selections. I’d love to be sent African, African-American, Native American and Indigenous history."

As an all-volunteer organization we rely on each other to enhance and expand our efforts. One volunteer decided we should stock kids books and now we do! Incarcerated people write to us asking for these books so they can read them over the phone to their kids or during in-person visits. 😍

Yes, books are transporting and a connection to the world outside a cell. PLP sent him several books along with a note saying we are so glad he got in touch with our program.

This letter sent to PLP goes on to say: "I'm very thankful for the materials that you send and I share my books when I'm done with them. LOL. I've already passed on the history book "Bad Day in History' to my buddy that loves trivia."

We are so pleased that our selection of books in Spanish has expanded to include a range of titles in popular genres like horror, fantasy and classics. Thanks to Pegasus Books in particular for researching and ordering these often hard to find Spanish-language books!

Books about Aztec/Mayan culture are a common request... It’s hard to source these books at an affordable price with "acceptable" pictures. However, PLP recently started stocking “Aztec” , a historical fantasy which offers “rich insight into their society.” We've also ordered the book in Spanish!

PLP's library has moved to a larger space! Check out this video that documents the move. Volunteer power! More room, more shelves, more books available to send out! www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXrN... (Also, we've revised our website. Check out the new look at prisonlit.org .)

PLP library's new location!

YouTube video by Prisoners Literature Project

youtube.com

A happy volunteer finds the exact book requested by this incarcerated reader. We get a lot of great books like this donated from our wish lists, bookstore partners, volunteers, authors, publishers, estates and more. Thank you! (Thanks also to volunteer A.J. for another video!)

We are in awe of the generosity of the many people who purchased books for incarcerated readers during the recent matching grant opportunity in honor of Indie bookstores. The total was over 330 books ($5,400)! Thank you, thank you all!