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Saturday, August 06, 2011

Books Through Bars

Just thought I'd put up a quick post to plug a program that looks useful for my patients. The Prison Book Program sends books to prisoners who request them from many states. I appreciate this because one of the frequent questions I get in my clinic (after "Can I have some of that coffee?") is "Got anything to read?" Boredom is the common denominator of most prisoners, and having something positive or useful to read is a good thing. Check out the YouTube video about the program too.
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3 comments:

  1. rob lindemanAugust 06, 2011

    Reminds me of Eddie Murphy's sketch on SNL entitled "Prose and Cons". Devastatingly funny. Check it out. http://m.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&hl=en&client=mv-google&v=2mrJFf8lTk0

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  2. AnonymousAugust 06, 2011

    i've volunteered with them. A neat way to spend a morning -- reviewing letters and packing up books.

    One thing I noticed was that they books requested and the books donated were often a mismatch. So people would prepare for the GREs and then donate their study guides once they were done -- but overwhelmingly more prisoners were asking for GED study guides. And few people were donating those.

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  3. Sunny CAAugust 07, 2011

    Thanks for the information. I found the closest donation center to my house, just 10 miles from here using information you posted.

    The site I found said the books for prisoners programs urgently need people to also contribute money for postage plus funds to purchase the requested books that don't come naturally from book donors. I read the list of "most requested" books and none of them are books I have ever owned. Also most of the sites specified that the books may not be hardcover which rules out many of the books I have to donate. Still, I am sure I have some to donate. They spend about $3 per book to ship them to prisoners even if packing material and help packaging is donated.

    Clink Shrink: I would be interested in a blog post about the heavy use of solitary confinement that has recently come to light in California prisons. I thought perhaps you would have insight since the articles I read have mentioned that excessive solitary confinement can cause mental illness. Do you have insight on this topic?

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