Members of the Books Through Bars Collective (BTB governing body) have decided to run in the Broad Street 10 Miler to raise awareness and to raise funds. Please help us continue to provide services to our community members, inside and outside, by donating to our cause and by sharing the link to our fundraising site!

Founded in the late 1980s and formally incorporated as an organization in 2000, Books Through Bars was established to address the paucity of educational resources and programming made available to our incarcerated community members. Because successful community reintegration requires transformation within and outside of prison walls, Books Through Bars utilizes our book distribution service as the foundation on which we build innovative programs designed to engage a broad cross-section of the general public in thinking critically about issues of imprisonment.

We would like to thank you in advance for your support by sharing some excerpts from the many letters of thanks that we receive from incarcerated individuals:

"I write this letter of appreciation to say that Books Through Bars must be commended for helping thousands of prisoners in prisons throughout the mid-Atlantic region to carry on successful self-study efforts at a moment when viable prison educational programs are being dismantled... Thank you for opening this forum [the 2011 Read-a-Thon event, "Instead of Prisons..."] up to the voices of prisoners. I appeal to all who are able to send monetary donations to BTB to help defray their costs and to support this invaluable work. I am truly thankful for the personal sacrifices of BTB volunteers on behalf of myself and other prisoners. Thanks, thanks, thanks!" - Gregory X Moore, SCI Mahanoy, Frackville PA

"Thank you for the books and magazine. I understand how busy you must get with requests and other responsibilities so I greatly appreciate your time and effort. I am in a special housing unit [solitary confinement]. We do not have access to programs, school, materials or library... once a week we have access to a rolling book cart containing about 80 fiction novels at one time. We are allowed two minutes to pick two novels to exchange one for one. Most of the titles are 20, 30, even 40 years old and some are missing pages and sections! ... If you don't have anyone to send you material or books then this is what you have...You guys are awesome. Thanks again." - MW, Collins Correctional Facility, Collins NY

As demonstrated by the above quotes, a donation of ANY AMOUNT will be much appreciated!

$4 will purchase 1 dictionary

$15 will purchase 1 GED book

$25 will purchase a full box of books to a prison library

$60 will purchase materials for 1 student participating in an Address This! course

$75 will pay for a guest speaker fee for a formerly incarcerated person to come share their experiences

$100 will pay for the shipment of 25 packages (50-100 books!)

$250 will support the shipping and materials cost for a youth service learning session