Home - Freedom Reads

Freedom Reads, a first-of-its-kind organization,
uses literature to empower people to confront
what prison does to the spirit.

A book is a window to my imagination.

WE TURN PRISON HOUSING UNITS INTO LIBRARIES

Freedom Reads aims to place millions of books into prisons, one 500-book Freedom Library at a time, opened in every prison dormitory and housing unit in the United States. The Freedom Library and our other literary initiatives support the efforts of people in prison to imagine new possibilities for their lives.

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR WORK

ABOUT THE LIBRARY

A World Held In Handcrafted Shelves

Placed in prison dormitories and housing units, just feet away from where people sleep, these libraries consist of exquisite handcrafted bookshelves made of walnut or oak or maple or cherry. Martin Luther King Jr once said that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Our curving shelves are a reminder of this and because the books are accessible from each side of the shelf, the library becomes a symbol and place of fellowship and respect, radiating a sense of dignity. Crafted by teams that include people who have served time in prison, we call them Freedom Libraries to remind us that freedom begins with a book.

HOW READING TRANSFORMS

“When I first read One Hundred Years of Solitude, I was mesmerized by the way magical events mixed with everyday life. By putting the ordinary and the miraculous side by side, Márquez gave me a more flexible understanding of reality, and even of my own daily life, my dreams and nightmares.”

“The Fire Next Time is a meditation on the enduring ramifications of being seen and perceived as ‘the other’ has had on generations of Black men, women, and children nationwide and worldwide.”

“Today I was filled with excitement, curiosity, inspiration, and deep gratitude when a Freedom Reads library was delivered to our housing unit. And the books are new and by amazing authors! I felt so excited picking up titles, reading the back, and feeling overwhelmed in the company of so many good books.”

They were philosophers, rhymers, dog whisperers, scholars, cousins, poets, and…graduates.

Donate

IT’S BEEN NOTHING BUT SUCCESS

Hear what Freedom Reads' libraries mean to DOC officials and to library patrons inside.

“To add a library to a house is to
give that house a soul.”

NELSON ALVES, SUPERINTENDENT MASS DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS.

SUPPORT OUR EFFORTS TO BRING FREEDOM LIBRARIES TO PRISONS

“Books become essential when you want to imagine a new life for yourself.”

WHY LIBRARIES, WHY BOOKS?

Who are the readers and where are they?

Alone in solitary confinement, a teenager called out: “A yo, send me a book!” Moments later, Dudley Randall’s The Black Poets was slid under his cell door. In that desperate place, men had transformed a collection of cells into a library – and that became a community of readers that changed his life. Now, 18 years after his release from prison, poet, lawyer, and CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts has founded Freedom Reads — a pathway to transforming every prison housing unit into a library. In becoming a safe space instead of a depressed setting, Freedom Reads libraries offer a narrative of hope

A: STATE, 1,000,000

C: YOUTH, 36,000

B: LOCAL, 500,000+

D: FEDERAL, 200,000+

SOURCE: PRISON POLICY INITIATIVE 2022

Alone in solitary confinement, a teenager called out: “A yo, send me a book!” Moments later, Dudley Randall’s The Black Poets was slid under his cell door. In that desperate place, men had transformed a collection of cells into a library – and that became a community of readers that changed his life. Now, 18 years after his release from prison, poet, lawyer, and CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts has founded Freedom Reads — a pathway to transforming every prison housing unit into a library. In becoming a safe space instead of a depressed setting, Freedom Reads libraries offer a narrative of hope

A: STATE, 1,000,000

C: YOUTH, 36,000

B: LOCAL, 500,000+

D: FEDERAL, 200,000+

SOURCE: PRISON POLICY INITIATIVE 2022

“Yo, send me a book!”

Donate

EXPANDING ACCESS TO LITERATURE PROMOTES
DIGNITY & TRANSFORMATION

0

books shipped to readers in prison to date, across 40 states

0

of books sent to young readers in juvenile detention 34 states

0

tons of books sent

“Reading is the last line of
defense between the Wild West
and you. When you open a book,
you’re putting up a barrier
between what the world thinks
of you and who you really are. I
can’t emphasize it enough:
If you read, you are moving on
the path toward true freedom.
It doesn’t matter where you are.”

Freedom Reads, a first-of-its-kind organization, uses literature to empower people to confront what prison does to the spirit.