Sunday nights were spent in the dark, with only the faint glow of a flashlight illuminating the pages as I told myself, “just one more page.” Even as a child, I found it impossible to put a good book down. Reading felt like an adventure that never ended. With each one, I left with a deeper understanding of myself, people, and the world around me. From a young age, I fell in love with literature and the impact it had on me. It made me laugh hysterically at the author’s clever humor and cry as warm tears trickled down my cheeks after an unexpected tragedy. It introduced me to words I didn't know, pushing me to look up each definition with curiosity. As I came to understand literature's influence on my life, I wanted to create stories that would bring that same sense of comfort and adventure to others.
Sunday nights were spent in the dark, with only the faint glow of a flashlight illuminating the pages as I told myself, “just one more page.” Even as a child, I found it impossible to put a good book down. Reading felt like an adventure that never ended. With each one, I left with a deeper understanding of myself, people, and the world around me. From a young age, I fell in love with literature and the impact it had on me. It made me laugh hysterically at the author’s clever humor and cry as warm tears trickled down my cheeks after an unexpected tragedy. It introduced me to words I didn't know, pushing me to look up each definition with curiosity. As I came to understand literature's influence on my life, I wanted to create stories that would bring that same sense of comfort and adventure to others.
Yet as I grew older, I realized that not everyone had the same access to literature. The same books that transformed my life were out of reach for many people. Recognizing this gap made me wonder: what could be done for those who longed for the same transformative experience? That question led me to an organization that shared my belief in literature's transformative power and worked to make books more accessible to people in prison.
Freedom Reads is an organization built on the belief that “Freedom Begins with a Book.” Guided by this idea, Freedom Reads expands access to books in prisons by building and installing handcrafted libraries in cellblocks. A team that includes formerly incarcerated staff members builds, creates, and delivers these libraries. Freedom Reads was founded by Dwayne Betts, whose own experience with incarceration revealed the limited access many incarcerated individuals have to books. Inspired by the role literature played in transforming his life, Dwayne created Freedom Reads to ensure others could access the same stories that shaped him.
In the Freedom Reads workshop, staff members build bookcases for prison cellblocks through hard work and dedication. They then travel from state to state, city to city, and town to town to open these Freedom Libraries in each prison facility. These libraries do more than give readers books—they spark conversations that build and strengthen community within each prison.
This summer, I had the amazing opportunity to intern at Freedom Reads. Working with the communications and social media team, I better understood the projects and the influence Freedom Reads has on many individuals. I spoke with a staff member on the Social Media and Communications Team, James Davis. James talked about his experience in prison and how it was one of the prisons where a Freedom Library was installed. He explained how much the library influenced him and how access to literature also transformed him. James shared that he was grateful for the opportunity to give back to Freedom Reads as a staff member, just as the organization had once given so much to him. Increasing access to meaningful literary experiences for people in carceral spaces is a core value shared by all of Freedom Reads' staff. They frequently gather to better understand the needs of various cellblocks and how they can continue to support access to literature.
As I conclude my internship at Freedom Reads, I carry with me the conviction that this organization is truly one of a kind. Limited access to books in prisons is an issue most people never think about, yet prisons are among the loneliest places on earth. Freedom Reads addresses this with a mission rooted in a simple belief: "Freedom Begins With a Book." Its work restores an inner freedom, one everyone deserves to experience. I know this firsthand; the books I've carried have shaped who I am. And I believe every book Freedom Reads places in prison becomes, for someone else, a story they carry with them.