June 2024 Newsletter

It was all a dream. Or not a dream, but a fantasy, this belief that people would get behind the idea of the Freedom Library. The Freedom Library, which, at its root, is simply the notion that beauty and literature matter. That nature matters. That incarceration should not deprive people of these things. To put this all in another way, I’ll say that I was thinking like they thought with the Field of Dreams, that is: If you build it, they will come.

And the reality is that folks have come. We’ve gone from an idea to a concept to an architectural design to workshopping in RHINO to a prototype to almost 350 handcrafted walnut, maple, oak, and cherry Freedom Libraries in prisons across this country. What was a dream is now a reality.

Still, I’m reminded that this success is just 1% of what’s needed. We have a long way to go. And I think, how will we get there? I mean, I stress about the getting there. Stress sometimes enough for John Henry. Then we get a letter at Freedom Reads that reminds us of why we’ll get there.

A few days ago, we got a check for $1,000 dollars from a state Department of Corrections. There was little information attached. Just a man’s name. The state number said he was in prison. A day later, the kite arrived. This brother had been a judge for the inaugural Inside Literary Prize, the first and only major literary prize in the United States that is decided by currently incarcerated people and awarded for a recently published book. His letter talks about how moved he was by the experience, and by the work of Freedom Reads. He thanks us and apologizes for not giving more, but says the $1,000 is all that he has.

Back when I was in prison, I once worked in the prison law library and was paid .54 cents an hour. A thousand dollars can purchase a lot in the penitentiary. Food from commissary — clothes — sneakers — books. I would have lived lovely off $1,000 and am certain that I never had that much money in my account during my entire sentence. To earn that much money while inside I would have had to work 1,851 hours.

This single gift is a profound reminder of why we do this work. This is the metric of success that matters most, the ways in which we are able to move those who are just like us into believing an idea matters enough to put all you have behind it.

Reginald Dwayne Betts
Freedom Reads Founder & CEO

The Freedom Reads team returned to Louisiana to open Freedom Libraries across two Louisiana prisons, including ten in Rayburn Correctional Center and one in Raymond Laborde Correctional Center. Freedom Reads had previously opened one Freedom Library at Raymond Laborde. 

To date, Freedom Reads has opened 340 Freedom Libraries across 41 adult and youth prisons in 12 states!

At the end of May, the Freedom Reads team embarked on the final leg of the three-part Inside Literary Prize tour, visiting four prisons across North Carolina and Missouri. As always, our visits were filled with thought-provoking discussions about the four-shortlisted books for the Prize and poetry readings by acclaimed authors. 

With the ballots now cast, we’re excited to announce the winner of the inaugural Inside Literary Prize this August. Stay tuned!

Freedom Reads Library Coordinator David Perez Jr writes about celebrating LGBTQ+ Pride in prison and beyond on the blog.

In May, with generous support from Princeton University Library, the Freedom Reads team opened 9 Freedom Libraries at Garden State Correctional Facility in New Jersey. Freedom Reads Library Production Assistant Mike Byrd reflects on the openings – his first since joining the Freedom Reads team – on the blog.

At the beginning of June, Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts spoke with Russ Roberts on the EconTalk podcast about reading Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" from prison, and his introduction to the forthcoming republication of King's letter by HarperCollins Publishers. Later in the month, Dwayne joined Annika Pergament on Spectrum News NY1 to reflect on Juneteenth and speak about Norton’s recent release, Crazy as Hell: The Best Little Guide to Black History, for which he wrote the introduction.

Freedom Reads also closed out the month with a feature from 9 News Denver on our Inside Literary Prize tour stop at La Vista Correctional Facility back in April.

Each newsletter we aim to share at least one letter (or excerpt) from one of Freedom Reads now 25,000-plus Freedom Library patrons. Freedom Reads receives many letters from the inside. They mean so much to us. And we respond to each and every one of them.

Our work isn’t possible without your support. Thank you for supporting us in our vision to open a Freedom Library in every cellblock in every prison in America.