Freedom Reads Opens 500th Freedom Library
Milestone library opening marks Freedom Reads’ continued success bringing literature and hope into prison cellblocks across America.
August 14, 2025 (Hamden, CT) – The national nonprofit Freedom Reads opened its 500th Freedom Library at York Correctional Institution, Connecticut’s only prison for women. With the opening of the 500th library, Freedom Reads will have brought Freedom Libraries to 51 adult and youth prisons across 15 states. In late 2023, Freedom Reads opened 11 libraries at York and with these new additions, every cellblock at York Correctional Institutions in Niantic, CT will have a Freedom Library.
Each handcrafted Freedom Library, made from cherry, oak, and walnut, contains 500 carefully curated books, including classics, contemporary fiction and poetry, philosophy, memoir, and more. On the occasion of the opening of the 500th Freedom Library, the Freedom Reads team was graced with a mural on the wall, painted by Petra, one of the women who is housed in the unit where the library was opened.
Freedom Reads founder and CEO, Reginald Dwayne Betts, commented on the mural, “when we opened our very first Freedom Library in Massachusetts, one of the people living at that facility painted a mural where the library was going to be. Now, there is another gorgeous mural to inspire women here at York as they decide which of the 500 books they want to read.”
After women and Freedom Reads team members shelved the books, Warden Trina Sexton shared powerful words of thanks. Noting that books are food for the mind that build social connections, she said the Freedom Libraries will empower the women at York to bring positive change in their own lives and their communities.
To mark this momentous occasion, Betts, read from his new poetry collection, Doggerel. Betts—whose own life was transformed by books while incarcerated—shared poems and stories with a standing room crowd of over 150 women at York. Everyone received a copy of Doggerel and were excited to meet Betts as they lined up to get their books signed.
“This is more than a number,” said Betts. “Opening the 500th Freedom Library just a few years after Freedom Reads started, amplifies my belief that there is real hope for changing the lives of people Inside. We are delighted to open our 500th library in our home state of CT.”
“This country puts millions of people in prison and Freedom Reads has now put a quarter million books in prison. We’ve got a long way to go to get a Freedom Library in every cellblock, but this milestone gives us even more momentum. Freedom begins with a book.”