Prison books programs are pretty important to me. I volunteer with the Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project in Bloomington and besides feeling like sending free books to people is just a nice exchange between people, helping with the project has made me think a lot about issues of race, class, and justice. It also sometimes gives me a chance to engage with members of the community in Bloomington who aren’t just punks or activists. As a result of this past years hurricanes, the Louisianna Books 2 Prisoners Project is in need of help and resources. Please see the message below for information about their needs and how to help them out.
xo,
Geoff
Books 2 Prisoners is a 100% not-for-profit effort to correspond with Louisiana inmates and to send reading materials free of cost. Our goals are to encourage literacy, to make prison-life more endurable, to support prisoner interests and to create a space where individuals can come to educate themselves and discuss the prison industrial complex and prison-life.
The former home of Books2Prisoners Louisiana was a room at the collective warehouse, NoWeMiasto, which was heavily flooded in the storm and will be under repairs for as long as a year. During this time B2P will be housed in a new location (TBA) until NoWeMiasto is ready to take it back.
Currently the Iron Rail Book Collective at 511 Marigny is collecting donations of mailing material, money for postage and books to restart the program. We need Money, books (especially prison life and politics, Race relations and black history and politics, feminism, dictionarys, and any form of empowering literature), postage, packing supplies, mailing supplies, and oh yeah ADVICE from other Books 2 Prisoners type groups in other cities.
There will be a B2P worknight to respond to the four months worth of back letters from prisoners as soon as there is enough money raised for shipping.
Donatons are going to the Iron Rail Book Collective, 511 Marigny, New Orleans, LA. (and keep your tracking number just in case, cause there have been some issues with mail getting to New Orleans) Make checks out to the Iron Rail Collective but please specify that they are for Books 2 Prisoners.
Call 504 874 0954 with any advice or questions.