04/12/08:Wisconsin Books to Prisoners Project helps those behind bars - Wisconsin Books to Prisoners

Wisconsin Books to Prisoners Project helps those behind bars

by Timothy Garrett

The Madison Times

April 12, 2008

Once a week on Madison's west side, a half dozen volunteers meet in the basement of a private residence. Keeping company with them are a good number of books on such subjects as history, fiction, nonfiction, philosophy, poetry, literature, and mythology. There are also sections on African American and American Indian studies and history. Titles include "The Meaning of Evolution," "Black Elk Speaks," "Uncle Tom's Children," "Slaves No More," "The Power of Non-Violence" and such classics as "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" and "The Red Badge of Courage." Books by famous authors such as Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf, Rudyard Kipling, William Faulkner, and the more modern John Grisham and Tom Clancy are also on the shelves.

However, this is not a book club that is meeting to discuss the words among the chapters. Instead, these people meet to gather and prepare books to be sent to inmates in prisons in Wisconsin and other states. Each week, 20 to 30 requests come in, and about 45 books go out. The majority of requests come from California and Texas, which also house the largest numbers of prisoners.   

The Wisconsin Books to Prisoners (WBP) project was started in September 2006 by locals John Peck and Alice Smith (not her real name.) There is a need for good books in prisons, Smith says, because "prison libraries are antiquated, underfunded, and under-staffed, as well as the fact that prisoners — due to overcrowding, for example — may be restricted from using prison libraries; these conditions have significantly eroded the right of prisoners to read. Also, a number of prisoners from other states, for example Illinois and Texas, have told us that their prison has no library at all! On a personal level, many volunteers are also involved in BTP [Books to Prisoners] projects simply on the basis of the Golden Rule. That is, if they were incarcerated, they'd be enormously appreciative of having books to read."

Rainbow Bookstore is a sponsor of this project, since only authorized bookstores and educational distributors can send books into prisons. Rainbow's name is on the invoice that accompanies each shipment.

WBP recently moved to its current location, where volunteers are very busy doing various tasks each time they meet. One person handles the invoices that get sent with the books; others find and get books off the shelves. At a series of tables, an assembly line gets the books ready to be shipped out by wrapping them according to prison and postal regulations. There are other programs similar to WBP in other states, but Smith claims that WBP is the fastest in sending out the books.

The books requested most are thesauruses and dictionaries. Nonfiction is requested the most. Nietzsche is a popular choice among philosophers. Books on learning Greek or Sanskrit are also frequently requested.

"Many prisoners are trying to gain skills that they will find useful when they re-enter society, such as learning to read Spanish or how to start a small business," Smith says. "Ninety percent of prisoners will return [to society.]"  

WBP has requests of its own: It could really use money, "lots of it," said one volunteer, to be used toward postage. Smith estimates that they could "easily spend over $6,000 by the end of this year on postage." Shallow bookshelves would also be helpful, since there is not a lot of space.

The majority of the books WBP sends out are donated. Sometimes the volunteers shop for books at Frugal Muse, Half Price Books, or St. Vincent De Paul Thrift Store. They mostly look for dictionaries, thesauruses, Spanish dictionaries, and books on learning how to draw. Occassionly, they look for specific titles, but not so often.

New or used paperbacks in good condition, with NO handwriting or underlining, can be dropped off at several places in Madison. (See sidebar below.) Hardbound books cannot be accepted by the prison system, so WBP sells any hardbound books donated.

"Why care about the prisoners enough to do this?"

Organizer Peck responded that "97 percent of these people will come back and be part of the community. Do we want them disgruntled when they rejoin society? They're going to be part of our community." He noted that not everyone in prison is there for a violent or dangerous crime. Two-thirds of those sent back to prison are returning due to parole violations, such as drinking alcohol. Parole-violation reports could be from friends or family carrying a grudge; they could even be hearsay. 

A few of the volunteers have in one way or another been connected with the prison system and have seen what the prisons are like on the inside. The parents of John Peck, for example, taught in various prisons. From what he has seen, Peck claims that prisoners "study harder and are better students. We have brilliant people [in prison]. What a waste of human potential! We now have more prisoners than farmers."

Peck added that his brother has been incarcerated and is an ex-con. When asked if that is his motivation for starting and working on this project, Peck said, "partly;" the other part, he said, is from "seeing the whole dehumanization process."

Frank Vandenbosch is another volunteer who comes in to help when he can. Vandenbosch works on the newsletter "Wisconsin Prison Watch," which is available to convicts for $5/year. He also visits inmates in the Supermax prison.

"Prisons are a microcosm of society," says Vandenbosch. "[The way we are] treating the prisoners reflects on our culture [as] citizens."

Volunteer Emma Goldman (not her real name) also supports inmates by facilitating groups within the walls of a prison, to make a positive impact on those doing time.

WBP is supported by grants from the Racine Dominicans and the Wisconsin Community Fund. The newest donor is The Harvest Foundation, which supports gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender causes. Volunteer Dennis, who is gay, got the recent New Harvest grant because WBP recently started sending out books written by homosexual authors and/or dealing with gay and lesbian subjects.

WBP does face certain challenges from the prison system. Each prison seems to have its own rules and policies regarding receiving books for the inmates. For example, Smith said, "One prisoner at a particular institution may be denied a brand-new dictionary, but another prisoner will receive used books. A few prisons have denied books because the receipt was not typed. Some prisons allow hardcover books; others do not. We do not know what happens to the books that are denied, even though the Department of Corrections code states that the receiver and the sender must be notified [of] the reason for nondelivery. Some prisoners suspect that the books from BTP projects are being thrown away." For some reason, she said, books are not getting to the inmates at Oakhill Correctional Institution, and they are not being returned.

Despite these setbacks, WBP perseveres with its work, which is sucessful with for the majority of prisoners it sends books to. WBP volunteers are sometimes rewarded with original, detailed illustrations drawn by talented inmates. A beautiful colored pencil drawing of birds on flowers and an amazing picture of a young woman are among the original works of art they have received.

WBP also receives thank-you notes from most of the inmates who benefit from the service: simple messages on cards or longer sentiments on paper. From Louisiana, one convict wrote: "I really did appreciate the books you sent." Another wrote from Green Bay: "I wish to extend my sincere appreciation for the books you had sent me. The receipt of the books adds greatly to the long days. There are not many people who believe in supporting or assisting offenders. It is refreshing to know there are people and agencies still out there that are willing to offer such support."