Book 'Em: Books-to-Prisoners

A short video explaining our grassroots-style books-to-prisoners volunteer group. Shows us taking book packages to the post office, volunteer sessions, a few relevant performances and fund-raisers, and an art project showing the real life size of a prison cell, which was constructed from the many many book request letters we receive. Documentary video made by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE.

Please check our website:
http://www.thomasmertoncenter.org/bookem/
or email
bookem@indypgh.org

Please mail donations (checks, money orders, or books of stamps): Book 'Em, PO Box 71357, Pittsburgh, PA 15213. Your donations, big or small, are urgently needed, and are tax-deductible! Help us get quality educational materials in to the hands of prisoners.

Many of our recipients are teaching their cell-mates to read and write, and therefore need 1st grade level reading materials on hand. Our most popular request is for paperback dictionaries with as many word entries as possible. Other popular requests are for books on recovering from addiction and child abuse, books on how to open a small business, GED prep, philosophy, psychology, how to repair things, how to get a job, history, how to be a published author...

Two-thirds of people in prison are there for NON-VIOLENT OFFENSES. One out of every 100 US adults is now behind bars!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/28cnd-prison.html

Due to the Prison Industrial Complex, this trend of MASS INCARCERATION only continues to accelerate. It should be a cause of great shame to our country. Mandatory minimums are especially damaging, as they rip apart families and leave children to be raised in foster care. Incarcerating more and more AND MORE AND MORE people (because corporations can now run prisons, therefore there is profit to be made!) is counter-productive and it DOES NOT help society. It is a profound waste of human potential, and a tremendous loss of earning power for needy families and neighborhoods.

Two excellent websites where you can learn more about the Prison Industrial Complex:
http://www.realcostofprisons.org
http://www.criticalresistance.org

Fellow activists: PLEASE do not publish Book 'Em's mailing address without our permission, especially in resource lists. Thank you.

Book donors: PLEASE do not send shipments of books without pre-arranging it with us! Our storage space is extremely limited.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• books
• prisoners
• education
• grassroots
• charity
• non-profit
• donate
• money
• jails
• volunteer
• prison
• industrial
• complex
• public
• dictionaries
• pic
• critical
• resistance
• convicted
• nonprofit
• pittsburgh
• struggle
• human
• rights
• community
• service
• political
• change
• recidivism
• racial
• profiling
• war
• on
• drugs
• poor
• modern
• slavery
• thomas
• merton
• center
• peace
• justice
• nonviolence
• death
• row

[pdxtone]

What's up Pittsburgh! Your setup look cool as all hell, keep sending those packages. Big ups from Portland!

[lacolumnadurruti]

thank you tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE! can't wait to see the full docu. book 'em is rad!

[snaggletoooth]

some info: these are excerpts from the documentary film made by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE.

yeah, Book 'Em, go 2.0!

[anarchyfuckyeah]

book 'em is the realest! 412 fuck yeah! they are one of the dopest projects in pittsburgh. keep at it!