"Thanks for offering books to incarcerated individuals free of charge. Our society needs more of you, and your organizations, to promote culture and education through books."
—Maurice, California

ANNOUNCEMENT: Although we receive book donations from the public most Wednesdays 6-8pm, we will not be able to accept donations on December 24 or December 31, 2025. If you have books for us in the second half of December, please either bring them to us on December 17, or wait until January 7, 2026 to drop them off.

Founded in 1999, DC Books to Prisons provides free books to individual people in prison. We also develop and support prison libraries. Our work is done solely by concerned volunteers using donated time and resources. DC Books to Prisons is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization located in Washington DC.

Each year, we send more than 7,000 book packages to people incarcerated in over 600 prisons in the United States. We serve people in state and federal prisons in 34 states, and people in federal prisons in Arizona. With the exception of DC residents in federal prisons, we do not serve those incarcerated in CT, FL, IL, MA, ME, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OR, PA, RI, VT, WA, or WI.

The U.S. has less than five percent of the world's population, yet more than 25 percent of the world's people in prison. Nearly one percent of American adults are incarcerated; the highest rate in the world. However, many imprisoned people have little access to books or educational material. Usually, people in prison are not allowed to receive books from friends or family. While some prisons have libraries, many do not. Of prisons that do, access and selection can be extremely limited. Programs like ours are one of the few options available to incarcerated people seeking books.

There are a number of similar projects throughout the country, so if you are looking to get involved but are not in the Washington DC area, check out this website for a group near you.

For further information on prison book programs, we recommend this article by journalist Jackie Snow: "Reading Behind Bars, and Beyond Barriers".