"I would like to thank you and your coworkers for all that you do to help incarcerated people. You all are a blessing to all of us, and I appreciate all that you do."
- Rafael A., Corcoran, CA
Announcements
January 14, 2020: New newsletter released
Our January 2020 newsletter
contains articles about our recent 20th anniversary celebration,
the upcoming change in our fiscal sponsor (which will affect
how we receive monetary donations), and the ways that targeted book
donations transform prison life. Best of all, it contains
excerpts of two letters from incarcerated readers, Robert in
Texas and Brandi in Oklahoma.
January 2020: Changing our fiscal sponsor
We will soon have a new fiscal sponsor. If you've donated
money to us in the last 9 years, you know that checks
for us had to be made out to our fiscal sponsor,
Washington Peace Center. Now, WPC is relinquishing this
part of their programming, and donations for us will no
longer go to them. Stay tuned for news of our new fiscal
sponsor!
Nut-free policy
To ensure the safety of a person with a severe allergy to nuts,
the building we operate out of has gone nut-free.
Please do not bring any foods containing nuts into the building.
November 3, 2019: New newsletter released
What do these things have in common: PEN America, the Seattle Review
of Books, the GED test, and eating donuts hanging from strings?
Answer: All of them are mentioned in our
November 2019 newsletter.
September 28, 2019: Letter published in The Washington Post
One of our volunteers, Ian, had a letter published in The Washington Post.
To read it,
click here and scroll down to "There's help here at home". If unable to get
past The Post's paywall, you can instead
read the letter on our site.
August 21, 2019: New Location
On Wednesday, August 21, 2019, we moved to a new room.
We're in the same building as before, and are even on the same floor,
but we're now in room B1. Please come and see us in our new location!
May 31, 2019: Tabling at Politics and Prose Bookstore
Thank you to everyone who visited us at Politics and
Prose's Connecticut Avenue store on Friday, May 31, 2019! We enjoyed
meeting many friends of our program, and are grateful to everyone who purchased
books for us or mentioned us at the
cash register (which resulted in us receiving 20% of the sale).
Our thanks to Politics and Prose for
this opportunity to raise funds, obtain books, and meet DC's book lovers!
Two Successful Fundraisers, Both Involving Cupcakes
We were the April 2019 Charity of the Month at
Sticky Fingers
Sweets & Eats in Columbia Heights, receiving money for each
Charity-of-the-Month cupcake sold that month.
Then, in May, volunteers baked a wide variety of baked goods,
selling them at a bake sale at Foundry United Methodist Church on May 19.
We are grateful to everyone who participated in these fundraisers.
Every $4 raised will result in another prisoner receiving books!
New Volunteer Training
If you would like to volunteer with us, please
read about volunteering then
register for training via our
DC Books to
Prisons Training Sign-Up form.
Training is usually held on the third Tuesday of each month
at 6:30pm sharp, and lasts approximately one and one-half hours.
Contact b2porientation@gmail.com
if you have any questions.
2,000 Libros - a Project to Serve Children in Detention We are lending our support to 2,000 Libros, a project created to send Spanish-language and bilingual books to children in immigration detention. Read more about this effort to serve our nation's youngest prisoners.
Victory in Maryland! In April 2018, we abruptly lost the ability to send books to prisoners in Maryland state prisons when the state implemented a new policy allowing only two vendors to send books to prisoners. Not even Amazon was allowed to send books to prisoners. On June 11, 2018, after weeks of protest by Maryland residents, the ACLU, and other groups (including DC Books to Prisons), the new policy was rescinded! Read more about the rescinded policy.
Snow Policy
The building we operate out of follows the federal government
in deciding when to declare a snow day. If OPM reports that
the federal government is closed due to snow, it means that we,
too, are closed.
