The inaugural Prison Banned Books Week led by PEN America launched on October 25, 2023. The campaign was introduced to spread awareness of censorship in prisons and how censorship uniquely affects people who are incarcerated, many of whom are part of an already statistically marginalized community.
Books and other print resources, whether held in a prison’s library or delivered by mail to an incarcerated person, are heavily regulated, and many titles are outright banned. “Carceral censorship” results from the combination of restrictions on content of print materials (“content-based censorship”), complicated delivery requirements and vendor policies (“content-neutral censorship”), limited access to a library or librarian on-premises, and other limitations on free speech and intellectual freedom resulting from incarceration. And as this year’s theme for Banned Books Week illustrates, censorship in public and academic libraries is on the rise. These trends have impacted prison libraries as well, adding another hurdle for incarcerated people to access information.
To encourage awareness and participation, PEN America published the Prison Banned Books Week Toolkit with research findings, shareable social media graphics, and suggested advocacy actions. The toolkit includes a report on book bans in prisons and jails across the country: Reading Between the Bars: An In-Depth Look at Prison Censorship. The report provides an in-depth look at the state of carceral censorship in 2023 and provides recommendations for challenging carceral censorship at the state and federal levels.
Similarly, the Marshall Project maintains a database of books banned in prisons, jails, and their libraries organized by state. The Marshall Project’s “reporting recipe” guides readers through the process of reporting on banned books in their state, with information on requesting book ban records from state prison systems, tips for pitching a story, and examples of social media posts.
Learn about organizations that provide free books and other print resources to incarcerated people and prison libraries:
Books to Prisoners Programs
List of free book programs by state.Inside Books Project (Texas only)
Austin-based volunteer organization that sends free books and educational materials directly to prisoners in Texas. Download their resource guide for more information about resources provided by Inside Books and other books-to-prisoner projects.Bookstores that Ship to Texas Prisons
List of authorized bookstores that can ship books directly to someone incarcerated in Texas.LGBT Books to Prisoners
Program that sends free books to incarcerated LGBTQ-identified people in the United States.Women's Prison Book Project
Program that sends free books and reading materials to women and transgender persons incarcerated in the United States.
Learn more about the role of libraries and law libraries in prisons with the following resources:
Libraries and Incarceration - LibGuides at American Library Association
Library Services to the Justice Involved (LSJI) - American Library Association
Assistance for Prisoners - Social Responsibilities SIS - American Association of Law Libraries
Prisoners' Rights Law Resources - Elisabeth Haub School of Law, Pace University
Data-Driven Librarianship in Corrections - National Institute of Corrections