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NYC BOOKS THROUGH BARS
>>NYCAHN is proud to announce that due to the renovation of ABC No Rio, Books Through Bars is moving into our office space! Welcome them by helping them out.
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What is Books Through Bars? NYC activists gather weekly and send donated books (from you?) to prisoners throughout the State. Cleaning out your shelves? Looking to donate your unwanted books to a local organization that sends books to prisoners? Look no further! New York City Books Through Bars does just that! We need your books. Books Through Bars is a sponsor of Better Ballots , the 2006 New York Voter Education Guide that's put out by the Voter Enfranchisement Project at the Bronx Defenders , in partnership with the Drop the Rock Campaign , the New York Campaign for Telephone Justice , and the Prison Policy Initiative . We
are always looking for new books and used books in good condition on the
following: +
African-American history, especially books on Malcolm X We prefer paperbacks since many prisons do not accept hardcover books, and they are expensive to mail. We do not take: religious books; legal books (except legal dictionaries); old magazines (besides National Geographic); white supremacist literature or anything advocating racial animosity, sexism or homophobia; business books; encyclopedias; mass market fiction (such as Danielle Steele and Stephen King). We also need donations of postage stamps in any denomination , and large catalog envelopes and supplies like packing tape and markers. WHY BOOKS THROUGH BARS? As of mid-2004, there were 2,131,180 people in U.S. prisons and jails. This translates to an estimated 726 persons per 100,000 U.S. residents in prison or jail. 1 (At the end of 2003, an additional 4.8 million adults were under Federal, State, or local probation or parole jurisdiction.) 2 Since 1980, the number of women in prison has increased at nearly double the rate for men. 3 At least 95% of all State prisoners will be released from prison at some point. In 2001, about 592,000 State prisoners were released. 4 A study done before the 2004 presidential election of 17 "swing" states determined that the average cost of keeping a person in prison for a year was $22,650 in 2001, while the average annual cost of undergraduate tuition at a public university in 2000 was $4,800 and $14,000 at a private college. Dollar for dollar, state and local spending on corrections increased more than twice as much as spending on education or health between 1977 and 2001. 5 From 1982 to 2001, overall state spending on corrections, which includes prisons, jails, probation, and parole, increased 529%. 6 Pell Grants were eliminated for prisoners in 1994, ending college programs in prison. New York State contributions to the corrections operating budget surpassed state contributions to SUNY and CUNY systems for the first time in 1994-5. At the time, New York ranked 45th out of 50 states in per capita state appropriations for higher education, even though the state had the fourth highest per capita income in the nation. 7 A study of released inmates in Maryland, Minnesota, and Ohio showed that participants in education programs were significantly less likely to be re-arrested (57% of non-participants versus 48% for participants), re-convicted (35% versus 27%), and re-incarcerated (31% versus 21%). 8 In 2000, over 20,000 prisoners were confined in special super-maximum security facilities, leaving them with little or no access to educational and recreational materials. 9 Isolation and sensory deprivation of this nature have been shown to lead to psychosis. 68% of State prison inmates did not receive a high school diploma. 10 75% of New York State prisoners did not complete high school. 11 According to one study, about 3 out of 4 inmates leaving State prisons had been convicted of a nonviolent crime. About two-thirds of nonviolent releasees were racial or ethnic minorities. Just over 4 in 10 had less than a high school education. 12 New York State's prison system has the greatest percentage of inmates in disciplinary segregation, and we have the third largest number of inmates in all forms of segregated housing (administrative, disciplinary and protective custody) nationwide. The national average of the percentage of state prisoners in disciplinary segregation is 2.6%, while in NY it is 6.7%. 13 "Any
discussion about reentry into society from prison begins with education."
More and more prisoners writing to Books Through Bars tell us that we are their only source of reading material. 1 Bureau of Justice Statistics , Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2004 , 2005 2 PrisonSucks.com : Research on the Crime Control Industry 3 The Sentencing Project , Factsheet: Women in Prison , 2004 4 Bureau of Justice Statistics , Reentry Trends in the United States , 2003 5 Justice Policy Institute, Swing States: Crime, Prisons and the Future of the Nation , 2004 6 Bureau of Justice Statistics , Direct Expenditure by Criminal Justice Function, 1983-2001 , 2004 7 Dan Macallair, Khaled Taqi-Eddin and Vincent Schiraldi (Justice Policy Institute), New York State of Mind: Higher Education vs. Prison Funding in the Empire State, 1988-1998 8 Office of Correctional Education/Correctional Education Association, Three State Recidivism Study , 2001 9 Human Rights Watch 10 Bureau of Justice Statistics , Educational and Correctional Populations , 2003 11 The Correctional Association of New York, Prisoner Profile , 2004 12 National Criminal Justice Reference Service, Profile of Nonviolent Offenders Exiting State Prisons , 2004 13 2002 Corrections Yearbook 14 'Former Inmates Stress Education' by Herb Boyd. New York Amsterdam News , Jul 22-28, 2004. Other Organizations that Books Through Bars wants you to know about: Prison
Book Program (Boston) Books Through Bars (Philadelphia) Prisoners Reading Encouragement Program The
Correctional Association of New York Fifth Avenue Committee: Developing Justice Program Network for Justice: New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty 360degrees
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--Prisoners
Seeking Books-- Write to us at
For further information,
Books Through Bars
meets every PLEASE NOTE: WE NEED
YOUR SUPPORT!!! |
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