Louisiana Books 2 Prisoners

Louisiana Books 2 Prisoners is a 100% volunteer-run 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to encouraging literacy and supporting incarcerated people by providing access to books and print resources, with a focus on the Deep South. We also send books to women in any state. Our goals are to make prison life more endurable and facilitate a connection between people locked up on the inside and free people on the outside. We affirm the right to read and access information, without judging people or their requests. We have no political or religious agenda and welcome all who value our mission.

We currently serve women who are locked up nationwide and men who are serving time in the following four states: Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

We’ve chosen to restrict our service area to decrease the delay between receiving a letter and sending out books.   For a mostly complete list of groups that cover the states we no longer serve please check the National Prisoner Resource List maintained by the Prison Book Program.

Louisiana Books 2 Prisoners has been run by several different individuals and groups since 2003. Following Hurricane Katrina, it was restarted by a local group who still run it today. In 2006 our group was restarted with nothing more than a few salvaged bookshelves in the hallway of a local cooperative space. With the help of our community and the dedication of local volunteers, our library has grown to include thousands of donated books, allowing us to mail out hundreds of packages a year to prisoners.